The story aims to incite terror in the face of gratuitous violence. The beginning shows this since even the wait for the sentence is full of unnecessary terror (foreshadowing what will happen later). The narrator finds terror in the visual aspect of things: the “judges robbed by blacks”, the whiteness of their faces and their grotesque thinness. We are warned against trusting our senses when the narrator faints while waiting and "the figures of the judges disappear, as if by magic." All this creates fear of what can be seen and horror of unnecessary terror. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The uncertainty suggests that the narrator has been drugged, but it also tells us that he is very scared and confused by what happens to him. We know that he is a sensible person because he thinks about counting and tracing the distance from his cage. We also know that he is reasonable in appropriate fear and recognition of his fear, "now I was the truest of cowards." We know he can read. We see further proof of his intelligence (which helps him survive his ordeal) when he thinks of a plan to get out of the surcingle. Oppression: “The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and suffocate me”; “They pressed on – they swarmed over me in ever-accumulating heaps…I was half suffocated by their pressing pressure”; “Can I resist his pressure?” ; “The closing walls pushed me forward without resistance.” The strong sense of oppression reinforces the terror felt by both the character and the reader. All these oppressive moments make the story claustrophobic and uncomfortable. It enhances the feeling of freedom when taken out of the room, like a breath of fresh air. This feeling of oppression is important to the central idea of ​​the story's visual perception, because the oppression felt by the narrator is a visual oppression that translates into physical oppression. The setting of “The Minister's Black Veil” is located in a village, this can be seen because “The old people of the village”. The story also takes place in a church/meeting house, as demonstrated by the line "A rumor concerning an inexplicable phenomenon had preceded Mr. Hooper into the meeting house." The setting of this story relates to the writer's ideas as they characterize small town mentality as well as religious fears of sin. “The Pit and the Pendulum” takes place in a Toledo dungeon as demonstrated in lines 131-5. The setting of the dungeon underlines the terror of the story. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay We learn about Poe's narrator's character through his reaction to things that happen to him. This slow discovery maintains the mystery of the story. We learn about Mr. Hooper's personality through his interactions with other people, slowly throughout the story. This uncertainty and this slow evolution maintain the mystery of the Veil. However, Poe's use of perspective gives us a one-sided view of the narrator while Hawthorne's perspective allows the reader to see Mr. Hooper through the eyes of other people..