Cask Of Amontillado And A Rose For Emily: A Short Literary Analysis

The dark and eerie tone of the murder story and its unusual setting contribute to the story’s theme of defense of one’s honor and avenging wrongdoing. The haughtiness and conceited attitudes of the two men create an extension of this theme in which Poe wants to show how far some men will go when they receive a blow to the ego. The story’s setting in the

Revenge is a common focal point in many short stories. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Utterly Perfect Murder” by Ray Bradbury are two that come to mind when revenge is mentioned. The two have many similar characteristics that make the concepts they represent difficult to distinguish. While these two stories have many similarities, such as first person narration and a theme of revenge, they are also overrun with differences.

Emily” by William Faulkner highlights the issue of revenge and showcases the outcomes of mental illness. In these stories, the main characters, Montresor and Emily, both suffer from mental illness, which causes them later on in the story to lose their sense of humanity and commit murder. Both Montresor and Emily believe that they have been wronged, and thus seek revenge on the ones who have wronged them by murdering them. Not only do they both commit murder, but also they do so by committing it through inhumane methods. Montresor murders his rival by burying him alive, and Emily by poisoning and preserving her boyfriend's dead body. Both stories “The Cask of Amontillado” and “A Rose for Emily” illustrate two mentally unstable characters who lose their sanity and commit murder, revealing how the actions of people in the upper class, which were unchecked because of their social status, result in the commission of reprehensible actions.

By all means, death can take on many forms, illness can take the lives of millions, and wars can take the lives of thousands, however, murder is an intimate and decisive choice. While the psychosis of hundreds of killers have been examined, there is not a singular bond that will group them together conclusively. Comparing both murders, Montresor, in The Cask of Amontillado, written by Edgar Allan Poe and The Misfit, in A Good Man is Hard to Find, written by Flannery O’Connor, will shed light on each their motives. In both stories, conflict and vantage points are used to give the reader a different encounter with the murders; however, the themes in each story have significant differences. To explore these differences will allow readers to have a clear understanding of the true morals of the stories; and how life, as well as death, can be viewed.

Many stories become classics because they develop themes which readers can relate to and understand. In the short story ‘’Killings’’ by Andre Dubus demonstrates the psychological concept of guilt. After the murder of his son Frank, Matt, is damaged physically and emotionally. It is a tale of not just two physical killings, but of many killings on different levels. The moral choices these characters have made, creates a pattern of legal and psychological distress on both families.

Feuds and arguments between individuals who may disagree with or dislike one another are a common occurrence in everyday life, often varying in degrees of intensity, but rarely reaching a point of extremity. However, in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, This threshold of extremity is reached by the narrator of the story, Montresor, who explains that his acquaintance, Fortunato, has repeatedly and irreparably insulted him over the course of years, and uses it as justification to take justice into his own hands and seek retribution through murder, despite there being no proof of Fortunato's guilt other than Montresor’s claims. His motive for murdering Fortunato can be attributed to his state of mind, as Montresor’s lack of guilt, empathy, or remorse highlights him as a character with psychopathic tendencies. As the story progresses, Montresor’s cold and calculating nature leaves the audience full of dread and suspense while he lures the oblivious Fortunato towards his inevitable demise. The employment of rhetorical devices such as irony, theme, and structure builds the suspense for the ultimate climax of Poe’s gothic masterpiece.

Vengeance and murder infects the minds of Montresor and Fortunato upon an exchange of insult in Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Cask of Amontillado”. This is the story of pure revenge after Forturano disrespects Montresor. The story follows the characters meeting up at a carnival and eventually the disguised Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs of his home by convincing him that he acquired something that could pass for Amontillado, a light Spanish sherry. Fortunato grows eager to taste this wine and to determine for Montresor whether or not it is truly Amontillado. He leads him back to the catacombs of his home and carries out his plot to bury him alive. Edgar Allan Poe writes from a mysterious first person perspective, uses colorful symbolism and situational irony to present the man's inner self, in turn revealing that revenge is fundamentally infeasible.

William Faulkner is a well-known author, whose writing belongs in the Realism era in the American Literary Canon. His writing was influence by his Southern upbringing, often setting his stories in the fictional Southern town, Yoknapatawpha County. “A Rose for Emily” was one of Faulkner’s first published pieces and displays many of the now signature characteristics of Faulkner’s writing. The short story provides commentary through the use of many symbols. In William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily”, the author uses the townspeople as a representation of societal expectations and judgments, Emily and her house as symbols for the past, and Homer’s corpse as a physical representation of the fear of loneliness.

Considering the fact that murder seems to be a big issue in today's world, it is something we need to talk about in many senses of the word. The number of homicides seem to be a record high, at least in Topeka, Kansas. In other places, murder, in many senses of the word, has been an issue. The new class Why People Become Murderers (or Resisting the Urge)  needs pieces of literature to help understand the topic of murder. Literature to consider at this point is “Killings” and The Cow. These are great literary examples to consider because of the contrasting viewpoints.

Montresor and Emily also choose to keep their murderous act to themselves and both do not care about their victim and they not aware of being a punished. On the other hand, how, Emily keeps her murder a secret from all entire towns for a decade, we know because Homer’s “had cuckolded him. what was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt” (William Faulkner's P 134) Emily was a woman who had controlling by her father at the earliest age until her father died, Emily always likes to be free and have a husband, but that's not happening because due to her father controlling her life and return any one come to her. Emily murder Homers Barron believes that as he dead, he can be forever for her, and that why she keeps him in her bed alongside with her, because of the behavior when she lost her father and she doesn’t like to lose her love Homer’s and that why she keeps his body

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and William Blake’s “A Poison Tree” are both tales of vengeful murder and a numbness to death. In Poe’s story a man named Montresor is insulted by Fortunato. Montresor seems this unacceptable and seeks out to kill him. Blake’s poem depicts a man who has fallen due to consuming a stolen poison apple. Both Blake and Poe use characterization to convert the theme that sadism does not occur naturally, rather it is the result of another’s actions.

I chose to write about the short story by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”. Considered one of the world’s most perfect short stories, every line alludes to the overall message Poe wanted to achieve. This creates what seems a simple horror story, but upon analyzation, it is much more. Using murderous revenge to avoid using traditional legal routes, as law was nowhere on Montresor’s mind.

Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is a chilling tale of revenge told from the perspective of a demented narrator

Murder has always been a fascinating element in fiction that catches the audience 's attention. The unbalanced main characters in the two murder stories, The Cask of Amontillado and A Rose for Emily drive the plots of the stories. Montresor and Miss Emily, the murderers in each story, engage the readers, allowing them to have a different perspective on their actions and similar motives of murder. A close examination of the way Montresor, the narrator of The Cask of Amontillado, and Miss Emily, the protagonist of A Rose for Emily, commit the action of murder towards their victims demonstrates how authors Edgar Allan Poe and William Faulkner use this entire concept to display the main characters’ similar traits.

After reading each short story, I conclude that of the stories selected, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is the “best short story presented. Poe’s elaborate description of the character and setting, especially the catacombs makes you feel as if you are descending into the dank and dark depth with the characters. Additionally, Poe’s ability to unfold the plot in such a fashion which causes the reader to be drawn in and question why the actions of Montresor are not evident to Fortunato, even at the end as Fortunato believes that his actions are but a joke.