In Edgar Allan Poe's short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” the single effect of terror is achieved by Poe’s alarming word choice, the eerie setting and the spine-chilling and ominous plot that takes place. The readers are introduced to the single effect of horror from the second the story opens and Montresor, the story's narrator, begins to plan his scheme for his revenge on Fortunato. The short story takes place in Italy during the 1800’s and consists of a man named Montresor who decides to seek revenge against a man named Fortunato, who has greatly insulted him. The two men run into each other at a carnival, and soon after, Montresor lures Fortunato into the cimmerian catacombs of his home; however, to Fortunato’s surprise he ends up …show more content…
Throughout the plot, the narrator develops into a murderer who feels absolutely no guilt for his actions and goes through with his messed up plan without hesitation. Furthermore, the readers are first introduced to the narrator's horrid actions and devious plan when he is encouraging Fortunato to continuously consume more and more wine for the main reason of getting him drunk to ultimately make his plan run smoother. The audience sees this in the story when the narrator simplys says to Fortunato, "Drink," I said, presenting him the wine (The Cask Of Amontillado line 93). Although, this quote is simple and to the point it still displays the narrator's crazed mind by forcing Fouranto to consume more and more alcohol to force him into a state of disarray. Also, Poe displays a mood of horror through Montresor’s uneasy words when he is talking about Fortunato struggling by saying, "The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones"(The Cask Of Amontillado line 178). This quote shows how Montresor is truly taking pleasure in Foruantos discomfort and the uneasy moment when Montresor pauses to enjoy the sound of his victim struggling in his chains. This quote reveals the …show more content…
The readers are able to see the haunting plot from the very beginning of the story when Monstruito beings to take action on his devious plan up until the ending of the story when Fortunato struggles within the walls of the catacomb and has the realization that he isn't going to escape. For example, Abby Werlock stated, “The tale is an appropriate demonstration of Poe's ability to capture the terror of confinement and being buried alive.” Through this quote alone, Poe’s overall goal of containing a plot consisting of terror is shown through the monumental ending of Foruanto being buried alive. Additionally, the quote expresses how all of Poe’s works, including the “Cask of the Amontillado” are written with a voice of pure terror and horror. Furthermore, the readers also come into contact with a plot filled with horror through the dialogue between the protagonist and the antagonist. One example being is when the plot is wrapping up and Fortunato's voice breaks through the walls of the catacomb, “It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble Fortunato. The voice said--"Ha! ha! ha! --he! he! he! --a very good joke, indeed --an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a dark piece, much like other works of Edgar Allan Poe, and features the classic unreliable narrator, identified by himself only as Montresor. This sinister central character is a cold ruthless killer that is particularly fearsome because he views murder as a necessity and kills without remorse. Montresor is a character who personifies wickedness. Poe uses this character and his morally wrong thoughts and actions to help the reader identify with aspects of the extreme personage, allowing them to examine the less savory aspects of their own. The character of Montresor detailing the glorious murder he committed is a means of communicating to the reader that vengeance and pride are moral motivators that lead to treacherous deeds and dark thoughts.
The creepy atmosphere in The Cask is created by mostly taking place in the dark, gloomy catacombs, in contrast to the lively, high-spirited carnival setting at the beginning of the story. Poe does an excellent job creating tension by letting the reader know that Montresor, regardless of having only dark intentions, inflates Fortunato’s ego with compliments, hence, having a greater chance of leaving him ignorant of being led to his inevitable doom. Despite guiding Fortunato into a trap, and eventually his death, Montresor stays calm, collected, and even seems to be caring and sympathetic towards F...
Poe describes a change in Montresor, a dynamic character’s attitude, toward Fortunato, where in the beginning of the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor thought of Fortunato as a living thing but near the end he no longer had this thought. In the beginning of the short story, the author described Montresor’s point of view toward Fortunato as acquaintances, which makes the reader think Montresor wasn’t impacted deeply by the incident between him and his “friend”. According to Poe, my dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day!” (Poe, 2). In this quote, Poe conveys the relationship between Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor is considering Fortunato as a friend and greeting him. He also shows his underhandedness because later in the story his feelings change. By the end of the story Montresor’s point of view changed and had gone from compassionate to heartless. For example, after Montresor buried Fortunato alive he mimicked his “friends” screams. “I reechoed -- I aided -- I surpassed them in volume and in strength” (Poe, 6). Montresor had changed his attitude toward Fortunato by this point in the story, he was now only considering the man as nothing more than a sound in the wind.
“The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allen Poe is nothing short of a brilliantly scary masterpiece. We are to believe that Montresor, who is a man of stature and significance, holds a deep dark secret. During a monologue in the story, Montresor tells the reader about his secret. Montresor, a flamboyant man befuddled by the sins of his past, uses cunning and disguise to convince Fortunato to finally ask to be entombed in the family vault. Montresor was insulted by Fortunato and takes his revenge. The author Edgar Allen Poe uses his main character Montresor to twist the fortune for Fortunato to ask to be buried alive by entangling him in a web of theme, allegory and allusion.
