Comparing The Amontillado And The Stone Mattress

It can be said that “Man is the cruellest animal”. This statement is heavily supported in both texts because there are multiple examples where individuals pursue cruel acts. In the texts ‘The Stone Mattress’ by Margaret Atwood and ‘The Cask of the Amontillado’ by Edgar Allen Poe, the underlying theme of “Man is the cruellest animal” is highlighted evidently. However, different techniques are utilised to present this key idea such as committing cold murder, covering up tracks and feeling content with the idea of revenge.
This particular statement is true to a significant extent as it is supported similarly in both texts utilising the cruel and inhuman act of revenge and murder. In the text ‘The Stone Mattress’, the victim named Verna suffered serious psychological damage. This was due to being sexually assaulted in her teenage years by an individual whom she admired . Verna mentioned to herself before embarking

on the cruise “Though much is taken, much remains”. This suggests that Verna is beginning to heal and gain closure from her assault. Unfortunately her wounds were unwoven due to being confronted by the man who raped her. Verna began to seek revenge on the perpetrator by planning a malicious murder to compensate for the hurt he had caused. The Author re-enforced this idea of cruelty by presenting the description of a high school dance that should’ve been enjoyed and ended in complete tragedy. Using this technique allows the audience to feel sympathetic and gain background knowledge on the situation. Whereas, in the text ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ readers were not provided with any back story or reasoning for the murder commited. This allows the audience to resist from taking sides and do not feel as sympathetic and emotionally attached as they would in The Cask of Amontillado. Within the first line of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ the protagonist stated “ …. But when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge”. This suggests to the reader that the individual whom was lured to his death had simply just mentioned an insult. This is a minor inconvenience in comparison to being sexually assaulted by someone you trust. This example demonstrates that these two stories differ from an extreme to a slight inconvenience but still result in the same unfortunate outcome due to the cruel nature of humanity. The protagonist also stated “I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied”. This deeply encapsulates the thoughts humans have deep down inside their psyche, which is to act in cruel ways.

In both texts, the murders attempted to cover up their tracks and conceal the horrific act they had just committed.

In ‘The Stone Mattress’ Verna had gone through extensive effort to cover every track of Bob’s existence. She turned Bob’s tag board from red to green, moving around objects in his cabin and filling out laundry slips to name a few. This was done to deceive the passengers and crew on the ship of the mirage that was Bob. In the text ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ a similar technique was utilised by the protagonist. The scheme in this story was to ensure the victim was intoxicated allowing them to be as vulnerable as possible and lure him to his deeply awaited fate to be buried alive. At first the victim had thought it were a joke stating “ .. But is it not getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo”. (page 20) this also demonstrates that he had trust in his murderer. The Narrator left Fortunato to die in the most secluded and cruel manner. This act of death acts as a metaphor to how an individual feels when hurt by someone they

trust.

In conclusion, it is evident that the two short story anthologies analysed support the statement “Man is the cruellest animal.” In both texts, the victims had survived their wrong doings yet decided to end the lives of their perpetrators in horrific and secluded ways. Having the ability to purposefully plan and commit murder gives an immense amount of evidence as to how cruel human beings are to their own kind. The protagonists in both texts believed it was essential to take someone’s life to compensate for their suffering by providing the same amount of pain they caused them but more, which is an irrational and cruel way of thinking.