Cask of Amontillado
The story Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe has a lot of imagery in it. Imagery was a big part of the story. The imagery used enhanced the mood and setting of it.
The main imagery I noticed was the dark mood. Also the perfect setting for a murder.
For example when Montresor is leading Fortunato down in the catacombs the author describes the skulls, how dark it is, and how there is cob webs. This details the dark mood and it also shows how horrific it was down there. It was the perfect place to commit a crime.
Another thing that created the dark mood was Montresor and his thoughts of revenge. It tells us that he had enough of Fortunato's insults. He was determined to be avenged for Fortunato's cruel insults.
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The setting imagery was damp and encrusted with niter. The author also includes the line “a long winding staircase” this shows the reader how far down they went. The fact that Fortunato was getting a cough from the conditions in the catacombs lets the reader envision how dark and damp it was.
Another thing that made the setting truly horrific was the line “walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs” this lets us imagine what it's like to walk through the catacombs. Its also letting us think about what the characters were thinking when they were walking through these catacombs themselves.
Imagery is a big part of each story. This story had a lot of imagery like “see, it increases. It hangs like moss upon the vaults (niter).” “The drops of moisture trickle among the bones.” This makes the reader feel like we can see the niter and the drops of moisture. Mentioning the bones and how the moisture trickles among them creates the dark mood and fear. “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” This line lets the reader know how confusing it was to manage your way through and how bad it smelled because of the decomposing
Meanwhile as Fortunato was concocting his plan beneath the earth, Montressor was heading back to his house feeling slightly guilty about what he had done. “He insulted me, he made me to be less that I am, he had it coming.”, Montressor told himself reassuringly. But that did not erase the ominous tone he now felt in the vaults. Something was not quite right since he pushed that last brick into place in Fortunato’s tomb. Shaking the feeling off as best as he could he reached the top of the catacombs and entered his home with a taste for the barrel of wine that he knew was Amontillado all along. After his drink he returned to his bedroom for the night and before he fell asleep he heard a small voice in his head saying that Fortunato was still alive and that he was coming for him.
Continually drawing Fortunato’s attention to the nitre on the walls, seems a symbolic manifestation of the web of lies Montresor must weave throughout the journey. He uses Fortunato’s vanity as a weapon against him, "Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter” (Poe).
Because the reader knows of the narrator’s alternate motive, this passage also shows dramatic irony. Later in the story, Fortunato is being led deeper and deeper into the Montresor catacombs by the narrator, who claims that Amontillado, Fortunato’s most desired wine, is the prize they are seeking. While they are here, the narrator describes their surroundings, saying, “observe the white web-work which gleams from these cavern walls” (3). When he says this, he is speaking of the potassium nitrate that lines the catacomb’s walls, purposefully pointing it out to Fortunato. This setting description is relating the “nitre” covered walls to the web work of spiders. This image of spiders creates a mood that is creepy, eerie, and dangerous. This passage also foreshadows the future death of Fortunato. The narrator is pointing out the toxic walls to Fortunato, refering them to spiders, which can be deadly and poisonous. This foreshadows Fortunato’s death because when the potassium nitrate is set aflame by the narrator, it
in the book is very dark, and it helps set the awful mood for the rest
Hoping to obtain revenge, Montresor, the narrator, lures Fortunato, one of his friends, into the depths of his catacombs to be murdered. Montresor says, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge"(149). This is the first line in the story, and this is why Montresor seeks revenge. There is no explanation of the insults that Montresor received, so the reader may infer that Montresor is just lying. The insults that were received could possibly be just outdoing in the business arena. Montresor might be using that excuse for his desire to kill Fortunato, because he may be killing Fortunato out of jealousy. Montresor is likely telling this story to a family member, friend, or his doctor while lying on his deathbed. Montresor says, "…your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter."(150). Montresor just admitted that he knows Fortunato is better than he. Montresor may have been under the influence of jealousy. Redd 4 There are different theories to ...
rushed tone and you are held on the edge by the suspense that something dark could happen at anytime. There are hints throughout the storyline that give innuendos that there is revenge in the near future. The dreary tone of death looms in the air as the two characters interact with one another. Montresor, although he is all smiles in front of Fortunato, is planning the demise of his foe in his head. Fortuna mistreats Montresor and this is why he has such...
To set the tone in the story the author had to describe the surroundings of the characters. For example the author states, "with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit." when giving a detailed response of how he feels about the house. This helps show that the author himself feels depressed when in sight of the building and gives the reader a thought of how the house looks. Other textual evidence in the passage also shows a feeling of suspense like the quote, "There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart - an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime. " which is how the author feels when he thinks about the house. The author cannot bear to imagine the house because he has a dark and negative imagination with different fears he thinks can come to life because of how unsettling the house makes him feel. While suspense is a direct indication of a depressed and dark tone, some other Gothic elements can be used indirectly to describe negative values in the story.