First of all, Poe develops his suspenseful and eerie mood through his imagery. The setting of the story is in the catacombs of the Montresors at Montresor's palazzo. His description of the catacombs as Montresor and Fortunato walk past “walls of piled bones”(Poe 348) and notice the niter hanging “like moss”(Poe 348) in the vaults, gives the reader a very uneasy feeling. When Poe describes a deep crypt with walls that were “lined with human remains”(Poe 348), It makes you wonder what will be ahead of them, or what will be coming up as they descend deeper into the catacombs. As they arrive at a deep crypt Poe describes how the air smelled, which made Montresor and Fortunato’s torches “rather to glow than to flame.”(Poe 348) What makes the mood even eerier is when he says how the bones “lay promiscuously upon the earth”(Poe 349)How Poe gives details about the setting adds
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe uses irony to develop his theme of a man who seeks salvation through repression. The narrator begins by telling us that Fortunato has hurt him. Even worse, Fortunato has insulted him. Revenge is another reoccurring theme throughout the story. He meets Fortunato, who is all dressed in jester clothes for a carnival celebration and is already extremely drunk. The narrator mentions he has found a barrel of a rare brandy called Amontillado. Fortunato expresses a lot of interest in verifying the wine’s authenticity. The author, Edgar Allan Poe, writes of Fortunato and Montresor 's revenge. “Montresor is compliant with Fortunato, and they both are prideful, but they both downfall into a horrific ending. The use of language by Edgar Allan Poe supports the understanding of the relationship between the two men “(Poedecoder). Despite the two men sharing common characteristics, one desires
In a psychological perspective, the author’s life is linked with the behavior and motivations of characters in the story. The author’s name is Edgar Allan’s Poe who portrayed his self in his writing. The miserable life of Poe can be measured through “The Cask of Amontillado” in which character named “Montressor” showed indifferent feeling towards his victim. After burying Fortunado alive, Montressor felt bad after burying his victim alive but then he attributes the feeling of guilt to the damp catacombs. To the character and to the author, it seems that ghastly nature murder and the immoral approach of treachery is merely an element of reality. This story is a true representation of author’s anguish and torment nature.
“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.”(Edgar Alan Poe). In the stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat”, both stories demonstrate the horror of reality. Poe explains in one of the stories how Montresor solely focuses on killing Fortunato no matter what. While, in the other story, the man is attempting to rid himself of the black cat haunting him. In a way, this causes both men to go insane in their own ways by the end of their stories. However, the differences in the stories with the murders of Fortunato and the wife, the main characters reasons for the murders and how Montresor’s murder is far clever than the man’s murder.
If proceeding in a cold dark cask, surrounded by the mysterious thoughts of the antagonist, and learning a dark side of a character is an ideal increasing horror story mood, “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allen Poe descriptively brings the imagery to life. The story event pours some devastating news about when two ‘friendships’ die in a horrible revenge full of a dying protagonist. Both characters, Montresor and Fortunato emphasize their personalities from a journey of a drunk or someone who loves revenge. Poe’s first person point of view, characterization and setting in “The Cask of Amontillado” creates the mood of a horror story.
Edgar Allen Poe is known for his exceptional works in writing, one of his particular short story named “The cask of Amontillado” is a true contemporary master piece. The settings that take place in this short story are brilliantly dark descriptions of scenery, that all set the tone of madness and revenge. The settings of “the cask of amontillado” plays a very large role in the story, from the central point of this story guiding the setting changes, to the setting of the crypt that shows a lot of insight into Montresor’s character, and the symbolism that the setting of the crypt represents.
The story can be interpreted as a horror story through the sinister actions and plot twists presented by the use of imagery. Similarly formatted to fit the outline of a horror movie, “The Cask of Amontillado” begins with the warm setting of Montresor and Fortunato crossing paths at a carnival transitioning to a dark setting of the two funneling down the crypts to an environment similar to hell. When the crypt is described as “walls having been lined with human remains piled to the vault overhead...From the fourth the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size” provides a feeling that Fortunato's death is becoming imminent as Montrossors eagerness for revenge continues to grow (Poe 4). The intense emotions and adrenaline rush the reader experiences attracts many due to its appeal of witnessing a terrifying event develop and then not have the outcome effect
Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go to great lengths to fanatically defend their honor.
The focus on the story is about Montresor who seeks revenge, in this case murder, against the man named Fortunato who, as Montresor has claimed, made insults about him and he is tired of it. Montresor decides to come up with a plan to kill Fortunato once and for all. So Montresor, after Fortunato has become drunk, tells Fortunato he has discovered a rare brand of Amontillado. Montresor than brings Fortunato down into the catacombs, which is where Montresor claims it is, and eventually chains Fortunato to a wall all the while mocking him and leaving him to die. The story concludes with Montresor almost bragging that he got away with it fifty years later. “The Cask of Amontillado” was published in 1846 by Godey's Lady's Book the most famous periodical at Poe’s
In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor sets out on a vengeful mission that will end Fortunato’s life in an untimely fate. Montresor appeals to Fortunato’s love for wine to tempt the unsuspecting fellow to his impending doom. While Montresor tricks the foolish Fortunato frightfully, it is ultimately Fortunato’s pride that leads to his demise in the crypt. Poe uses several literary devices to foreshadow this murderous exploit of Montresor. Through the use of irony, symbolism, and imagery, the story entices readers to delve into the relationships and differences between Montresor and Fortunato.
Poe starts out with a man, by the name of Montresor, wanting revenge on another man, named Fortunato. Most of the story takes place deep in the Montresor family catacombs. As Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs, he chains Fortunato up to a small hole in a wall, bricks it over, and leaves Fortunato to die. Even through the traits of anger, hatred, and revenge, as the story progresses on, Montresor, the main character in “The Cask of Amontillado”, starts to show signs of feeling guilty for wanting to murder Fortunato.