In paragraphs 1 through 23 of “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe takes the reader on a riveting mind game. As the reader reads the reader slowly realizes that the narrator is both an astute observer of his fellow humans and a frightening psychopath and he does this through steps and slowly letting the reader into the narrator’s mind. Early in the tale Montresor, the narrator, opens the story by stating that he has been irreparably insulted by his acquaintance, Fortunato, and that he seeks revenge. The reader at this point doesn’t know or understand the malicious intent that Montresor has. The narrator speaks on the wrong doing and how Fortunato “ventured upon insult”. He speaks wants to exact this revenge, however, in a …show more content…
During the conversation, Montresor flattered him by obsequiously asking his opinion on a newly acquired cask of Amontillado. He tantalized Fortunato with the rare liquor, even pretending that his vaults where the wine was stored had too much dampness and "nitre" for Fortunato's affliction. He knew that Fortunato would be determined to taste the wine and insisted on being taken to Montresor's home. Furthering his demented plan he even plays Fortunato’s own ego against him by suggesting that another man would tell him what he wanted to know, knowing this would only make him want to taste the sherry even more. With this in mind, he sets the trap for Fortunato. He gives Fortunato numerous opportunities to back out, using the tricks of classic conmen by playing on Fortunato's greed and pride. Fortunato insists so Montresor complied while wrapping himself in a cloak to make sure that he would not be recognized. Earlier, he had told all of the servants that he would not be returning for the night and to “not stir from the house” this “[insured] their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned”. Montresor used the excuse of the carnival; in this way, he would avoid arousing Fortunato's suspicions and would also prevent anyone from witnessing the atrocity he planned to commit. Apparently, Montresor had been planning this revenge for a long time and, ironically, had chosen carnival time as
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous writer in writing detective stories and horror stories. One of his horror stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” was talking about how a man took his revenge to his friend. However, to look deeply in this story, I found that this story was not just simply a horror tale about how a man gets his revenge in the safest way. Instead, it also demonstrates much irony in several areas: the title, the event, the season, the costume, the environment, the characters’ personalities, a man’s dignity and cockiness and at the end, the public order. he are
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a frightening and entertaining short story about the severe consequences that result from persistent mockery and an unforgiving heart. Poe’s excellent use of Gothicism within the story sets the perfect tone for a dark and sinister plot of murder to unfold. “The Cask of Amontillado” simply overflows with various themes and other literary elements that result from Poe’s Gothic style of writing. Of these various themes, one that tends to dominant the story as a whole is the theme of revenge, which Poe supports with his sophisticated use of direct and indirect factors, irony, and symbolism.
In “The Cask of Amontillado” Poe creates suspense through foreshadowing with words with strong connotations which creates anticipation in the reader. Within the short story there are multiple examples of foreshadowing throughout. The narrator “vowed revenge”(1) on Fortunato,but then further emphasizes his point by stating, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (1). One understands the speaker’s intensity to fulfill his desire, while being unaware of the process. Poe creates a very dark and heavy tone using words with strong connotation. It expresses the passion and commitment within Montresor to complete the deed. From this quotation one can understood that the speaker will release his revenge intensely as the quotation also represents
The intricately placed details and glimpses of death in “The Cask of Amontillado” can establish a dark and thought-provokingly immersive environment for the reader to explore. Being able to make a connection with a story and digging in is a wonderful experience and is something every reader should be able to do. That is why “The Cask of Amontillado” is such an important story. Poe left out any extra details that were not needed and boiled the story down to the core essentials. This allows the reader to look straight into the heart of the story and immerse themselves in it
<br>The way the narrator treats his enemy is one of the clearest examples for ironic elements. When the characters meet, Montresor realises that Fortunato is afflicted with a severe cold, nevertheless he makes a point of him looking "remarkably well". Montresor acts in the most natural and friendly way towards the man object of his revenge, and even praises his "friend's" knowledge in the subject of wines. Also upon their meeting, Montresor begins a psychological manipulation of Fortunato. He claims that he needs his knowledge to ascertain that the wine he has purchased is indeed Amontillado. Furthermore, he acknowledges that Fortunato is engaged in another business (i.e.: the celebration of carnival), so he would go to Luchresi, who, one is made to believe, is a competitor of Fortunato's. To these words, Fortunato is forced by his pride to accompany Montresor to the vaults (where the Amontillado is kept), dissipate his doubts and also to prove his higher status than Luchresi as a connoisseur of wine. In fact, during their way down under in the catacombs, the twisted mind of Montresor, dares to give Fortunato the chance to go back, due to the almost unbearable dampness and foulness rampant in the vaults and Fortunato's state of health. The narrator clearly knows about the stubborn nature of Fortunato, and is
"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.
