Flawed Narration in Short Stories There are many different ways to be a good writer. But sometimes, the way to be a great writer is the way you wouldn’t expect. Authors often write flaws into the narration in a story to further the development of the character who is narrating. This is present in many stories, but is especially utilized in short stories. Some of these flaws include things like the narrator intentionally leaving out a detail, or the narrator’s personal bias effecting your opinion of what’s happening in the story. Overall, intentional flaws in your narration can be a great way to add more depth to your story. One great example of flawed narration is present in “The Cask of Amontillado”. An oldie but a goodie, this is …show more content…
a short story written by renowned horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. The story follows a man named Montresor, who is attempting to bring a man named Fortunado down to his wine cellar. Now, it seems clear already that something is up. Based on Montresor’s hatred of Fortunado, which we can see through him claiming “THE thousand injuries of Fortunado I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 1), it is evident that they are not going down to the cellar to enjoy a fancy bottle of Amontillado. In fact, Montresor’s description of his actual revenge is very vague. Throughout the story, Montresor withholds his actual idea of trapping the intoxicated Fortunado behind a wall. It is already clear through this why flawed narration is essential. By having the narrator withhold his plan, the story was given far more suspense. Furthermore, the narrator’s apparent hatred of Fortunado may bias our opinion, but certainly gets us on his side. Another example of a flawed narrator is present in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. This is a story about a yearly lottery that decides which person in the small town dies. The story is narrated in the third person, but the narrator still does a good job of misleading the reader. When the narrator says that “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 1), we can immediately assume that the author is painting a bright and happy picture around this story. However, as the story progresses and the townspeople's’ insidious intentions are revealed, you come to realize that the narrator’s positive description of the setting was simply trying to mislead you and add more shock value to the end of the story. A final example of flawed narration is present in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst.
In this story, a child begins to teach his disabled brother how to act like a normal person. However, this plan backfires when his brother eventually dies, due to the narrator pushing him too hard. The first page of this story just describes the circumstances of Doodle’s birth, and how his parents had no hope for him. However, when the narrator sees his brother smile, he exclaims "Mama, he smiled. He's all there! He's all there!” (Hurst 1). Now, when you look at this story, you have to realize that the narrator is simply a child, and his views of the world are naive and foolish for the most part. The narrator’s insane belief that his brother will one day be normal is the biggest flaw in his narration. His love for his brother creates a bias in his brain, and therefore a bias in his narration. Overall, the humanity found in any first person story is almost always technically a flaw. The narrator’s love for his brother shown through his narration almost lead us to believe that his brother was going to be okay-until we realized that his brother was doomed from the start. With that, I think it is clear that flaws in narration, while sounding bad at surface value, are actually incredible tools to make developed stories with more interesting
endings.
The setting is an important part of any story, whether it be a poem or a novel. The setting consists of all the places and/or things surrounding the character at any moment through any literary or visual media. A literary setting is often full of details and vivid imagery due to the lack of visual aids that are present in videos and movies. These details often take paragraphs to describe single settings to give the reader an imaginary vision of what the area would look like. Edgar Allan Poe is no exception to these rules and he clearly writes out the setting for his short stories and poems. Poe does an excellent job of using details to describe the setting of his stories and shows great care in choosing the wording of each description he makes to display his exact intentions for each descriptive setting. In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Poe, the setting has a direct correlation with the mood in the story. The further into the story you read, the deeper and darker the surroundings of the two main characters get, just like the main plot of the story.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado,” the main character and narrator, Montresor begins the story by expressing how he has put up with many insults from a man named Fortunato and that he has had enough and vows revenge against him. Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs to taste the Amontillado so as to kill him secretly. Montresor portrays in the beginning of the story that he is going to be lying to Fortunato’s face, acting one way while really thinking another. This fact indicates that Montresor is an unreliable narrator for telling the story because he lies to people he knows, gives hints that he is jealous of Fortunato, does not offer an explanation for wanting to murder Fortunato and his tone of narrating the story.
Benton, Richard P. "The Cask of Amontillado: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 3 Dec. 2010.
Short stories have particular settings to supplement their themes. The eerie catacombs during a carnival in “The Cask of Amontillado” supplement the themes of revenge, and deception, which the protagonist takes responsibility in; whereas in “Hills Like White Elephants”, the atmosphere around the Spanish train station emphasizes the themes of miscommunication between characters and their evasion of responsibilities.
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.
Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go to great lengths to fanatically defend their honor.
The narration in The Cask of Amontillado affects how the story is read. His sarcastic and cynical way of narrating the story gives readers insight into the meaning of it. Montresor’s version of explaining the events contorts the readers’ perception of the characters and their opinions of the story. Two of the key methods that are used in Montresor’s narration are his use of tone and his first person perspective. Instead of an unbiased, outsider point of view, there is an opinionated one that shows an inside look into the narrators thought processes and emotions. The narration style in The Cask of Amontillado is unique in the way that it is overly predictable, but the way that it is told keeps one hooked until the very end of the story.
The first –person narration style of “The Cask of Amontillado” is vital in creating the quality of the story. The story allows one of the main characters in the story Montresor, to tell the story from his point of view which gives the reader intimate yet disturbing look into the mind story teller thinks and feels which the reader doesn’t normally get from other narrative styles. The narrative style of this story is important because it sets the tone of the story. The reader become more familiar with the thoughts and intentions of the main character and this allows the reader to slightly figure out the outcome of the story and further understand the ironies throughout the story. If this story was told from a different angle I don’t believe it would be as powerful. First person narration
When a child is born, he or she does not see the same things an adult sees. The baby does not understand language and cannot make the distinction between races or gender or good and evil. While it is impossible to go back in time, novels allow readers to take on a new set of eyes for a few hours or days. They give a new perspective to the world, and sometimes provide a filter to the things seen in the world. Unreliable narrators give authors the flexibility to lie to and withhold information from readers, providing new perspectives into the narrator as well as the other characters of the novel. Authors use unreliable narrators not to give more information to the reader, but to withhold information in order to further character development.
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.
The Cask of Amontillado is an eloquent story narrated from the murderer’s point of view. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato for numerous insults the reader can only imagine. In order to determine the severity of the apparent injustices, Fortunato himself must be understood. Montressor describes him as being “rich, respected, admired, [and] beloved,” as well as “a man to be … feared” (Poe 274-276). Fortunato was a flawed individual, however. His greatest imperfection was his love for wine. Fortunato’s “connoisseurship” (274) of wine resulted in his intoxicated state throughout the short story. His physical and mental capacities were impaired by his drunkenness, and as a result, he was unable to resist Montressor’s lure into the catacombs.
Society turns around those who remain lodged in the past with no desire to progress alongside the rest of humanity. Within “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator, Montresor, clings to his tradition and his family’s past. Ensnared by the pride of his family’s prestigious station in society, Montresor enacts revenge against Fortunato, who had gravely insulted him. He lures Fortunato deep into the catacombs, taking advantage of his arrogance before trapping him down there, burying him alive. Additionally, William Faulkner projects a similar ideal within his work, “A Rose for Emily,” as the reader witnesses the decline of the noble Grierson name.
The first-person narration style of "The Cask of Amontillado" is essential in creating the original quality of the story. The reason this is so important in this particular story, is because when a sane killer, Montresor, is allowed to tell the story from his point of view, the reader gets a unique, disturbing look into the calmness of his mind. The audience can more clearly see how he thinks and feels, which the audience does not normally get in mainstream, commercial literature. The reason the narration style is so important to the tone of the story, is because it lets the reader become personally acquainted with the thoughts and intentions of the main character, and since the reader somewhat knows the outcome from the beginning, it allows certain ironies to make sense to the reader. Furthermore, were it told from a different perspective, I do not believe the story would have been as psychologically powerful.
Poe starts out with a man, by the name of Montresor, wanting revenge on another man, named Fortunato. Most of the story takes place deep in the Montresor family catacombs. As Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs, he chains Fortunato up to a small hole in a wall, bricks it over, and leaves Fortunato to die. Even through the traits of anger, hatred, and revenge, as the story progresses on, Montresor, the main character in “The Cask of Amontillado”, starts to show signs of feeling guilty for wanting to murder Fortunato.
The narrator is the person telling the story and can range from one to several, within a single story. How the author develops the narration will direct how their work is perceived by the reader. The narrator can present the story reliably or dishonestly, from a compelling view to an ironic view. The author can lose or gain pertinent information simply by changing the narration. Narration is a guide for the reader “…it requires the invention of a narrator,” Diane Middlebook said, “who serves as a contemporary guide to the materials of the book…” (Middlebrook). The narrator of a story is fundamental to the reader’s understanding and, any changes to the narration can change the stories understanding entirely.