“The Cask of Amontillado” is a marvelous story written by an incredible man, Edgar Allen Poe. It has many hidden fine points in addition to being a humorous read. “Likewise, many of Poe’s gothic tales seem to involve supernatural happenings; but insinuated into them, like clues in a detective story, are details which begin to construct dramatic frames around the narrative ‘voice’ of the work” (Roberts and Zweig pg. 531). “The Cask of Amontillado” has many symbolic and ironic details, it also has several instances of foreshadowing; this is what makes the story truly fascinating. Poe uses many examples of symbolism within this story, for instance: the absurdity of the period during the festival, the true meaning of Montresor’s name, and what the Montresor family sigma means. The absolute lunacy of carnival season symbolizes the insanity of the storyteller’s mind. The setting of carnival gives the story its amazing nature; it is only undermined by the absurdity of Montresor’s thirst for retribution. Montresor’s name is French for my treasure. The “treasure” that the narrator holds is the knowledge of the most impeccable revenge. The Montresor family arms is more peculiar than Montresor’s name; however, the strangest of all is the family saying. The symbol portrays a foot crushing a serpent’s head while the …show more content…
Fortunato says “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough” (Poe pg. 526). Montresor agrees that it was true, because he knew that Fortunato would indeed not perish of a cough; Montresor had already envisioned the way he was actually going to die. Another example of foreshadowing is when Montresor produced a trowel from his cloak. Fortunato, in his drunken stupor, believed it to be a masonic dagger. Perhaps if he was sober, he might have realized how odd it would be for Montresor to be carrying around a