How Does Poe Create Suspense In The Pit And The Pendulum

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In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Pit and the Pendulum,” Poe, uses the horror elements of suspense , isolation , and anxiety and disorientation to add suspense to the story. The “Pit and the Pendulum” was about a man who was in trouble and seen these judges and then he was in a dungeon and had no idea how he got there and was trying to find his way out. He described the judges as “I saw the lips of the black robed judges. They appeared to me white whiter than the sheet upon I trace these words and thin even to grotesqueness; thin with the intensity of their expression of firmness of immoveable resolution of stern contempt of human torture.” (Poe P1). He created suspense with saying because for one we don't know why he was in trouble or why the judges lips were whiter …show more content…

It just makes you think of what he could have done and why the judges lips were so white because lips are usually pink or reddish. When Poe was in the dungeon he was strapped down except for his left arm and the only reason his left hand was not tied down was so he could he meat that was terribly seasoned so much he didn't want to eat it and he was incredibly thirsty as well. When he was in the dungeon on the bed tied up he opened his eyes and he felt like he was alone and he described it like this “ I struggled for breath . The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me”. (Poe P3). He is saying with the isolation in the dark room he finds it hard to catch his breath and the darkness creates a sort of intensity for him. While Poe was alone in the dungeon he was just laying there and he heard a sound and wasn't sure what it could be. He had no idea that it was a pendulum and he was supposed to be killed by it. When he finally found out that the sound was a pendulum he started to freak out and didn't know what to do because he couldn't move and had no way to get out of the pendulum's way. When he found out what the sound was he described “ I counted the rushing vibrations of the