Decisions between life and death shake people every time. Although, the stories, “Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe and “Lady or the Tiger” by Frank R.Stockton, compliment each other with their plots, “Cask of Amontillado” has a better plot twist. Poe makes a mysterious plot starting with revenge. Montresor, the main character, seeks revenge on Fortunato who insults him. Montresor locks Fortunato behind a wall to suffocate in catacombs. Stockton creates a story in which it takes place in early Europe and the consequences for crimes. The princess's love was sent to face either a tiger or a fair maiden whom the princess has a strong hatred for. No one knows who will come out from behind the door. Readers are left with the question, "Who …show more content…
Montresor sinisterly tricks Fortunato into believing Montresor has an expensive cask of Amontillado to lead him into the catacombs. He foolishly falls for Montresor’s devious plan and gets led into a dead end in the catacombs, where Montresor leaves him behind a wall suffocating on smoke. The author uses imagery well to capture the all of the scenes and he also uses it to create the mood. The description of the catacombs where precise with every word as the author states, “...exposed by the displacing of bones, we perceived a still interior recess...backed by one of their circumcision walls of solid granite.” The imagery made the pages come alive. The sentence structure was helpful to this story as well. As the beginning was long and flowy sentences, they began to get shorter as they went into the catacombs. The description, although, was in long, flowy, mysterious sentences to create the feel of suspicion. The verbal irony in this story backed up the conflict. Montresor says, “And I to your long life,” as they toasted. Montresor knew how Fortunato was going to end up but Montresor still toasted with irony at the tip of his tongue. The conflict was expressed at the beginning of the story when Montresor vows revenge on Fortunato because Fortunato insults Montresor. This story created a mysterious feel with all of the …show more content…
Stockton, made a dramatic story about a kingdom and its consequences to crime in Lady or The Tiger. A man, who is the princesses love, gets convicted of a crime and sent to an arena to where he gets punished. There are two gates. One with a tiger hiding behind it and one with a fair maiden. The princess despises the maiden. The maiden is believed to be the most beautiful of all. In this story, Stockton ads tone in to make his writing more interesting. The tone is mysterious which intrigues the reader and makes the reader want to read more. Along with tone, diction was used well in this story. The author used words to make the reader want to learn more. He makes the words roll off the readers tongues. Frank Stockton interests the reader even more by using sentence structure and making his sentences go from long and flowy to short and choppy. The reader sees this form of writing and knows something interesting is going to happen the shorter the sentences are. The author did an amazing job illustrating and putting together the plot and leaving the ending up to our
Montresor is a man who feels pride in himself and in his family, so when Fortunato—an acquaintance of Montresor— “venture[s] upon insult,” Montresor “vow[s] revenge” against him (1). Montresor hastily decides that he must kill Fortunato, even though his use of the word “venture” implies that Fortunato had not yet insulted him, but nearly did. Montresor’s impulsive need for revenge causes him to formulate a plan to murder his acquaintance. He keeps Fortunato intoxicated by “presenting him…[with] wine,” he “fetter[s] him to the granite,” and he “plaster[s] up… [a wall of] new masonry” to trap Fortunato in the catacombs (39, 71, 89). All of these acts are signs that the need for revenge has made Fortunato insane. A person who has any sense of morals would not commit crimes such as Montresor’s. His impetuous decision to exact revenge caused him to lose his
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.
No matter how well executed, a crime of this magnitude will leave scars on the conscience, thus marring it’s perfection. Conflicting psychological emotions and actions plague the journey causing inner conflict ranging between pity and revulsion by the time the narrator concludes. Notwithstanding the shortage of information on Montresor’s life in the ensuing fifty years since Fortunato’s death; it can be surmised from the events leading to the murder that Montresor does, in fact, have a conscience and that it builds upon itself as the action
In Edgar Allen Poe’s tale, the setting of Montresor’s catacombs provides Montresor with a place where he can kill Fortunato with almost no evidence on who killed him, helping his attempt at making the perfect crime. The catacombs in “The Cask of Amontillado” are old with spider webs as well as “long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost rec...
Stockton grabs the attention of readers in the story “The Lady, or the Tiger” by presenting them with a life-or-death scenario. Will the princess let the love of her life be killed by a ferocious tiger, or face the heartbreak of watching him live with another woman. Stockton uses symbolism throughout the passage, the main reoccurring example being the lady representing innocence and purity while the tiger represents guilt and evil. Imagery is another literary element Stockton uses to give more depth to his story. Lines such as, “The vast amphitheater with its encircling galleries, its mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages…” help give the reader a better mental image of the setting. With this added detail, readers have a good sense of where the story takes place. Long descriptive sentences are also used by Frank R. Stockton to add more detail to the story. Sentences such as, “Among the borrowed notions by which his barbarism had become semified was that of the public arena, in which, by exhibitions of manly and beastly valor, the minds of his subjects were refined and cultured.” add articulation and make the passage easier to read. The author also does an excellent job of using details to add suspense. One of the major examples of this is how Stockton left out what was behind the door. This leaves the reader to infer what happened based off of the information already given. By using literary elements and devices, Frank R. Stockton creates a vivid experience telling the story of “The Lady, or the
A main theme presented in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is that Montresor shows obsession with the murder of fortunato. This is exemplified by Montresor’s precise planning, carefulness and slowness of speed in the process.
