The Cask Of Amontillado Compare And Contrast

Thematically very different, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe and “A&P” by John Updike are both tales told through the eyes of one main character and one has to be conscious of how truthful and reliable those characters words are. However, while both stories are told in the first person, the reliability of both Montresor and Sammy differ greatly.

In the stories of “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” setting takes a big role in both of the stories because it makes the story come to live and you can barely feel what the characters are doing in the story. Setting in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is dark and creepy. The narrator likes to go out at night and visit an old man. He clearly expresses himself how he goes and visits the old man. He is very silent and gentle when he goes to visit the man. This makes us feel he is somewhat weird and likes to go out only at night. “And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it. (Poe 1). The narrator enjoyed creeping into this old man’s house only at midnight when he was sleeping. Meanwhile, in “The Cask of

Edgar Allan Poe is known for some of the most horrifying stories ever written through out time. He worked with the natural world, animals, and weather to create chilling literature. Two most notable thrillers are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe was infatuated with death, disfigurement, and dark characteristics of the world. He could mix characters, setting, theme,and mood in a way that readers are automatically drawn into reading. Both of these short stories have the same major aspects in common.

Firstly, the central conflict in each work is murder; they both revolve around the main characters’ plans and actions of this terrible crime. Both stories share the same plot ideal, but differ in murder execution and justification. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator murders his victim, possibly a family member of his, because he could not stand to look at his eye anymore. He recites, “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” (331). One pale eye, with a film over it that resembled a vulture, influenced the murder of the old man. The execution occurred when the narrator, “Dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him” (333). The narrator smothered the old man until he suffocated and died. However, in “The Cask of Amontillado”, the narrator, Montressor, desires to kill his friend, Fortunato, because he insulted his family’s honor, and he wanted revenge. Montressor utters, “When he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (190). His murder was executed by trapping his victim in a walled-up enclosure, in the deep vaults of a remote crypt on his property. Montressor explains “With these materials (building stone and mortar) and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche” (193). Both narrators committed cruel, unnecessary murders, and they could be considered psychotic.

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.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled — but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. 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.

Both of Poe’s texts “A Dream Within a Dream” and “The Cask of Amontillado” are contrasting, but they are also similar in some ways. Both of the texts portray their ideas in a dark and gloomy matter. The poem presents its theme on the beach with pitiless waves, whereas the short story is related with murder and driven with evil intentions. These similarities are all aspects of Dark Romanticism. These Dark Romantics reveal that they will do anything to reach their goal. For example, Montresor explains, “AT LENGTH I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled” (Poe). The passage further solidifies the idea of Dark Romanticism by the degree of pursuing one’s goals. In the poem, it shows Poe’s life is ending

"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. 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." With these ferverous words from the introductory paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado, the story of Montresor's revenge begins. Poe repeatedly stresses the need for revenge due to bitterness and resentment in Montresor's character towards Fortunato, but more importantly, stress is placed on revenge by which the victim realizes their injustice towards the redresser. Unfortunately, it seems that Montresor is denied this pure and encompassing revenge when his victim,

In The Cask of Amontillado Montresor lived for fifty years after killing Fortunato and he narrates the events of the story coldly and that leads some to wonder whether or not Montresor has changed and if he has changed how did he change. Over the fifty years between the events of The Cask Of Amontillado and the time when Montresor narrates the story, time changed Montresor into a guilty and shamed man that may have PTSD.

The first –person narration style of “The Cask of Amontillado” is vital in creating the quality of the story. The story allows one of the main characters in the story Montresor, to tell the story from his point of view which gives the reader intimate yet disturbing look into the mind story teller thinks and feels which the reader doesn’t normally get from other narrative styles. The narrative style of this story is important because it sets the tone of the story. The reader become more familiar with the thoughts and intentions of the main character and this allows the reader to slightly figure out the outcome of the story and further understand the ironies throughout the story. If this story was told from a different angle I don’t believe it would be as powerful. Narration in first-person “can evoke a stronger emotional attachment with readers; from the first instance, the reader connects with the main protagonist. It is his/her voice, thoughts and feelings being portrayed; therefore, this is the person the reader is most likely to bond with” (Wright). The first-person narrative style establishes a more personal connection between the reader and the narrator, who in this case is also the main character. In “The Cask of Amontillado” the narrator uses a very familiar tone to connect with the audience as if he knew his reader: “You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe, 739). This line is one of the

Those people don’t receive the option of dying and escaping from the nightmare. The crimes, lies, and attacks that Tull, Dyer, and Oldring commit shock persuade the readers to hate

Phaethon set the world on fire by driving his father’s chariot, while Montresor buried his friend, Fortunato, alive in a wall in the catacombs. Two completely different stories but both can be compared through mood and characterization and a common theme. The mood of the story is based off of when and where the story takes place, the setting and the certain vibe that the setting gives off.

In the text “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe Montresor’s commitment to getting revenge on Fortunato is like a bounty hunter not giving up to apprehend a fugitive. In the text, Montresor main mission is to get rid of Fortunato a wine taster like himself who did “a thousand wrongs” (Poe, 67). Or did something so bad that it equals a thousand wrongs .The two characters set off into Montresor’s vaults, to taste the Amontillado that Montresor so called “bought”. The real question is what did Fortunato do to have this cruel revenge meet upon him. What makes Montresor able to wreak revenge upon Fortunato is his commitment, his preparation, and his persuasive skills.

In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, Poe put a lot of thought into the costumes that Montresor and Fortunato wore. Poe wanted to make the costumes represent of what they are going to do in the story. In the story Fortunato did something to Montresor, so seeked revenge. During the carnival Montresor lured Fortunato into his catacombs, a underground burial of family, and Montresor got Fortunato drunk. Montresor then chained Fortunato to the wall, Montresor then made a wall in front of Fortunato, and then Montresor dropped a fire stick into the wall. The costumes worn by Montresor and Fortunato are appropriate to the story to the story.

The characters carry the mindset that if the tragedy does not happen to them, there remains no reason to dwell on it any longer. By ignoring a terrible occurrence, it makes that occurrence easier for people to comprehend. If a person remains largely unaffected, they retain the freedom to carry on with the life they know how to live. By possessing the ability to detach oneself from the situation, it makes the information bearable. Those unaffected by tragedy in their society weave their lives around those tragedies while retaining a sense of