Question

what are three ways that the narrators captors attempt to kill him in "the pit and the pedulum" by edgar allan poe

Answer 1

1) falling into the pit

2) being sliced open by the blade/pendulum

3) being crushed by fiery walls closing in on him

In “The Pit and the Pendulum,” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator describes three ways the captors attempt to kill him.  He first encounters a pit that he almost falls into because he is captive in an area of darkness and almost falls in because he could not see where he was going.  After not falling into the pit, he drinks something that was poisoned/drugged and caused him to lose consciousness.  When he wakes up, he finds he is tied to a wooden base where a pendulum slowly swoops down to slice him open at the heart. This is the second way he is almost killed.  He manages to just barely escape by rubbing some meat on his bonds, and some rats eat through the bonds making them looser allowing him to escape.  After he makes this escape, the third way he is almost killed is by the fiery walls of his prison closing in on him, which, he feels is his captor’s way of enticing him to jump into the pit in order to avoid being crushed by fiery walls.   

Answer 2

three ways the narrators captors attempt to kill him in "the pit and the pendulum" by edgar Allan Poe are: 1.is falling into a pit 2. is the pendulum way 3. was setting his chamber on fire but eventually, the narrator managed to make the rats eat the ropes, freed himself from the bond, and run away from the tortutr chamber