“The Cask of Amontillado”Compare and Contrast
Edgar Allen Poe wrote “The Cask of Amontillado” which is a horror and a short story. Edgar Allen Poe was born in 1809 after his two siblings,and by the time Poe was one, his father had left the family. His mother died when he was three and, Poe was taken in by a wealthy John Allen from Richmond, who never fully adopted Poe or accepted him. The story “The Cask of Amontillado” is about the narrator, Montresor, who believes that he has been offended one too many times by his friend, Fortunato, yet he never tells exactly what insults occurred. Montresor feels he needs to get revenge on Fortunato. During an Italian celebration Montresor tricks Fortunato, who is very drunk, to go down to the catacombs with agreement, to taste some top-notch Amontillado (a type of wine). When they finally reach the spot where the so-called Amontillado is, Montresor chains Fortunato inside a hole in the catacombs, sealing the hole with bricks, and leaving Fortunato to die, deep inside the catacombs. Many similarities and differences occurred in the book and the movie, “The Cask of Amontillado.”
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The similarities in “The Cask of Amontillado” start in the beginning.
In both the story and the film, Montresor and Fortunato are close friends. Montresor wants to get revenge on Fortunato for the thousands of injuries he has caused him. In both the story and the film Montresor uses Fortunato's weakness to draw him down into the catacombs. Fortunato believes that he is the best wine taster and says that nobody can tell the difference between wine other than him. Another similarity in the book and the movie is when Montresor and Fortunato are in the catacombs and Montresor pushed Fortunato into the niche, then chains him to the wall. Fortunato is left to die. The story and the film also have several
differences. The first difference begins with the story; it didn't say that Fortunato and Montresor had wives. The story did say that Montresor was engaged, but not married. When Montresor and Fortunato talk about the motto, the motto in the book is, “ No one attacks me without impunity.” The motto in the movie was, “ Nobody crosses me unpunished.” Another difference between the book and movie is when Fortunato is chained to the wall In the movie, Fortunato could be heard any place, but in the story, Fortunato's shouts could not be heard. The last difference is that the settings in the story and film were in two different places. The story took place in Italy, while the film took place in New Orleans. In both the book and film, we recognize there are numerous similarities and differences all throughout "The Cask of Amontillado." Reading the horror story, left the reader to fantasize what they thought, but after seeing the film, the plot appeared more recognizable. The film and the story had a larger amount of similarities than differences than I suspected there would be. Poe has always been an unbelievable short story writer. In "The Cask of Amontillado" Poe exceeds himself to make another imprint in the world. Poe made an incredible job writing the short story of, "The Cask of Amontillado."
Meanwhile as Fortunato was concocting his plan beneath the earth, Montressor was heading back to his house feeling slightly guilty about what he had done. “He insulted me, he made me to be less that I am, he had it coming.”, Montressor told himself reassuringly. But that did not erase the ominous tone he now felt in the vaults. Something was not quite right since he pushed that last brick into place in Fortunato’s tomb. Shaking the feeling off as best as he could he reached the top of the catacombs and entered his home with a taste for the barrel of wine that he knew was Amontillado all along. After his drink he returned to his bedroom for the night and before he fell asleep he heard a small voice in his head saying that Fortunato was still alive and that he was coming for him.
The Cask of Amontillado, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is a chilling story about two men named Fortunato and Montresor. The story begins with a narrator voicing his anger and resentment towards a man named Fortunato for “a thousand injuries” and insults. Our narrator sees Fortunato and lures him down into his vaults, or “catacombs,” on the premise of verifying that some wine is a certain type. Fortunato was already drunk, and had a cold. Eventually, the men reach a crypt, and the narrator chains Fortunato to the wall. Not stopping there, the narrator begins to trap him in the hole by filling it with bricks. Fortunato is quiet, until the hole is nearly filled, when he screams and then tells the narrator that it was a good joke. The narrator’s name is revealed to be Montresor. Montresor calmly takes the last brick and prepares to slide it into place, but stops and listens. All he hears are the jingling of bells. Then Montresor puts in the last brick, hence sealing Fotunato’s fate. There is chilling irony woven all throughout The Cask of Amontillado. It isn’t until the end of the story that we discover the tale took place fifty years before. Montresor’s vile deed’s motivation can be largely attributed to social class, fulfilling what he considered to be “just retribution” for the unnamed insult that was given him by Fortunato.
When they arrive at the Montresor estate, Montresor leads Fortunato down the stairs into the catacombs. Down here is where the Amontillado Fortunato is going to taste and where the revenge of Montresor is going to take place. As he get closer and closer, the narrator opens up more and more to how he is going to kill his "friend". It sound like it is a premeditated murder. Montresor seems so inconspicuous that he acts like he cares about Fortunato which is still a part of his plan.
