Similarities Between The Cask Of The Amontillado And A Poison Tree

The story “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe and the poem “A Poison Tree”, by William Blake both focus on the idea of rage against a foe and the urge to get revenge on that foe. Both of these pieces of writing use literary elements such as imagery and irony to help convey the theme of each piece of literature. Both of these texts use imagery to help the reader have a better sense of how the setting and the actions of the characters. They both use irony to help make the reader more aware of what is going on than the actual characters in the story or poem. They both focus on a different element such as the story “The Cask of the Amontillado” uses more irony to help to make a more mysterious feel. The poem “A Poison Tree” uses more imagery to help relate rage and anger to nature.

Edgar Allen Poe uses irony to tell the reader that the foe of the narrator, Fortunato, is going to die but he doesn’t know it. One example of irony is when Fortunato says, “‘the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough’”(Poe, 36). This is an example of situational irony because Fortunato doesn’t know, but when he said that the cough will not kill him, it might lead him to his death when the catacombs he will be sealed in will make his cough deadly. This use of situational irony conveys the theme because even from one insult from Fortunato drove the narrator to take revenge by killing him and he has a dark perspective of how he is going to end Fortunato’s life by making him suffer. Edgar Allen poe uses a lot of irony and also uses imagery, but “A Poison Tree” also uses irony but it has more examples of