The Cask Of Amontillado 'And The Sniper'

How often is a story read, without the reader fully comprehending what the story's meaning or message is trying to convey? With the use of literary elements, it helps the reader understand the story. To begin, literary elements like situational irony, dramatic characterization, and mood are used in a writing to help interest the reader, connect with the characters, or discover the theme in a short story. First, in "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Necklace", and "The Sniper", situational irony draws a reader's attention and makes the stories livelier. Second, the dramatic characterization in "The Destructors", "Marigolds" and "A Haunted House" aids the reader in connecting with the characters to understand the stories. Third, the moods of "The Pedestrian", "The Rocking-Horse Winner", and "Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman" reflect the theme of the story for the reader to determine from the work. Once again, the use of literary elements in a short story contributes to the reader's

understanding of the text.

To start, the situational irony in "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Necklace", and "The Sniper" make the short stories unpredictable and more interesting to the reader. First, in the story "The Cask of Amontillado", Edgar Allan Poe places situational irony in what the character, Fortunato, is wearing. Fortunato is wearing a motley costume when his "friend", Montresor, brings him into the vaults and buries him alive. Fortunato's costume in the catacombs is ironic because the outfit gives a happy, fun feeling when in reality, Fortunato is following Montresor into the catacombs to die. Next, in "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant, the use of situational irony is at the end of the story when the main character confronts her friend. Madame

Loisel borrows a necklace from her friend, Madame Forestier, but accidentally loses it and has to spend ten years completing hard manual labor to earn money the money back from replacing it, when she finds out the necklace she lost is only a cheap replica. It is ironic that Madame Loisel spends her life savings to repay her friend when the necklace costs only a small fraction of what she pays to replace it. Lastly, in "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty, the sniper's enemy presents situational irony in the story. The sniper is on a rooftop to scout his enemy and shoots him, but then he goes to identify his victim and realizes he killed his brother. The sniper killing his brother is ironic because throughout the whole story the sniper thinks he is facing an enemy on the rooftop when he is shooting at his brother and kills him. Situational irony is when the opposite of what the reader expects occurs, and in each of the three short stories, there are examples of this type of irony that draws the reader into the story.
Next, dramatic characterization can help the reader connect with the characters to understand the story. One of the best ways the author can dramatically characterize is through the characters' internal thoughts. In the story "The Destructors" by Graham Greene, Blackie starts to realize that the gang finds T. a better leader than him, so he starts to think about going home, and letting them all discover the hollowness of T.'s leadership. This thought Blackie has allows the reader to connect with the feeling of being left out, just as Blackie feels when T. becomes the leader. Another way the author uses dramatic characterization to relate to the characters in the story is through their actions. In the short story, "Marigolds" by Eugenia W. Collier, Lizabeth is emotional and destroys all of Miss Lottie's marigolds. This helps the reader connect with Lizabeth because she is upset, and when people feel emotional it can cause reactions in ways one cannot control. Finally, dramatic characterization connects the reader to a character when the author lets the reader hear a character speak. In the short story "A Haunted House" by Virginia Woolf, the male ghost talks about the numerous kisses, the silver between the trees, in the garden, when summer comes, and several other memories between the couple when alive. The reader can connect with the ghost because humans naturally reflect on their memories and feelings of the past. In conclusion, using dramatic characterization to connect with the characters can help the reader to better comprehend the story. Lastly, in the short stories "The Pedestrian", "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and "Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman" the mood helps reveal the theme to the reader throughout the story. In "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury, the mood helps the reader understand the theme which is to not let technology threaten humanity and the ways people live. Throughout the story, Mr. Mead describes walking through the streets as if he was alone in the world and seeing people through their windows with their focus on watching their televisions. The mood of the story is loneliness and helps depict the theme because the reader is impacted on how Mr. Mead spends his life by himself because everyone else has their focus on the technology of their world. Second, the mood in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence reflects the theme of money not bringing happiness. In the story, Paul's mother focuses on money and continuing to act rich, and Paul works hard riding his rocking-horse to gain money and make his mother happy which results in a decline of Paul's health. The story's mood is tense, and the reader feels this when Paul is becoming mad over horse races to win money and it connects to the theme because Paul is doing this to himself just so he can make his mother happy with the money he earns. Third, in the story "Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison, the mood helps depict the theme of going against the negative standards of society. The character Harlequin goes against the strict schedule of time and the Ticktockman locates him to punish him for not following societal norms. The reader's mood of the story is serious and we see that when Harlequin receives punishment for not following conformity in society, and it relates to the theme of rejecting society to stand for what is right. Finally, the mood of the reader when reading the story helps discover and understand the themes in all three short stories.
In conclusion, situational irony, dramatic characterization, and mood help in developing the reader's interest, relating to a character, and finding the theme of a story. First, the use of situational irony in short stories helps the author engage a reader into the story. In the story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant the reader is in shock when finding out the necklace costs a lot less than the amount Madame Loisel pays for it. Second, dramatic characterization enables the reader of a story to connect with the characters. In the story "Marigolds" by Eugenia W. Collier, the reader can relate to the character, Lizabeth, when she is overwhelmed with emotions and cannot control her actions. Third, the mood of a story can help uncover the theme to the reader. In "Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison, the serious mood of the story reflects the theme of going against a negative society when the character, Harlequin, is standing up for what is right.