"The Pit and the Pendulum"

First person POV: This narrator says he is "sick unto death with that long agony."

	After hours of trial, his mind has become confused.
	The voices his accusers become "dreamy" and a "indeterminate hum"

He "swoons" twice; through some malady, the narrator pauses in and out of consciousness.

	Upon waking, he opens his eyes and sees nothing.
	No light means he cannot faithfully discern his surroundings.

He was drugged.

	After drinking from a pitcher, the narrator falls asleep and awakens bound.
	He notices a pendulum above him and imagines the figure of Father Time holding it

Throughout the story, the narrator is in a state of panic.

	His mind is not functioning normally.
	All this leads us to question whether or not the narrator is giving an accurate description of his punishment
	probably he dreamed or hallucinated much of description in an hysterical frenzy

Symbols:

The Pit: the narrator offers it as an entrance to the "netherworld," Hades or Thule, both classical ames of places souls go after they die. A Christian interpretation could see it as Hell, but it can't be bottomless, for rats emerge fromit
The Cell: narrator calls it a tomb. It is symbolic of his final resting place; also the confines of our mortal world/life and how closely linked to Hades we all are
The Pendulum: symbolic of the "time" people have remaining in life. The classic reference is to the Fates, who spin and cut yarn equal to the length of a person's life. It brings images fo clocks; the narrator sees father time (classical reference to Hades himself [Greek god of the underworld]) symbolic in modern times of Death. The narrator confuses him with this figure upon recognition of the pendulum in place of a sickle.
The Rats: decan and destruction. Here, ironically, they are also a means of emancipation
General LaSalle: symbolizes the gods' ability to manipulate humans; orth this could be seen as the narrator's truimph over personal trauma/tragedy.