"The Cask of Amontillado": Analyzed

Kimberly Gonzalez February 27, 2006 English 102 10 Short Story Essay "The Cask of Amontillado": Analyzed "The Cask of Amontillado," written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1846, is about a man named Montresor. Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato by taking him on a journey and walling him up alive. Fortunato plays an ironic role throughout the entire story. This story is also told by the main character, which makes this story untrustworthy. In "The Cask of Amontillado," Poe emphasizes a revenge theme through his representation of journey, irony, and narrative point of view. Montresor's vengeance on Fortunato is the outcome of an insult. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge" (Poe 136). In Montresor's attempt to seek revenge, he uses Fortunato's love for wine to lure him into the catacombs, where Montresor's dead family members remain. Once in the catacombs, their journey begins. Fortunato begins to cough and Montresor uses Fortunato's pride to keep him going. Montresor tells Fortunato that he will find someone else to taste the wine. Of course, since Fortunato thinks he is the best person to taste the wine and determine whether or not it is Amontillado, he agrees to continue on the journey. At the end of the dark and undesirable tunnel, which also represents hell, Fortunato is walled up and left to die.

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  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Tell Tale Heart

The Tell Tale Heart This story was written during the Victorian time, in early 1800 by Edgar Allan Poe, who was born in 1809 and died in 1849. Although he was American, he spent his school years in Stoke Newington University, in England. In his early age Poe tried many different jobs, like a soldier, journalist, and a kitchen porter. Then later, he became very successful at writing horror stories (Gothic). The Tell Tale Heart is one of them. The story is told by the narrator who murdered the old man he lived with. He says he used to love the old man. However, the old man had an awful eye and the main character could not stand it, so he decided to kill the old man. Eventually, he took the life of the old man. Then, the police were called by a neighbour, and told of a shriek heard the night before. The police went to find out what happened. The main character successfully presented himself as innocent, but in the end he gave himself up. He admitted committing the crime. In the first paragraph the writer is diving us an introduction to the story. Tension is suggested straight away in the narrator's opening sentence, in which he says "True! Nervous- very, dreadfully nervous. I have been and I am". Suspense keeps building up as the writer tells the story by talking to the reader directly. "But why will you say that I am mad?" suspense in this story plays a very

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Tell tale heart.

Tell tale heart Ronald Reagan once said "I am not smart enough to lie." Lies require a person to be extremely meticulous in fashion. One lie starts a chain reaction leading to more and more lies, and sometimes a different lie for a different person. It is like lying about an alibi in court. In order to stick to the alibi, more and more lies form, and eventually the lawyer finds things that do not match add up. Keeping all of the lies straight is so hard that mistakes are inevitable. In The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe shows that lying and covering up the truth is essentially impossible unless that person bares no conscience. In one way or another, whether it be on a conscious or unconscious level, people tend to betray themselves. Even the old man lied to himself in order to calm down, but eventually the truth caught up to him. As the narrator sat quietly in the room after he accidentally made a clamor, he thought of what the old man was thinking, and he said, "He had been saying to himself-'It is nothing but the wind in the chimney-it is only a mouse crossing the floor,' or 'it is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp'" (Poe 577). The old man was trying to convince himself that the racket he heard was nothing but the wind or a mouse. There was not a possibility that someone was creeping into his room, or that was what he hopes. Then the narrator went on to say,

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Murders in the Rue Morgue - A short story in the collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher

Murders in the Rue Morgue A short story in the collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher Shannon Ghramm Prof. Reeves Eng 212 Ses 1 6/15/01 'De nier ce qui est, et d'expliquer ce qui n'est pas' As the all American hero Forest Gump so cleverly put it, 'life is a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Mr. Edgar Allan Poe disagrees with that. He believes life is a game where "mind must conquer mind" and where the players must be keen and only be able to pay attention to detail, but they must be able to use that detail to their advantage. Life is a game of chess or checkers, and we stumble along in our lives playing one game after another, acquiring new opponents along the way. Our futures, as well as ourselves, are measured by how many of those games we win and the technique we used. This idea is exemplified in the short story Murders In the Rue Morgue by the cunning character Dupin. Also, this story is interestingly preceded by a commentary of Poe describing the games of chess, draughts (aka Checkers) and a card game. Out of these three one can gather that Poe rather likes Checkers and thinks that it is superior to chess because chess has "various and bizarre motions, with various and valuable values, what is only complex, is mistaken for what is profound." He explains that what is important in this game is attention to

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Edgar Allan Poe: The Epitome of a Gothic Writer.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Epitome of a Gothic Writer Gothic literature makes extensive use of primitive, medieval, wild mysterious, or natural elements. No Writer uses these elements to create such dramatic and strong effects as Edgar Allan Poe. He masters the Gothic story and is able to draw the reader deeply into his tales. The reader empathizes with the characters. Poe uses intense imagery and psychoanalytical subtleties underlying each work to produce a depth of sensations and sensitivity to all that creates fear, doubt, and tension in a human mind. His Gothic style prose emanates from his unusual and aberrant life style combined with a careful and deliberate effort to simultaneously attack the reader's heart and head. Poe's writing is a derivative of his life. Only a person so deranged and freakish could produce such wildly creative and horrific work. Poe dysfunctional life began early as both of his parents died before he was four. Mr. and Mrs. John Allan brought Poe into their home and provided for him but never filled the emotional void in his life. Through the Allan's, Poe was able to obtain a great education. He went to school in England for five years and Richmond for five years. Then, he entered the University of Virginia in 1826. Soon after beginning school at UVA, Poe acquired heavy gambling debts and became a hard drinker. John Allan moved him from the University

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The cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe.

