Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story. In "The Pit and the Pendulum," the narrator explains,
"I put forward my arm, and shuddered to find that I had fallen at the very brink of a circular pit....” How does this description of the narrator's predicament affect the story?
This description of the narrator might suggest be seen as an injection dark humor to the story by indicating that the narrator was saved by his own clumsiness. It might be considered as situational irony to show the horrible death he is about to suffer.