In the Pit and the Pendulum, explain the circumstances of the narrator

Question

For the story The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe 

Explain the circumstances of the narrator.

Answer 1

The narrator of the story has been sentenced to execution via a swinging pendulum, sharpened to kill him. He is tied and unable to move and his only company are the rats in the pit. He is another victim of the Inquisition. In reality, he was supposed to die, with no escape in sight. Instead, he takes advantage of the rats and uses them to free himself from his ropes. A rather happy ending compared to most of Poe’s endings, where characters end up dead or forever mad.