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The Cask Of Amontillado, And A Rose For Emily

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Liberation from sort of oppressive force is a key theme in many forms of art, especially literature. It gives the audience a celebratory feeling of escapism when the hero succeeds that may be fulling to many readers. However, centering the entire story around theme of entrapment can also utilized as an obstacle for a protagonist to overcome. Very rarely do authors revolve their entire stories around this idea, often because it is difficult to make a crowd pleasing and optimistic piece of fiction surrounding such a downer subject. Sonny’s Blues, The Cask of Amontillado, and A Rose for Emily all use the theme of ensnarement by internal or external forces to express radically different concepts, which range from creative expression, to …show more content…

Additionally, Sonny’s brother is an external force that seeks to manipulate the course of his life. He is consistently critical of the music he plays and is dismisses it as nothing more than “noise.” From Sonny’s perspective, his music represents an impassioned expression of the suffering that he has experienced in his life. His ability to play the music he likes, in this case jazz, is the one point in Sonny’s life in which he has complete autonomy. This parallels his passion for heroine when Sonny says: “It makes you feel like you’re- in control. Sometimes you’ve got to have that feeling.” (Baldwin Page 86) Fortunately, Sonny’s brother comes to the realization that his brother’s love of his music and the independence it gives him is ultimately beneficial to him rather than problematic. Moving on, The Cask of Amontillado centers almost entirely on the theme of imprisonment. The main thrust of the drama in the story involves a man being chained behind a wall as part of a macabre revenge plot. Poe outlines the goal of the protagonist from the beginning to inform the audience and heighten the suspense surrounding the act. Opposed to the other two stories, the theme of involuntary captivity is represented primarily in the

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