Literary Techniques Used In Edgar Allen Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

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You would never think to look for a dead body among hundreds of dead bodies. Edgar Allen Poe is notorious for his poems and stories with gruesome murders and deaths; moreover “The Cask of Amontillado” is a magnificent example of this. Poe covers the undoubtedly literary genre perfectly which blend seamlessly with history, as well as, the literary devices being used remarkably well, and how the perfect murder was created. This short story is an unmistakable story of revenge. Montresor, the narrator, wants revenge on Fortunato because he has dishonored him multiple times. Montresor meets Fortunato at a carnival, where Fortunate is already intoxicated, Montresor proceeds to have Fortunate taste an amontillado which Montresor claims you taste just …show more content…

Poe’s proceeded to use several literary devices in his work, like foreshadowing, deeply implied repetition, and a gorgeous use of imagery. The foreshadowing begins with the title of the short story, however it intertwines in two ways; a cask is a large barrel that holds hard liquor, and is also short for casket. With the use of cask in the title Poe used foreshadowing to show that the intoxicated man, Fortunato, is the one that is going to die. The repetition is very prominent of the drink amontillado, which is repeated over ten times. The beautifully written imagery is consistent throughout the entire work. There are several magnificent examples of imagery like, “Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm; and putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a roquelaire closely about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo.” As well as, “The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.” The literary devices used enriched the short story to the

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