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In Edgar allen poe's, short story “The Cask of Amontillado” , the narrator, a man named Montresor describes a perfect revenge, and then tells a “true” story of how he succeeded at completing revenge with satisfaction. When Poe wrote this story he used irony, foreshadowing, and mood to engage the audience. One sentence that stood out to me was (line one pg 209), “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” Basically that’s saying, that he planned to get revenge on Fortunato, because he insulted him. The reader must personally wonder what he said to Montresor to make him seek revenge in death. In the next 3 paragraphs i will explain how Poe, used mood, foreshadowing, and irony to make this short story more interesting. …show more content…
Many examples of Irony were used to create humorous effect in the story.
For example, Montresor explained that “revenge is not good enough, but that the victim must know he is being punished,” (pg 209) Montresor never explained his actions to his victim, so essentially Fortunato died without knowing why. Another example of irony is, That his name was “Fortunato”, and he happened to have the least amount of fortune since he was the only one who died. Poe uses irony, to throw off the reader, and keep them unbalanced and not sure of montresor's intentions. As the story goes on it makes it seem like montresor is crazy and killing an “innocent”
man. Foreshadowing is used to be a warning, or indication of a future event. An example of this is, “At length i would be avenged” (pg 209) this was a point definitely settled-- but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity.” (pg 209) This means that he thought about what could happen to him when everyone noticed Fortunato vanished, so no one will suspect him, since he made it seem like they were really good friends. Overall poe used this literary technique to give a sense of suspense to the story. The mood of “The Cask of Amontillado,” is established through the setting. The “torch lighting” (pg 214) reminds the reader that it is a dark and un visited place, Which means no one will find the less fortunate fortunato. Fortunato's costume represents his foolish mistakes as he is lured to his unexpected end. It is shown that montresor put thought into his revenge, because he lured drunk fortunato to a gloomy hidden place in his home. Fortunato didn’t even realize the irony in some of the stuff that Montresor was saying. All together, mood is an important literary device, which shows a temporary state of mind or feeling. Overall, Edgar Allen Poe did a great job using, Mood, Foreshadowing, and Irony. By using these literary terms he really kept the readers attention, and engaged them with the story. The story had a suspenseful setting that kept me wondering what was going to happen next. I really like how he brought up the conflict in the beginning of the story. By him doing that it really helps the reader understand what was going on, but he leaves the reader wondering what Fortunato said to Montresor to upset him that bad.
In the story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author uses lots of verbal irony to emphasize the evil intentions of Montresor.One of the examples of verbal irony in the story that he uses is “The cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.” and “true--true, I replied.” The effect of this irony is it that Montresor already knows how Fortunato will die.Another example of verbal irony used in the story was when they did a toast to each other. “I drink”, he said, to the buried that repose around us.”
Revenge is the opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction for a real or perceived slight ("revenge"). In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor, the narrator, is out for revenge. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato and thinks he has developed the perfect plan for “revenge with impunity” (Baym). Montresor never tells the reader why he feels Fortunato deserves punishment. He only says that Fortunato causes him “a thousand injuries”until “[venturing] upon insult” (Baym ?). As a result, Montresor plans to bury Fortunato alive.
Dramatic Irony is irony when the audience knows something which the characters do not. An example of dramatic irony in The Cask is when Montresor expresses concern for Fortunato’s help. This is ironic because everyone except Fortunato knows that Montresor is not really concerned about his health. Montresor says, “Come, I said, with decision, we will go back; your health is precious” (Poe 238). Montresor lying about being concerned of Fortunato’s death is also ironic because, Montresor is concerned about luring Montresor into the catacombs to carry out his murder plan. Fortunato does not want Montresor to die of a cough, but wants to kill him himself. Montresor does not have the slightest clue that Fortunato is planning to murder
Irony is used in writing to add new interest to a seemingly ordinary subject. Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game and The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe use irony throughout their stories, creating unique works. To recognize Irony, you must first understand it, then you can see how it is used in these two works. Irony is a word with many meanings aside from what we often think of as irony.
Poe's, The Cask of Amontillado is a story about fear and revenge. The story begins with Montressor's vow of revenge, foreshadowing future actions. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult vowed revenge..." Montressor had to be sure not to raise suspicion of what he was going to do Fortunato. Montressor knew that Fortunato had a weakness that he could use towards his advantage.
