Question

Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story. Which statement best summarizes the effect of the first-person point of view on Poe’s story "The Pit and the Pendulum"?

The first-person point of view lets Poe give the reader an insider’s view into the terror and agony of the imprisonment.
Because Poe uses a first-person narrator, the reader understands that the prisoner knows that he will be saved in the end.
The first-person pint of view allows Poe to tell what the judges were thinking when they condemned the prisoner.
By using the first-person point of view, Poe gives the reader insight into the French soldier who rescues the prisoner.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option one. The narrator is imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition. As a result, Poe's use of the first person has the intention of making the readers feel in the place of the captive, experience his torment and anxiety, and maintain suspense.

Answer 2

The first-person point of view lets Poe give the reader an insider's view into the terror and agony of the imprisonment.

Step-by-step explanation:

The answer is that the first-person point of view in The Pit and the Pendulum gives the reader an insider's view into the terror and agony of the imprisonment because throughout the entire story it is like the reader is on the character's mind and the use of the pronoun "I" makes it more personal eventually making the reader feel what the main character is experiencing. The entire story is a vivid and detailed description of set imprisonment, the character's conclusions and thoughts of what he sees almost without a filter, other characters or dialogues are not taken into consideration but only the first-person point of view making the character's thoughts become or merge with our own.