Kaitlin Hunter Mrs. Laszik ENGL 1302.001 27 Oct 2017 The Cask of Amontillado One of the most memorable short stories by the American writer, mainly known for his gothic literature “The Cask of Amontillado”, written by Edgar Allan Poe is short story about revenge against an “old friend” who betrayed another. This strong expression of gothic literature through the drastic change of settings and surroundings. Also, the main character’s, Montressor, narration of the story that he has kept to himself for half a century only adds to the sinister, dark night that leads the two men into the cold, wet catacombs for only one to return. Although it is never revealed to the reader who Montressor is telling his darkest secret for all of these years …show more content…
Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. (Poe 119) The reader is shown how Poe intended you to feel as if you were in the catacombs as well through this gothic literature. While Poe made the setting a critical factor in this story, he also provided the readers the main character’s point of view. In addition to Montressor being the central character in “The Cask of Amontillado” and with that he provides his point of view with the way he describes his unrelenting drive to get his revenge against Fortunato. The author decides to make the narrator as Montressor to show this story in first person to get his perspective, thoughts, and actions through his eyes for the night ahead. In the beginning of this story, Montressor is giving his thoughts toward Fortunato to show the many expressions he delivers to make this story complete: It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 116). This perspective makes the reader consider how different this story would be if it were written in Fortunato’s point of view. Would we know what he did to dishonor
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous writer in writing detective stories and horror stories. One of his horror stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” was talking about how a man took his revenge to his friend. However, to look deeply in this story, I found that this story was not just simply a horror tale about how a man gets his revenge in the safest way. Instead, it also demonstrates much irony in several areas: the title, the event, the season, the costume, the environment, the characters’ personalities, a man’s dignity and cockiness and at the end, the public order. he are
Although Poe does not describe many of the Catacomb rooms, I believe he chooses not to. This is simply a tool to lead the readers to believe that the rooms are all the same, therefore, bringing sobering fear and possibly even death with them. Poe describes these few rooms, each having the decayed remains of the deceased, bringing on a feeling of uneasiness and fear. The air in the crypts is thick and oppressive, with the foul stench of decay and mold, which “…caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.” The main room is described as a small room four feet deep by three feet wide and six feet high, with chains affixed to the walls and human skeletons piled beside the entrance. Here, Montressor lures a drunk Fortunato into the room with the promise of Amontillado, only to chain him up and leave him to die.
<br>The Cask of Amontillado is a horror short story, which revolves around the themes of revenge and pride. The plot involves two men: Montresor, the narrator, who is an Italian aristocrat seeking revenge against the second main character: Fortunato, a proud man that boasts about his conoisseurship of wines and who finally walks to his own death.
Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go
It is often said that revenge is sweet, but that phrase does not hold to be extremely true throughout The Cask of Amontillado. There are various themes and lessons throughout the story, but there is one theme that seems to be shown more than others. The most prevalent theme is that jealousy can lead to vengeance, and ultimately lead to the downfall, or even death, of a person. This theme is clearly evident through the two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato. By looking closer at Montresor’s words and actions toward Fortunato, it is apparent that there is a superfluous amount of jealousy between them. This jealousy that is between them ends up playing a major part in Montresor ultimately killing Fortunato, someone who was thought to be one of his best friends. The author uses the characters and their actions to develop a solid plot line and prove the point that jealousy and revenge can destroy a person, both figuratively and literally.
In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author Edgar Allan Poe allow the reader to be a participant in the story. The story is told by Montresor who shows a rancor against Fortunato for a displeasure that is never textualized defined. Montresor leads an intoxicated Fortunato into a series of halls under his palazzo with the promise of a taste of Amontillado. Throughout the story the, the author uses the first-person point of view to describe Montresor surroundings and show us his thinking, and his feelings.
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.
The Cask of Amontillado is considered to be one of the best short stories. Written by Edgar Allan Poe in first person and having all the main events as a three hundred page fiction book, The Cask of Amontillado is a complete novel. This short story has several themes which function from the first page of the story such as: suspense, fear, and revenge.
Throughout the story the narrator continues to show this side of him. The text states, “...but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” This textual evidence supports the claim by illustrating how he want Fortunato dead because of a little insult. Another example showing the insanity of the narrator is shown on page 4 which says, “We continued our route in search of the amontillado…
"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a frightening and entertaining short story about the severe consequences that result from persistent mockery and an unforgiving heart. Poe’s excellent use of Gothicism within the story sets the perfect tone for a dark and sinister plot of murder to unfold. “The Cask of Amontillado” simply overflows with various themes and other literary elements that result from Poe’s Gothic style of writing. Of these various themes, one that tends to dominant the story as a whole is the theme of revenge, which Poe supports with his sophisticated use of direct and indirect factors, irony, and symbolism.
The intoxication of Fortunato did no longer exist as he screams for Montresor. This is when we begin to show sympathy for Fortunato. Poe total changes his direction here and puts our focus on Fortunato. We begin to realize Montresor never told Fortunato why he left him in the catacombs, although in the beginning of the story he said, “A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (1).
The Cask of Amontillado is overall a gothic story that possesses elements that show it. It uses a sense of dramatic ideas and gloomy settings to create that feeling. Poe uses rhythmic words and thoughts to add to the tensions of the characters and the reader. Dark but revealing, Edgar Allan Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado”, illuminates the different forms of human nature and revenge. Thought the story, there are many ideas that can be tied to human nature and revenge.
Have you ever wanted to get drunk and walk through an underground crypt with a psychopathic murderer? Well, that’s exactly what Fortunato did in Edgar Allen Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado.” Montressor, the story’s main character, lures an inebriated Fortunato down into his wine cellar for the most dastardly of purposes. And as expected from Poe, the story leaves the reader with an ugly taste in the mouth. Edgar Allen Poe uses a variety of literary devices to create a disturbing mood for his audience.