Symbolism In Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” reveals a character so devoid of human compassion and sheer ruthlessness it is difficult to see beyond the mask of insanity to any other characteristic. Montresor, the story’s narrator, attempts to elicit compassion or at best justification for the murder he is about to commit due to dubious injuries. This plot sets a disturbing dark tone for the story, but also illuminates the meticulous commitment to detail of an extremely intelligent mind. The murder of Fortunato is not a crime of passion but one of painstaking detail. It is through the use of irony, foreshadowing and symbolism Poe reveals that insanity does not negate the magnitude of intellectual capacity.

The intellectual

Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” is rife with symbolism. This literary device allows the author to invest hidden meanings with the use of symbols or correlations that are critical to the development of Montresor’s character. This character contrives the death of someone thought to be inferior and worthy of his retribution. Poe, to signify Montresor’s feeling of omnipotence, symbolizes Fortunato’s character as a fool, “The man wore motley. He had on tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (165). Poe’s representation of Fortunato as a fool by comparison symbolizes Montresor as a master of manipulation hence a man of significant intellect. In painstaking detail Montresor plots the series of events which will end the life of his nemesis emphasizing a magnitude of brilliance and insanity. The reference to nitre can also be symbolic of the trap Montresor weaves meticulously to entrap Fortunato, “but observe the white-web work which gleams form these cavern walls” (166). The abundant use of symbolism within “The Cask of Amontillado” successfully achieves the development of Montresor as a character whose insanity is not outweighed by