Themes

Death
         Death is a reoccurring theme in this story. The narrator constantly refers to death. He imagines that he is dead when he first wakes up in the dark. He also announces that he was sentenced to death at the beginning of the story. When he is being pushed in by the walls at the end he is insisting on that he would have to die by something else besides the pit. He nearly escapes death when he is freed from the leather straps holding him down so he would get killed by the pendulum.

Time
         Time is portrayed to as a person in this story. He is never described about his appearance. Time is said to be holding a pendulum. the pendulum is representing the same aspect as of a clock. The pendulum ticks back and forth for days before it gets close to our narrator. The pendulum acts very slowly compared to the walls which collapsed a lot quicker.