Suspense In The Pit And The Pendulum

In “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the author manages to incorporate suspense into several parts of this story. One example is where it states, “I was sick—sick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence—the dread sentence of death—was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears. After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum.” This shows how the author created suspense by not telling the reader about why the narrator was receiving a death sentence. This piece of text is suspenseful to the reader because the reader does not know where the narrator is or what time period this event

I might as well have attempted to arrest an avalanche! Down—still unceasingly—still inevitably down! I gasped and struggled at each vibration. I shrunk convulsively at its every sweep. My eyes followed its outward or upward whirls with the eagerness of the most unmeaning despair; they closed themselves spasmodically at the descent, although death would have been a relief, oh, how unspeakable!” This piece of text shows how the author created suspense by making the reader think about whether or not the narrator was going to die. In this piece of text, the author uses imagery in order to create suspense by describing how dangerously close the pendulum was to him. I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. In the text it also states, “‘Death,’ I said, ‘any death but that of the pit!’... I struggled no more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair. I felt that I tottered upon the brink—I averted my eyes.” This piece of text is suspenseful because the reader would be suspenseful about how he survives since they would already know that he makes out alive because he is telling this