What could the pit symbolize?

The pit in "The Pit and the Pendulum" could symbolize a few things: despair, fear, or even Hell. The depth of the pit, which was so vast that it took a few seconds for a small piece of the side of the pit to actually make it to the water pooled at the bottom, could act as a symbol of the narrator's despair at his plight, which was also incredibly deep. The pit could also be a manifestation of the narrator's fear; at first he is afraid of the dark and unknown, which is exactly what the pit is (even when the lights came on), but even when it becomes known, the watery death it held very far below was just as terrifying as before. Then there is the obvious connection to Hell, which is often referred to as "the Pit" because it is supposedly deep beneath the earth.