Bryson Richardson March 11, 2015 ………………… ………………… The Cask of Amontillado The Cask of Amontillado is one of the most decelerated short stories that Edgar Allan Poe has ever written. Poe has written many short stories and although they may seem similar but there are none that are quite like this one. This is not your typical fairy tale story with a happy ending. It is different and has a spin that the readers never see coming which makes it unique and one of a kind. It uses many literary devices throughout the story to help tell the tell while giving the reader a better visual of what was going on. Just like the rest of Poe’s work, it is also known for its darkness but also stands out amongst the rest because of its popularity and shocking …show more content…
An example of this would be when Fortunato said, “I shall not die of a cough,” Montresor then says, “True,” this is because he knows for a fact that Fortunato will in die from starvation and dehydration in the crypt. Poe also uses Montresor to foreshadow future events when he gives a description of his family’s coat of arms. There is a shield that has a human foot stepping on a tenacious serpent, this image represents the two main characters of the story. The foot represents Montresor and the serpent represents Fortunato. It also represents the outcome. Fortunato often insults Montresor which is one of the roots problems between the two, and the shield also symbolizes that although Montresor will ultimately crush him. Poe uses the conversation about the Masons to foreshadow Fortunato’s demise. Fortunato questions whether or not Montresor is a member of the Masonic order. They go back and forth for a while and Montresor replies insidiously with a visual pun. He declares that he is indeed a mason by showing his trowel, which means that he is a literal stonemason. This means that he constructs things out of stone and this is used to foreshadow and symbolize Fortunato’s grave and