Comparing The Cask Of Amontillado And The Tell-Tale Heart

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It is carnival season and In the catacombs of Italy lies a wine cellar, in the wall of the wine cellar lies a body. In the wee hours of the morning, in an unknown place, in a house lit by a lantern lies a creaky floorboard, in the floorboard lies a dismembered body. Sir Edgar Allan Poe writes the tales of mystery, and these tales are no exception. The first story, The Cask of Amontillado, is one filled with deception, pride, and tells the tale of two men. The narrator Montresor, who achieves his ultimate revenge, is being eaten by jealousy, and Fortunato, a rich drunk man whose foolish nature and weakness for wine end up killing him. The second story, The Tell Tale Heart, is filtered through the eyes of a delusional narrator. The narrator (caretaker) …show more content…

In The Cask of Amontillado a very important symbol lies in the cask of Amontillado itself. Amontillado is an extremely rare and valuable vintage wine. However, its functionality and usefulness are especially limited. As a substance whose only real intention is to intoxicate the drinker, it perfectly summarizes Fortunato’s abandonment of reason and common sense in his pursuit of gaining wealth and power. Furthermore, Fortunato is not only oblivious to the insult he has given Montresor, but he blindly and drunkenly follows him into an obviously dangerous circumstance in the pursuit of the cask. The beating heart in "The Tell Tale Heart" symbolizes the human like side of the caretaker. Throughout the tale the caretaker presents himself as an animal, for he is void of all and any emotions (except for hate) and is lacking the ability to show sympathy. He takes pride in his cold-blooded act, by stalking the old man like a predator, and even goes to such lengths to brag about committing the perfect murder. He becomes human, however, when he begins to feel guilty about what he has done. This causes him to begin hearing the pulse of the dead man's heart, and not being able to continue with the reminder of his deed, he confesses. The heart reveals the caretaker’s conscience, and after hearing it, it is the only time he is shown to have some sort of moral

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