Carefully, cautiously the Montresor plotted precisely how he would exact revenge upon Fortunato. Much time and great energy was devoted to this plan, selecting a time that would be best: during carnival when the town would be celebratory, his servants apt to run off and join the celebration, when the two could silently disappear without notice or question. No detail is forgotten; he allows for no deterrents. He follows through with such a confidence that never does he stumble or hesitate in carrying out his plan. The Montresor indicates that he had never given. To continue with this ploy, he even goes so far as to express false concern for Fortunato as they pass through the catacombs. Blaming the nitre and damp, the Montresor suggests that they turn back as not to compromise Fortunato’s ill health, though he has no intent of doing so. Never once until the very end did Fortunato have cause to suspect that there were any foul plans afoot.
In “The Cask of Amontillado”, the combination of the carnival and the catacomb settings contribute to the themes of revenge, and deception which the protagonist takes responsibility in. Because the story takes place during the carnival, the protagonist, Montressor, has an easier time plotting against Fortunato:
In her article, Renee utters that when the thought of vengeance build up in an individual’s brain, it coerces him insane and does not tolerate him to present it a second thought. The first sentence of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge,” clearly describes the whole theme of the story as a deeply enrooted revenge in Montresor’s mind” which is an absolute portrayal of retribution that occurs due to arrogance and jealousy. Author sees himself as a superior individual and was victimized by a superiority complex which is quite visible through the phrases which he wrote in the story that Montressor expresses superiority as showed his victim as a foolish person by attributing weird physical appearance and dress appearance in which he described his dress code of “tight fitting parti striped dress and head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.”
Because Montresor narrates the story in the first person, the reader is able to perceive his thoughts and understand his motivations and justifications for his ruthless murder in a manner which a third person point of view would not allow. Montresor’s personal narration of the events of the story does not justify his crime in the audience’s eyes, but it does offer a unique opportunity for the audience to view a murder from the perspective of a madman killer. It is Poe’s usage of this unique angle that causes the story to be so captivating and gruesomely fascinating. As the story opens, Montresor explains why it is necessary that he “not only punish but punish with impunity” to avenge for Fortunado’s insult to him. This justification for his crime is a piece of information that the audience is able to learn only because they are permitted inside the mind of the protagonist. In the final scene, when Montresor is carrying out his murder pl...
Through the acts, thoughts, and words of the protagonists Montresor, the reader is able to feel the psychological torment that Fortunato is about to endure. The first line in the story Montresor said “The thousand of injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (553). Revenge remains a constant theme through the entire story. Montresor went to great lengths planning the revenge and murder of Fortunato. He knows that during the carnival everyone will be dressed in costume, mask, and drinking. No-one will be able to recognize them. Montresor himself put on a “mask of black silk” (554) and a “roquelaire” (554). He has also made certain that his attendants’ would not be at home, to be sure that there are no witnesses to his horrendous act.
In the Montresor family Catacombs, it is a dark, damp, and maze-like place, not to mention underground as well. The quote, “We had passed through walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling into the inmost recesses of catacombs.” shows that the catacombs were truly a large burial site, not just a storage type of thing, which in turn added to the eerie feeling. Another thing that added to this feeling is when Poe wrote, “Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris.” this quote, while similar to the last, still nonetheless added to an discomforting overall feeling. In the end Fortunado was chained to a wall and hidden away in those
The first indirect factor that could contribute to Montresor’s vengeful act, and thus the story’s theme of revenge, is the character of Montresor. Montresor tends to harbor feelings of resentment and has a hard time not taking things out of context (Womack). He also plans the murder of Fortunato in advance and devises it in such a way that he will not be caught. In killing Fortunato, Montreso...
The major characteristics of the narrator and main character, Montresor, are anger, hatred, and revenge. In the story, he is angry with Fortunato because he believes that Fortunato has wronged and insulted him many times by saying, “thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could…he ventured upon insult…” (Poe). In addition, Montresor’s hatred for Fortunato goes so far that he believes he must kill Fortunato. He mentions this in the story as, “[y]ou, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe). He seems to say that his soul is made of hatred and goes on to say he must give Fortunato the utmost punishment: death. Montresor even shows traits of revenge when he says, “…but when [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” and “...I would be avenged…” (Poe). He is saying that he will get revenge on Fortunato, whom he is angry with and hates for being insulted by.