In order to fully understand Poe’s use of the narrator the two previously mentioned stories must be summarized. "The Cask of Amontillado" is a tale about the narrator, Montresor, who desires to act revenge on his acquaintance Fortunato. He lures Fortunato into his basement in order for Fortunato to examine a rare wine called an Amontillado. While in the deep crypt Montresor offers Fortunato more and more wine so that by the time Fortunato gets to the area where the cask is kept he is heavily intoxicated. Montresor then chains Fortunato to a stone and begins to build a wall, trapping Fortunato inside the crypt to die while Fortunato screams and pleads for his life. Montresor, hearing his pleas for mercy and life, ignores them and continues to build the wall knowing that no one will ever find the body of the unfortunate Fortunato.
These imperfections cause him to murder his former friend Fortunato, because “when he ventured upon insult, [Montresor] vowed revenge” (212). Montresor goes to severe measures in order to maintain his pride, demonstrating that he is arrogant, cruel, and a generally imperfect person. However, while Montresor appears cold and cruel on the outside, after he killed Fortunato “[his] heart grew sick” (216). Although Montresor perceives his emotional response as a physical reaction to the dampness of the catacombs, the reader sees it for what it truly is: a sign of remorse.The reader can discern that Montresor’s pride and cruelty are battling against his conscience, and that his flaws catalyze his actions. Observing Montresor’s faults instead of speculating he is comprehensively inhumane conceives him to be a profound and deep
In "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allan Poe uses several different artistic choices in the construction of the story. He manipulates the story to be the way he wants it to be by using the point of view of the narrator, the setting, and a common monotonous sentiment throughout. Poe is successful in maintaining a "spirit of perverseness" that is prevalent in most of his works.
Hoping to obtain revenge, Montresor, the narrator, lures Fortunato, one of his friends, into the depths of his catacombs to be murdered. Montresor says, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge"(149). This is the first line in the story, and this is why Montresor seeks revenge. There is no explanation of the insults that Montresor received, so the reader may infer that Montresor is just lying. The insults that were received could possibly be just outdoing in the business arena. Montresor might be using that excuse for his desire to kill Fortunato, because he may be killing Fortunato out of jealousy. Montresor is likely telling this story to a family member, friend, or his doctor while lying on his deathbed. Montresor says, "…your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter."(150). Montresor just admitted that he knows Fortunato is better than he. Montresor may have been under the influence of jealousy. Redd 4 There are different theories to ...
The major theme in the story is the deep hatred buried within the outwardly congenial Montresor. This makes it vital that the story be told with Montresor's thoughts known to the reader. The tale simply would not work if it were told from Fortunato's point of view, or from a dramatic/objective angle. An omniscient view would function, but by knowing only Montresor's thoughts the reader develops a trust in him, and this causes the story's theme to have a more personal effect on the reader.
In the story "The Cask of Amontillado", Edgar Allen Poe tells the story of Montresor and Fortunato. This story has a much lighter mood to it, but from the beginning there is some tension between Fortunato and Montresor. The story its self has a
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.
Among Poe's most intriguing tales is "The Cask of Amontillado," first published in Godey's Lady's Book in November of 1847. A surface reading of that story reveals only a simple description by Montresor (the narrator) of how he kills another man who was called, ironically, Fortunato. Montresor exploits Fortunato's vanity concerning the connoiseurship of wine; specifically, Montresor pretends to want a wine cask of Amontillado verified as genuine. Montresor chooses a time when Fortunato is drunk to dupe him into going down the spiral stairs into the catacombs, which serve as a sort of family burial grounds for the race of Montresors. But rather than a mere cask of wine, Fortunato finds his death; for Montresor bricks him into a niche of the catacombs which has remained undisturbed for the fifty years since the murder was performed. How simple!
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
The short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edger Allen Poe and the film, The Hunter of the Night by Charles Laughton are similar pieces. “The Cask of Amontillado,” is about a man who gets revenge on an acquaintance by leading him into his catacombs with the promise of wine and then traps him there. The Hunter of the Night is about a preacher who marries a widow with the intention of finding the money her children are hiding. Both “The Cask of Amontillado,” and The Hunter of the Night convey a suspenseful mood. Poe uses irony and imagery to reveal this feeling, while Laughton uses sound effects, lighting and props. Although these two pieces explore a similar mood, they also differ in how they achieve the goal of creating unsettling feeling for the audience. Verbal irony and sound effects help create both an unsettling feeling and suspenseful mood.
Edgar Allen Poe was one of the most fanciful American poets and short story writers of the nineteenth century. His work always kept us wanting He incorporates all of the special elements to create a horror story like his famous “The Cask of Amontillado.” This is a story about Montresor, the narrator, seeking revenge on his so called friend, Fortunado. It was carnival season and everyone had dressed up.
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.