Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Cask Of Amontillado

Just imagine a world without literary devices to help build up a story’s theme, that would sure be boring! In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” literary devices are used all throughout the story to help strengthen the theme. In this gripping short story, 2 men, Mr. Montresor and Fortunado, venture down into the catacombs of Italy in pursuit of wine. However, Mr.Montresor has another plan, and that is to kill Fortunado for wronging him in the past. As Fortunado learns his fate, he also learns the theme most present in this short story, being careful who you trust. This theme is better developed and strengthened by the use of three main literary devices, irony, unreliable narrator, and foreshadowing. Irony helps build

“I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaire a trowel” (Poe). Although this quote is brief, it has a great deal of meaning, when interpreted correctly. We can see here that foreshadowing is used, because the story comes to end with Montresor using the trowel to build a wall, and that leads to Fortunado’s death. When he pulls the trowel out, it can give both the reader and Fortunado a hint at what will happen later in the story, which should have caused Fortunado to be more cautious. When we see this device being used, it can better help develop the theme because we are hinted at what is coming ahead, and it makes the reader weary to trust Fortunado. It can also show that when a someone suspiciously does something or hints at something, they should not be trusted. "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel." When Montresor describes his family crest to Fortunado, we can see a hint of foreshadowing. The crest described by Montresor shows a foot crushing a serpent biting the foot, suggesting that Montresor is the foot, and Fortunado is the serpent. This can show foreshadowing because it shows that Montresor will not let Fortunado go unpunished, and that eventually happens. We are able to see this device strengthen the theme due to Montresor’s hinting at what is to come, which shows that Fortunado, once again, shouldn’t have trusted him. It also helps the theme because we see that people should not be too trusting, as shown in Fortunado’s