The creature is presented to the reader as hurt and fragile in an obscure way by lack of detail. The creature is shown to be almost dead when the author says that it "breathed hard" and that a single motion "agitated its limbs". This implies that the creature was struggling to breathe but is trying to without much success. The word agitate means to disturb or upset. By using that word, the author suggests that when the creature makes any slight move, it results in pain. Consequently, the reader feels sympathy for the monster since we have a tendency to empathize and feel pity to those in pain. The fact that the author says that "the dull yellow eye of the creature opened" indicates that it is in fact not a human being, but a monster with features similar to those of a human since yellow eyes are generally the characteristics of animals such as rats. The author's use of imagery helps the reader create a vague image of what the monster could potentially look like. Since the author does not give a clear description of what the creature looks like, the reader feels the urge to continue reading and find out what the true appearance of the beast is. The uncertainty of what is going to happen next could also  make the reader a bit anxious and eager to read on and see how the author carries out the story. The persona is looking at his surroundings when "...,by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light,"  "the dull yellow eye of the creature opened". By adding that extra part, the author helps the reader create and image of what is going on and what conditions he's working in as well as making a tense atmosphere because it is showing the reader how late it is. The reader can infer that the narrator has probably stayed up the whole night since he nearly burnt out his candle and with this, the reader can also foreshadow that something bad is going to happen because many dangerous things occur late at night in Gothic novels and midnight is often associated with the 'witch's hour'.