Joanne Alldritt 10d Pre 20th century coursework: The cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe 'The cask of Amontillado' is a horror story written by Edgar Allen Poe in 1845. Poe was born in 1805 and in his lifetime was well known for his poems, short fiction stories and literary criticism. 'The cask of Amontillado' is the story of a man called Montressor who seeks devilish revenge on a man called Fortunato. The story is set largely in the dark catacombs of Venice. Montressor uses these isolated surroundings as a place to murder his victim. The title is relevant to the story because Montressor uses Fortunato's fondness for Amontillado to coax him into following him down into the isolated catacombs. When really Fortunato would not be lead to any Amontillado or do anything of that sort, instead he would meet his death. After reading the introduction to the story 'the cask of Amontillado,' I felt unsettled by the atmosphere portrayed. The first person narration creates horror and suspense because you feel as if you are being drawn into Montressor's world. The reader is somewhat ashamed of being so gripped because of the evilness of the story. Initially I felt slightly sympathetic towards Montressor because you realise Fortunato had done something to Montressor first and it obviously had

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The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe

The Cask of Amontillado By: Edgar Allen Poe In the story "The Cask of Amontillado" the reader can find a multiple instances of irony throughout the story. The irony comes across in both actions and words and is a major part of this story. Irony is the controlling factor that moves the story along. To begin with, the setting reveals some irony as it changes from a cheerful carnival scene to a dark threatening cavern. The name of one of the main characters is Fortunato. A Strange name for someone, but we soon see this is both ironic and an oxymoron. The reader sees there is nothing fortunate about the character Fortunato. "THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. " This opening sentence foreshadows that the narrator will do something to Fortunato but the reader doesn't yet know. It also re-enforces the irony of Fortunato's name. More Irony can be found when the narrator Montresor greets Fortunato as a friend but is preparing his vengeance as seen in the line "I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation" Irony is also found in Fortunato's clothing. The two characters share a common taste for fine wines and that is the bait that Montresor uses to reel his victim in. Amontillado seems impossible for anyone to have

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Edgar Allen Poe's, "The Cask of Amontillado," is a feud between two enemies. It humorously portrays the foil of Fortunato, as he is led through the catacombs. Poe's humour is dark, sarcastic and very ironic, which

THE CAST OF AMONTILLADO BY JOHN SHAND Edgar Allen Poe's, "The Cask of Amontillado," is a feud between two enemies. It humorously portrays the foil of Fortunato, as he is led through the catacombs. Poe's humour is dark, sarcastic and very ironic, which quickly becomes a signpost of the tale. Poe sets himself apart from other authors in his works, based on how he depicts and encounters death. It accentuates the concept that at times, your worst enemy will appear as your best friend. Pride is the downfall of every man and the same can be said for the story of Fortunato. "The Cask of Amontillado" starts out with Montresor, the narrator, saying, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge." Simply by reading the first sentence of the story, it is easy to see that Montresor is vengeful and plans to get "revenge" on Fortunato and there is a lot more to come in the story. This creates suspense from the outset Montresor also has a coat of arms which is, "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel," with a motto of, "Nemo me impune lacessit," which stands for no one attacks me with impunity. The coat of arms and the family motto both suggest retribution. The arms symbolize Montresor and Fortunato, Fortunato stepping on Montresor, the snake,

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Facing the Elements:Comparing Stories from the Norton Anthology

Facing the Elements: Comparing Stories from the Norton Anthology Without a conclusion a story would become life as it is before death, it would keep going on, as each new page would become yet another story to tell. Fortunately, for the trees of our world, authors have come up with a way to find a place in the story to end their narrative. Many writers use the concept of close-ended stories, which normally wrap up the story with the "Good outwitting the Evil", and "the situation that was destabilized at the beginning becomes stable once again" (Beaty, 15). In open-ended stories the reader is left wondering about many aspects about the story, such as in "The Use of Force", where a little girl is left sitting on the lap on one of the three adults that have just finished assaulting her. Does she grow up fearing doctors and dentists? Does she even grow up, or does she succumb to the ravages of Diphtheria? Using the elements of theme, symbol and point of view in this essay I intend to compare "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Use of Force", and state why I prefer one to the other. Both stories focus on the theme of society's fascination with life stories that are different and unique; they focus on things with a dark side. "The Cask of Amontillado", is an excellent tale of revenge, and of the evilness that lurks in a chosen few. Montressor, the protagonist and

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"The Cask of Amontillado"

"The Cask of Amontillado" Literary Essay Liam Shute 2/07/02 Edgar Allan Poe lived from 1409 - 1449 , but even today he is revered as one of the premier horror writers of all time. "The Cask of Amontillado" is no exception ,it is a terrifying tale written in the early 15th century, in a time when murder was not as commonplace as it is today. The narrator, the mischievous Montresor, concocts a devilish plan to rid himself of his enemy Fortunato, because of an insult. It is very important for Montresor to have Fortunato know exactly what is happening to him, for Montresor derives great enjoyment from this, "...as Fortunato slowly dies, the thought of his rejected opportunities of escape will sting him with unbearable regret, and as he sobers with terror, the final blow will come from the realization that his craving for the wine has led him to his doom." Montresor seeks revenge in support of his family crests: "Nemo me impune lacessit."("No one dishonors me without paying price.") Pride can be a very dangerous thing, when one is overwhelmed with it. This is shown in the story by the way Montresor reacts to a little insult from Fortunato. It is also shown by the way Fortunato react when Montresor questions his taste in wine. Fortunato prided himself on his disposition of wine. This pride eventually leads to his downfall. Through the use of foreshadowing, irony, and

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