What Does The Cask Of Amontillado Represent

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The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe is a story about revenge. A man named Montresor is insulted by Fortunato. Because of this, Montresor leads Fortunato to his catacombs and buries him alive. The Cask of Amontillado shows symbolism by hinting that Montresor is strong and wise by using symbols on Montresor’s coat of arms that mean wisdom and strength. Montresor's family coat of arms symbolizes that Montresor has strength. Montresor's family coat of arms has a field of azure in the background. Azure symbolizes strength. Montresor uses strength while killing Fortunato. Poe says, “I struggled with its weight; I placed it partially in its destined position.” (5) Montresor struggled with the weight both emotionally and physically because the weight of taking a human life would be hard to bear. However, he was still able to secure the last block in, leaving Fortunato to die. This shows that Montresor is strong and able to bring himself to killing a person. Edgar Allen Poe symbolizes that Montresor is strong using his family’s coat of arms. …show more content…

On the coat of arms is a serpent, which is symbolic for wisdom. Montresor uses wisdom in the planning of Fortunato’s murder. He uses Fortunato’s competitive side to lure him onto the catacombs. At the beginning of the story Montresor refers to Fortunato’s rival saying that he can have Fortunato’s rival wine taster test the wine since Fortunato is busy. This caused Fortunato to insist on going into the catacombs to taste the wine. It is wise of Montresor to make Fortunato want to come into the catacombs instead of forcefully dragging Fortunato with him; especially in a large crowd. Montresor also asks all of his workers to stay inside the house with the party, so that there are no potential witnesses to his crime; which is wise. Montresor’s coat of arms shows that Montresor is

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