Question

Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story.

How does the first-person point of view affect “The Pit and the Pendulum”?


It enables the reader to learn more about the Inquisition, the political power that has unjustly imprisoned the narrator.


It helps the reader try to find a way out for the narrator from a number of different angles.


It explicitly describes the narrator's joy when he is saved by the French general at the end.


Because it shows only what the narrator knows at any given point, it increases suspense and tension.

Answer 1

The answer is D, but I could be wrong. I don't have the story to see if it is correct.

Answer 2

Because it shows only what the narrator knows at any given point, it increases suspense and tension.

Step-by-step explanation:

The first-person point of view is used to relate the reader with the narrator, in the sense that the audience can get to know the narrator's emotions, thoughts and drives. As a result, in "The Pit and the Pendulum," the author Edgar Allan Poe creates a feeling of suspense and terror as the narrator describes in detail the physical and mental tortures he is experiencing.