Among Poe's most intriguing tales is "The Cask of Amontillado," first published in Godey's Lady's Book in November of 1847. A surface reading of that story reveals only a simple description by Montresor (the narrator) of how he kills another man who was called, ironically, Fortunato. Montresor exploits Fortunato's vanity concerning the connoiseurship of wine; specifically, Montresor pretends to want a wine cask of Amontillado verified as genuine. Montresor chooses a time when Fortunato is drunk to dupe him into going down the spiral stairs into the catacombs, which serve as a sort of family burial grounds for the race of Montresors. But rather than a mere cask of wine, Fortunato finds his death; for Montresor bricks him into a niche of the catacombs which has remained undisturbed for the fifty years since the murder was performed. How simple!
Being a teenager is hard, sometimes it feels as if the entire world is fighting against you. Every day the world seems to bombard you with stress, and you become irritated, frustrated, and enraged. In Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Cask of Amontillado, depicts a madman driven by his desire to get revenge. This madman becomes obsessed with this want, and lets it override his thoughts. By examining teenager’s life, while in class, doing homework, and working in groups, one can see that a teenager must remain calm and take negative aspects of life with a grain of salt, rather than to overreact.
Fake people are to be encountered with everywhere, especially in the days of middle school and in high school. Many adolescents have come across these people, and movies have even been made about these people. For example, the movie Mean Girls is made about a group of 4 girls who will act nice to people at their high school, then they will turn around and write mean things in their “Burn Book”, along with saying mean things behind their back. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates through indirect characterization that the narrator, Montresor, is fake towards his arch nemesis, Fortunato. In the short story, Fortunato eventually tricks Montresor and buries him alive. It begins with Montresor declaring
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.
When they arrive at the Montresor estate, Montresor leads Fortunato down the stairs into the catacombs. Down here is where the Amontillado Fortunato is going to taste and where the revenge of Montresor is going to take place. As he get closer and closer, the narrator opens up more and more to how he is going to kill his "friend". It sound like it is a premeditated murder. Montresor seems so inconspicuous that he acts like he cares about Fortunato which is still a part of his plan.
Montresor in "The Cask of Amontillado" is similar to the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" in that his obsession with consuming the soul of Fortunato influences his every action. However, it is with Fortunato himself that he is obsessed. He feeds off of Fortunato's pain, unlike the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" who's obsession is with destroying a menacing inanimate object. Montresor's entire conspiracy is focused around making Fortunato suffer, and for him to know just who is causing this suffering. This is why he goes to such lengths to put together this intricate strategy. It could have been so much easier to kill Fortunato in some easier, quicker way. Instead, he dedicates himself to torturing Fortunato. He creates a plan that leads Fortunato into the depths of the catacombs beneath his home, and kills him in an excruciating manner.
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.
Unlike “The Tell Tale Heart” were the narrator loved the old man just hated his eye, the narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” hated Fortunato but did things that make it look like he loved him. Montresor approaches Fortunato with claiming to have acquired something that could pass for Amontillado. Here Montresor may seem like he is being nice but he really just using Fortunato’s love for wine against him. As they went through the catacombs Montresor gave Fortunato enough wine so that he would be drunk and would be oblivious of what was happening as they went deeper and deeper into the catacombs. Fortunato never expected this to be the plan but just as a simple act of kindness from Montresor. As mentioned in the introduction of this paper the narrator of this story wanted revenge. Why does the Montresor want revenge? Well it is mention in the story on page three “THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” but never gives us a full reason just that Fortunato insulted the Montresor in some
The main characters in this story are Montresor and Fortunado. Montresor wants to take revenge on Fortunado. He is a deranged man who seeks revenge. He perfectly planed the whole revenge. Montresor was skillful in the Italian vintages himself. As metioned above, he knows well about his friend Fortunado — Fortunado was crazy about wine tasting and “prided himself on the connoisseurship in wine”. From the beginning to the end, Montresor’s language, his mood, and his action don’t really chance, including the hidden meaning of what he said. His voice has no diversion, no explanation, and even no emotion. His words are full of ironies, like “For the love of the God!” and “to the buried that repose around us.” All of those things indicate that he is a man with his mind full of revenge. He is desperate to kill Fortunato, but in the meantime, he is also careful to take actions.