Symbolism is something that represents more than what it really is. It is often by authors in their writing to give it more emphasis. For example:" In life there will always be peaks and valleys" meaning in life there will be ups and downs but we should enjoy the peaks and fight through the valleys. Objects can also be a form of symbolism such as The Bible, it represents more than just a book. It represents Life, Church, Religion, and the life of Jesus Christ and what he stood for. Irony is like a twist or words or the opposite of what is intended. For example: Laughing at someone that just slipped and fell, then later you find yourself slipping and falling is a form of irony. Irony is found in real life situations as well as writings. Symbolism is a technique that gives authors a better story and shows objects as more than what they are. They use techniques like this to catch the reader’s attention.
"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.
Poe uses the aspects of dramatic and verbal irony, foreshadowing and symbolism to shape his tale of revenge. Fortunato's fate is death and Montresor tries to make his intentions seem honorable. His intentions were not honorable, just evil. He does however, manage to get what he set out for, revenge.
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.
In this short story, examples of irony and foreshadowing are presented very often in between lines. One of the very first things that I find as the biggest irony in this short story fiction is the victim’s name “Fortunato”. As I looked up the definition of the name, Fortunato means fortunate which is very ironic due to the fact that he is going to die, and be walled up in the catacombs. Aside from that, I also found a verbal irony at the very beginning of the story when Montresor first sees Fortunato at the carnival and says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met,” (Poe) .I found this to be very much ironic because, Fortunato is not actually lucky to have met Montresor who is actually going to murder him.
“The Cask of Amontillado” starts out with the narrator, later discovered to be Montresor, positioning himself as a victim of Fortunato. In the opening line, he states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could” (714). Instantaneously one feels sympathetic towards a person that has withstood a thousand inflictions. Montresor goes on to tell a parable of sorts about vengeance, and “when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (715) he has lost. In this instance Poe has set Montresor apart from being at the least an unsuspecting
In many occasions, symbolism and irony are the best way to explain an object. While using symbolism you can make the reader understand a different point of view they would had never expected. It helps catches the reader attention in a way that it opens more doors to a short story, novel, etc… For example Montresor represents pride. He is living by his family motto “Nemo me impune lacessit.” (No one provokes me with impunity.) Symbols are also used in backgrounds of movies giving symbolic messages to the viewers. The only way the viewer can pick up on them is by searching them up or by already knowing what that symbol represented. Irony is used a little less more profoundly in the story, yet it plays a big role in leading the reader into the right path with its situations. Irony is when a statement contradicts itself or another object. For example Fortunato means fortunate but ends up not being fortunate while meeting his own death. They’re many examples of symbolism and irony in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
Edgar Allan Poe is a famous writer in writing detective stories and horror stories. One of his horror stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” was talking about how a man took his revenge to his friend. However, to look deeply in this story, I found that this story was not just simply a horror tale about how a man gets his revenge in the safest way. Instead, it also demonstrates much irony in several areas: the title, the event, the season, the costume, the environment, the characters’ personalities, a man’s dignity and cockiness and at the end, the public order. he are
Edgar Allan Poe is one of greatest American authors and poets. He is well-known as a master of using irony in his story. “The Cask of Amontillado” is a horror story about revenge of Montresor upon Fortunato. Fortunato believes Montresor is his good friend, but he ends up with being chained and walled in to the catacombs. There are three types of irony used in this short story: verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Using these ironies, Poe wants the readers to understand about Montresor’s “friendship” with Fortunato.
In Edgar Allen Poe’s, “A Cask of Amontillado” it is filled with symbolism, irony and the suggestion of good versus evil. The narrator of the story, Montresor, hides behind a mask, he is part of a different world than others, and is out for revenge. Some might say that he is slick, diabolical, calculative man who is out for revenge with impunity. Being a descendant from a very powerful aristocratic family Montresor could not possibly let Fortunato insult him with impunity. As his family motto states, “Nemo me impune lacessit,” which means, no one attacks me with impunity. He never states what Fortunato did to deserve the ultimate punishment. He only states that Fortunato has caused him “a thousand injuries.” Montresor’s plan for revenge is very