Refer to explorations in literature for a complete version of this story. read this excerpt from “the pit and the pendulum” by edgar allan poe. these shadows of memory tell, indistinctly, of tall figures that lifted and bore me in silence down—down—still down—till a hideous dizziness oppressed me at the mere idea of the interminableness of the descent. how does the first-person point of view most affect the meaning of the text? it provides insight into the narrator’s fear of heights and how his captors knew this. it the reader understand the narrator's utter fear and hazy understanding of where his captors are taking him. it illustrates that the narrator is lost in his memories and afraid of them at the same time. it shows the reader how the narrator feels about his captors and the fact that he is being held somewhere underground.