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 have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
In "The Pit and the Pendulum," the narrator experiences profound fear as he confronts the threats of death in a dark and oppressive dungeon. The vivid imagery of the "red walls" symbolizes both physical confinement and a desperate longing for comfort. The narrator yearns for peace but grapples with the horror of his situation, particularly regarding the terrifying fate of falling into the pit, which represents an ultimate demise. As the...