Themes Of The Cask Of Amontillado

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Exploring Point of View and Theme in “The Cask of Amontillado” In the story "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allen Poe, I want to explore the use of point of view to help drive the plot and help us understand the theme of revenge in this story. Through the use of point of view we can see the development of the characters thoughts and as the reader we feel a part of the crime that is being committed. At the beginning of the story the Montresor goes through his thoughts about the Fortunato such as that the Fortunato caused him "thousand injuries"(Poe, 183) and "insults"(183) but the reader is never given examples for what the Fortunato did to the Montresor. As the story goes on the reader is able to see the real plans of the Montresor and He uses the main characters thoughts and interactions with the Fortunato to slowly develop the plot and the theme of revenge within the story. With Poe using the point of view of the Montresor to tell the story, it helps us determine the thought process of the Montresor. As the story goes on we get a feeling that something is wrong and there is something deeper and dark going on inside the mind of the Montresor. We see the Montresor play to the weaknesses of the Fortunato. Through the dialogue we see the Fortunato’s pride played against him. When the Fortunato develops a cold we see the Montresor ask him if he wants to go back up to the festival, when he knew the Fortunato would never want to go back because he wants to prove he knows wine better than anyone else. This develops the plot because as they get deeper and deeper into the catacombs the story gets darker and darker because we the plans of the Montresor slowly are revealed. As they travel through the catacombs we see the rising action of the story until the climax of the story when they make it to the wine and the Montresor finishes his plan. Poe uses the point of view to give the readers the impression that they are in on a secret and this helps us feel more immersed in the story. It causes the reader to want to know what the Montresor’s plans are and draws the attention of the reader. The point of view also makes the act seemed justified because at the At the beginning of the story we see a glimpse of the theme but we don’t quite understand it. The reader is slowly shown the sinister thoughts of the Montresor but we are quite sure why he is getting revenge on the Fortunato. We know the Fortunato has done something to the Montresor but we are never given an example. This leaves the reader waiting to find out what it is but it is never revealed. Due to the lack of information we are led to believe that whatever the Fortunato did was worth the punishment of the Montresor leaving him to die in the catacombs. Also, the Fortunato’s fate is believable due time period they are in. At that time period they had to take justice into their own hands so we are led to believe that the Fortunato has done something worth the revenge the Montresor had planned out. Revenge is a dark theme in general but Poe seems to add even more darkness to the story with using the point of view of the murder and allows us to see the thought process while he is committing this heinous act of

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