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The heat rapidly increased, and once again I looked up, shuddering as with a fit of the ague.  There had been a second change in the cell—and now the change was obviously in the form. As before, it was in vain that I at first endeavored to appreciate or understand what was taking place. But not long was I left in doubt. The Inquisitorial vengeance had been hurried by my twofold escape, and there was to be no more dallying with the King of Terrors. The room had been square. I saw that two of its iron angles were now acute—two, consequently, obtuse.  The fearful difference quickly increased with a low rumbling or moaning sound. In an instant the apartment had shifted its form into that of a lozenge.  But the alteration stopped not here—I neither hoped nor desired it to stop. I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. “Death,” I said, “any death but that of the pit!” Fool! Might I not have known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me? Could I resist its glow? Or if even that, could I withstand its pressure? And now, flatter and flatter grew the lozenge, with a rapidity that left me no time for contemplation. Its center, and of course its greatest width, came just over the yawning gulf. I shrank back—but the closing walls pressed me resistlessly onward. At length, for my seared and writhing body, there was no longer an inch of foothold on the firm floor of the prison. 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— 


There was a discordant hum of human voices! There was a loud blast as of many trumpets! There was a harsh grating as of a thousand thunders! The fiery walls rushed back! An outstretched arm caught my own as I fell, fainting, into the abyss. It was that of General Lasalle. The French army had entered Toledo. The Inquisition was in the hands of its enemies. 

Making Meanings 
The Pit and the Pendulum 

Reading Check 

Refer back to the summaries you made while reading the story. They should help you answer the following questions: 
a. Find the details at the start that suggest that the prisoner’s experience might be part of a dream or a lapse into madness. 
b. When the narrator first regains consciousness, what “most hideous of fates” does he think the Inquisition has planned for him? How does he discover the truth? 
c. When he wakens from a drugged sleep, the narrator discovers that he is in a second and even worse crisis. What new torture does he face? How does he escape? 
d. What third crisis does he face when he has scarcely stepped from his “bed of horror”? 
e. What sensational breakthrough occurs at the end? 


First Thoughts 

1. What image in this horror story do you think you will remember longest? Why? 

Shaping Interpretations 

2. Probably the scariest aspect of this story is its setting . List all its horrible details. Did any of these horrors connect with your own fears? (Check your Quickwrite notes.) 

3. On one level, this is the story of a man tortured by the Inquisition. However, some critics read it on another level, as the story of a man who dies, almost loses his soul to Hell, and is rescued at the end by God. See if the story “works” if it is read symbolically with this interpretation. Consider: 

The man, above all, fears falling into the pit. What could the pit symbolize?

What does a pendulum suggest to you, and what does an old man with a scythe represent? What connection might there be between these symbols and the scythe on the pendulum in this story?
Rats are often used as symbols of death, decay and the lower world. How does the prisoner's response to these rats—especially when they crawl all over him—suggest that he might see them this way?
What sounds are usually associated with Judgment Day at the end of the world? Do you hear these sounds at the story's end?
Do you think this symbolic reading makes sense, or is it stretching the meaning of a “simple” horror story? Explain. 

Challenging the Text 

4. Did General Lasalle’s arrival seem an exceptionally lucky coincidence to you? If so, did the last-minute rescue lessen the story’s credibility or your enjoyment of it? Explain your responses.