Symbolism In Cask Of Amontillado

How seriously do you take the reputation of your family name? If someone hurt that reputation, would you act in any possible way to fix it? In this story, we can see how far a man named Montresor goes to avenge his families stained name. The story is set in the 16th century at a carnival somewhere in Italy. Between two families, there was conflict because one family hurt another in a very bad way. Fortunato has wronged Montresor, but his ignorance leads him to think Montresor is his friend. Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “A Cask of Amontillado” portrays the symbolic meaning of Fortunato’s death through some examples of instances where Poe symbolizes the Montresor motto, the laying of the bricks, and the jingling bells. First and foremost, the

At the beginning of the story, Poe mentions that the bells were ring, mostly when Fortunato had something to say. It showed that Fortunato was alive in his foolish clothes. “Montressor first makes a fool of Fortunato by manipulating him, mentioning the Amontillado, then the name of Luchesi” (Explanation, 4). His foolish clothes and foolish bells illustrate the foolish decisions that he will make. Fortunato’s bells also displays his excitement throughout the story. “The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled as he strode” (Poe, 238). Every time Fortunato got exited in the story, Poe mentions that his bells jingled. Towards the end we see that the bells begin to mean death for Fortunato. His bells seem to be mentioned less when Fortunato approaches the amontillado he desires to taste. “’You jest,’ he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. ‘But let us proceed to the Amontillado’” (Poe, 239). Though a place like the catacombs would seem creepy for any normal person, Fortunato is not aware of anything suspicious. Then, the last jingle of the bells symbolizes how the life of Fortunato left from him. “There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells” (Poe, 240). The last jingle before the last brick was laid symbolized the closing of the conflict between them and their