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Connections between poe's life and the cask of amontillado
Narration analysis the cask of amontillado
Connections between poe's life and the cask of amontillado
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“The Cask of Amontillado” is an ironic short story written by Edgar Allen Poe. Poe used symbolic irony to describe who his characters were, how they dressed, and the settings in which the events took place. In this short story symbolic irony was used to define how Montresor, one of the prominent characters, sought his way to redemption by repressing his friend Fortunato to his demise. Poe’s two prominent characters in “The Cask of Amontillado” was Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor, whose name means “to show fate,” is a man with a bitter heart seeking for revenge.
Poe was not insane! He was just a very sad man who expressed the hurt he felt through writing. Edgar Allan Poe was the best at creating suspense and mood by keeping you interested with intense descriptions. He did a wonderful job at appealing to the readers sense of imagery by describing the catacombs. In Cask Of Amontillado, he goes into great detail of the walls of the catacombs by saying, "The drops of moisture trickle among the bones."
Unfortunate Fate in “The Cask of Amontillado” From the beginning of the of the story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator, Montresor, opens the story stating that the “thousand injuries” and irreparable insult caused by Fortunato won’t stay unpunished, and he seeks for revenge (Poe 467). Poe creates a sense of terror while he guides the audience to the unexpected revenge. The terror that Poe creates in the audience is only successful due to the use of literary elements. The use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony are essential to build the suspense that guides the reader throughout the story to a tragic ending.
In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe uses many techniques to create and heighten the suspense of the story. In the article "Poe and the Gothic of the Normal: Thinking 'Inside the Box'" written by Elaine Hartnell-Mottram says, “this tale is told by an unhelpful first-person narrator, who is also the protagonist, to an addressee who is not directly involved in the action of the narrative and about whom we can deduce nothing with any certainty”. Nothing is certain in this short story. Poe uses many sources of irony and foreshadowing during the short story as well. As the story begins, there is suspense built up between the two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato.
In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe displays the theme of revenge and manipulation. The narrator Montresor pledges revenge on Fortunato for an insult that is never explained. He maintains an appearance of goodwill towards Fortunato and decides to make use of Fortunato's weakness for fine wines against him. During the carnival season, the narrator approaches Fortunato, telling him that he has come across something that could pass for Amontillado a rare and expensive wine. Fortunato being excited about the news insists on accompanying Montresor to the vaults to determine whether it is Amontillado or not.
As Montresor takes his unsuspecting victim into the depths of his crypt, he has revenge in mind. Edgar Allen Poe is known for his frightening tales which use description as their main weapon. In “The Cask of Amontillado” he creates an unforgiving main character (Montresor) who seeks revenge against a man who has abused him. The narration, surroundings, and the twisted plot creates a spectacular, horrifying tale.
Issac Newton said that “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people. ”(Newton). “The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe is a story about hidden intrinsic lunacy of human by applying 3 literary devices to explain its theme: irony, symbolism and foreshadowing. Through the literary devices, the story succeeded to reveal peculiar atmosphere, features of characters and an allusion to Fortunato’s death. To start with the first literary device, “The Cask of Amontillado” used 2 kinds of ironies such as verbal and situational irony to imply Montresor’s murder plan.
The story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is a story that expresses revenge and betrayal. The story introduces darkness and pure evil through Montresor and through situations in the story. The main character Montresor is a devious and cruel person leading a fellow friend to his own death. The second character the author uses in the story is Fortunato. Fortunato has a huge ego and is obsessed with wine because of that Montresor uses that towards his advantage and leads Fortunato to his death.
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe uses visual imagery to create suspense. At a crucial point in the story the main character Montresor says “my heart grew sick on account of the dampness of the catacombs.” Here Montresor is contemplating whether or not to “take out” Fortunato. While wandering through the catacombs Montresor intentionally gives Fortunato more wine so that he does not realize he is going further and further into the catacombs. When the reader hears him say “my heart grew sick” that raises the question of why, Montresor feels bad for Fortunato at this specific time in the story. The reader is found in suspense wondering what is going to happen next is Montresor going to kill Fortunato or not?
In Edgar Allan Poe’s work, A Cask of Amontillado, one of his most popular works, we observe the unwarranted vengeance of a man named Montresor against his foe Fortunato. Poe uses several literary elements to best express how Montresor gets his revenge, environment and garb worn by the two characters. They enhance the setting, foreshadowing and symbolism in the story to create the overall theme; the theme being that madness will consume you and drive you to unspeakable acts. In A Cask of amontillado, Poe uses three literary elements to express the outcome and process in which Montresor schemes to kill Fortunato, verbal irony, dramatic irony, and foreshadowing.
The Cask of Amontillado is a story that shows just far people will go for revenge. Poe uses the story to send the message to the reader that revenge can only sometimes be settled by death. Fortunato was not so fortunate with his death for being very prideful in his wine tasting skills. Montresor was indeed a monster for wanting to kill Fortunato over a small insult.
In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe uses hyperboles to develop a theme of revenge and retaliation in the plot. Montressor commits much time to bring across “the thousand injuries [for] Fortunato, ...but when [Fortunato] ventured upon insult” Montresor deems revenge (Poe, 1). In this device of a hyperbole which is implied in the hook of the story, the tone and theme of the plot is already starting to set. The over-exaggeration of the many injuries Montresor says he has set up for Fortunato, and the addition of the insults Fortunato provides already describe the disputes between the two.
Foreshadowing is another literary technique that Poe successfully embeds in “The Cask of Amontillado title itself. The word “Cask” in the title portrays/resembles the idea of a real casket where a person lays after their death, which persuades the reader to come to the conclusion that the story involves the death of an individual. Additionally, another substantial moment of foreshadowing entertaining with hyperbole is the opening line of “The Cask of Amontillado”. Poe begins the story with Montresor vowing his revenge upon Fortunato “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge”, which foreshadows Fortunato’s death as Montresor had suffered enough of the insults.
The author's choice of words helps create the mood of shock because he describes Montresor’s actions after Fortunato gets a sense of what is being done to him. The author’s description keeps readers in shock because they can’t believe how cold Montresor was. Even though he never showed the side of him, he had it all along. The author’s use of words in the description makes the readers feel like they are in the story wondering what will happen next. Poe wanted the reader to understand what was going on in the “Cask of Amontillado”, so he wrote a detailed story choosing words that connected with his readers.
In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor lures his friend-turned-enemy Fortunato into the depths of the catacomb underneath Montresor’s home. For a reason unknown to the reader, Montresor seeks revenge against Fortunato. With an enticing, irresistible plan Montresor uses Fortunato’s pride to deceive and eventually kill Fortunato. Without Poe’s use of irony, the suspense throughout the plot would be inadequate in setting the story's disturbing tone. Irony through characterization and location affects the readers with the greatest amount of suspense in this short story.
