Originally Posted by
Dark Muse
I think the ending of the story reflects his actually coming face to face with his ultimate fear, and realizing that he had survived it. The thing that he dreaded most he experienced (or was momentary lead to believe he experienced) and he emerged from it alive, and well.
In a way you can say that it is like the old saying, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. He tormented himself so much with the idea of being buried alive, but in the end he was in fact able to actually conquer the reality of it.
After his experience he acknowledges that it is true that these dangers and fears do exist in real life, but he has the new awareness that one cannot live thier entire life being consumed by the fear, or by the possibility that the worse may happen.
For after all his careful planning and preparation for just such an even of being buried alive, he found himself in a position where it came to nothing. In the movement where he believed he truly had been buried alive, but was denied his precious tomb. This event awakened him to the fact that he cannot control what may happen and even with the preparations he did create, it did nothing to quell is fear, he still lived in daily torment.
I think it was also symbolic of being reborn and given a 2nd chance at life, to actually be able to live for once, as he spent so much of his past life wrapped up in death.