Conflict: For Montresor to revenge himself for Fortunato’s insult, he has to get away with it – if Fortunato can revenge him back,
The story initially starts off telling us the situation where Fortunato had wounded Montresor a “thousand” times. One day, Fortunato goes too far and insults Montresor ultimately resulting in Montresor vowing revenge. Montresor has to craft a perfect plan, for if Fortunato is able to revenge him in return then Montresor’s efforts will have been in vain.
Human nature can be driven by many things such as hate, pain, and even happiness. Humans can be very sensitive to many things. That's why when someone runs through the middle of the road, people get mad, and when someone crashes their car into their neighbor's house, their neighbor yells at them and makes them pay for it. Some components of human nature are; revenge, greed, and the will to survive.
The cast of Amontillado was written by Allan Poe at a time when he felt he was being unjustly attacked. Most critics believe that the cask of Amontillado was written by Poe against his critics in the Mirror. I believe the cask of Amontillado is a story of Revenge and Hatred against some friends whom be believed had wrongfully accused him. A review of Allan Poe as a person and his experiences in life is essential a clear understanding of "The Cask of Amontillado". Hence, I will apply a cultural method of interpretation.
As the story progresses, Montresor devises a careful plan to lure Fortunato to his death trap, but he is careful enough not to place himself at risk. He approaches him at a carnival, and plays on his victim’s weakness for wine by offering to show him a brand of wine akin to the light Spanish sherry, Amontillado (8). The narrator presents an interesting description of his encounter with Fortunato at the carnival; at first expressing dislike for his friend’s behavior by claiming that he approached him with too much warmth since he was drunk, but then he adds that he was extremely delighted to see Fortunato at that particular moment. This illustrates the depth of Montresor’s desire to exert revenge on his friend, since the sole reason of his pleasure at seeing Fortunato is that he knew his plans had taken off, and he anticipated the satisfaction of the act of brutal revenge.
By using word choice, Poe created extravagant amounts of suspense. “The Cask of Amontillado” is a great example of how Poe uses literary elements, using them to depict a story of revenge and create a suspenseful mood. This is shown in lines 149 to 152 when the book states the following: “We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on and descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.” This quote uses imagery to describe the setting and uses sensory details to help create the suspenseful mood. This helps set the tone of the story which contributes to the overall feel of the story which can make or break a piece of literature. This is how Poe expertly uses literary terms in “The Cask of Amontillado” to help produce the suspenseful mood that improves on his pieces of literature.
Montresor is untrustworthy from the very beginning. By montresor vowing revenge early on ,the readers cannot trust his unreliable story. The text states , “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had born as long I could”(poe 59). The reader cannot trust montresor because montresor wants to kill fortunato.The reader cannot trust someone who has vengeance on others. There are always two sides to a story there side your side and the truth. And in this story we only got one side. James F. Cooney says “In the course of the narrative we learn how montresor used the cutting edge of irony to give a surgeon’s neatness to his work and to secure the greatest possible delight of himself” (Cooney 15 ). Montresor is trying to kill fortunato. He finds delight in the the act of killing fortunato. His murder
narrator Montresor uses revenge as a motive to trick and murder and old friend, Fortunato, in the