The Pit and the Pendulum The Pit and the Pendulum is a story about a man confined to a prison cell and tortured mercilessly in Toledo Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. Edgar Allen Poe's story is powerful because the prisoner tells the story of his torture. Given this you know he is going to survive which helps make the mystery so much more complex. The plot is very believable and consistent. Poe shows great detail in the setting of the dungeon. The plot is hard to fathom, in that it is difficult to believe that a man could survive so much adversity without going crazy. The consistency in the story is the addition of a new problem for him to solve after he finishes t