Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, and Michael Myers. Demonic Possession, Ghost, and Aliens. All of these people and things are associated with one thing nowadays. The horror genre. It was always like that though. Horror wasn’t based off of slashing someone to pieces, or turning a corner and something pops out making you jump. What about the genre of horror in writing? Who would be considered the forerunner in horror writing? Today a lot of people would probably name Stephen King for that, and would probably place the book “It” at the top of the list for best horror writings of all time, while a few would give mention to Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe was an American author in the early 1800’s. While he has written so many poems and short stories, arguably his most famous one to date is “The Raven.” Even The Simpsons have made a spin-off episode of it for their Treehouse of Horror Series. …show more content…
Poe has done so much for the horror genre in writing and one of his best works is his short story entitled “The Cask of Amontillado.” The story features two characters, Fortunato and Montresor, who are attending a Mardi Gras party somewhere in Italy.
The focus on the story is about Montresor who seeks revenge, in this case murder, against the man named Fortunato who, as Montresor has claimed, made insults about him and he is tired of it. Montresor decides to come up with a plan to kill Fortunato once and for all. So Montresor, after Fortunato has become drunk, tells Fortunato he has discovered a rare brand of Amontillado. Montresor than brings Fortunato down into the catacombs, which is where Montresor claims it is, and eventually chains Fortunato to a wall all the while mocking him and leaving him to die. The story concludes with Montresor almost bragging that he got away with it fifty years later. “The Cask of Amontillado” was published in 1846 by Godey's Lady's Book the most famous periodical at Poe’s
time. Within the genre of horror “The Cask of Amontillado” displays terrific works of horrific elements within the setting and characterization to progress the horror genre in writing. The first true element of horror found in “The Cask of Amontillado” is the setting. The setting has always been a big part to stories. It helps make the image in your mind. With a poor setting, you have a poor story. “The Cask of Amontillado” does not fail in this aspect though. First you have the time this story is taking place. The story takes place at night as opposed to day. Just imagine yourself being in this situation even before going to the catacombs. A lot of people are scared of the dark and it is for multiple reasons. Poe takes this element and does not make it the central point of the story but uses it to help create the horror atmosphere. As almost anything can happen at night and be unseen just as Montresor is hoping for. The second element to the setting for horror is what is happening when it is taking place. There is a Mardi Gras party in which Montresor and Fortunato are at. As Rehana Whatley said in the article Confession within a Confession: Poe's Brave New World that this Mardi Gras festival would have been within “mid carnival season of pre-lenten days when drinking, merriment, and gaiety are out of control, anything can happen” (Whatley 56). Which would explain why Fortunato would be drunk and the merriment of the party would make people almost oblivious to the things that are happening so that “anything can happen” and in this case Montresor being able to get away with the murder of Fortunato. The final element within the setting is Catacombs where a majority of the story takes place. Now it is important to understand what a catacomb is. As defined by dictionary.com the word catacomb is described as “an underground cemetery, especially one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.” So Montresor brings Fortunato into an “underground cemetery” but not only that he brings him into an underground cemetery that is “one consisting of tunnels and rooms” that have “recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.” Montresor literally brings Fortunato amongst the dead, and Poe is using this to foreshadow the end of what this story is going to be. So the setting takes place at night, while people are drunk and partying, and underground amongst many of the dead. Easily enough we see the element of horror created. Poe not only uses the setting though, but also uses the characters he has placed within the story. The second element of horror found in “The Cask of Amontillado” is the characterization. The first character is Fortunato who Whatley describes as “an upstart, who brags, boasts, flaunts, and bullies Montresor in ignorance and arrogance” (Whatley 56). Now this helps because this only clarifies the point made by Montresor in where Fortunato is making fun of him. Now not only that but Whatley goes on about Fortunato saying that “Fortunato’s carnival identity, a motley clown is a brilliant stroke of luck” (Whatley 56). Taking that as it is the fact that he is clown could mean one of two things. One clowns are something people are terrified of, but not only that, but clowns are made a mockery of which explains Montresor’s actions of mockery at the end of the story and also parallel with Fortunato. The second character is Montresor himself. The funny part is looking at his name. Almost as if Poe is writing out the name monster but touched up a little bit. Montresor brings in the cold-blooded approach and just out for total vengeance against Fortunato and in reference to characterization Patrick White says “for what is important for Montresor is not that he is French or Italian but that he is a Montresor” (White 551). Poe never actually says where this story takes place, but literary critics has suggested that it is either France or Italy. As White said above though, Montresor is not preoccupied with that. He focuses on who he is as his name. This aspect really allows you to dive deep into who the character is himself and allow you to see that Montresor has a deep care about who he is as a person, which would explain why he is taking such offense to Fortunato when he makes fun of him. The cold-blooded character within Montresor is seen near the end of the story the most and as David Cody says “Fortunato’s desperate cries and screams have no effect on the stony heart of the tormentor” (Cody 39) and as Whatley says “Montresor seethes with hate to destroy Fortunato, the source of his pain, and misery” (Whatley 56). At some point you want to feel bad for Montresor but also have to see the evil that really sits within him. In conclusion, Poe really wraps this story together immensely well. He does not have to use the Hollywood effects of blood and guts, popping out scares, or even demonic take overs. In the genre of horror Poe displays terrific works of horrific elements in the setting and characterization to progress the horror genre. He uses the elements of setting that we as people are around on a daily basis that we do not take as notice too. Poe also shows who we really are as people and how evil we can sometimes be. Regardless how one feels about Poe there should be no doubt in any persons mind that he was a literary genius and used each element he could for horror to the best of his ability.
A main theme presented in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is that Montresor shows obsession with the murder of fortunato. This is exemplified by Montresor’s precise planning, carefulness and slowness of speed in the process.
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.
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.
Set in an unspecified Italian city and an unidentified year, the Cask of Amontillado is a short story that majorly revolves on revenge. Written by the much-celebrated literary expert Edgar Allan Poe, the short story is centered on the narrator who is hell bent exerting revenge on a friend who caused him great pain.
The Case of Amontallido In a psychological perspective, the author’s life is linked with the behavior and motivations of characters in the story. The author’s name is Edgar Allan’s Poe who portrayed his self in his writing. The miserable life of Poe can be measured through “The Cask of Amontillado” in which character named “Montressor” showed indifferent feeling towards his victim. After burying Fortunado alive, Montressor felt bad after burying his victim alive but then he attributes the feeling of guilt to the damp catacombs.
Edgar Allen Poe uses irony and poetic justice all throughout “The Cask of the Amontillado”. The places where irony and poetic justice hold the most significance are the scenes where, Montresor speaks of the wronging done to him by Fortunato, where Montresor and fortunato speak of the coat of arms, and where at the very end when Montresor traps Fortunato in the catacombs and leaves him to die. These scenes clearly show the use of these two tools that Poe used to tell the story of Montresor and
The story “The Cask of Amontillado” is written in first person point of view and this story is fairly simple to understand. This story is affected by the narration when looking at what the narrator's focus is, the narrator’s thoughts or opinions, and how the reader interprets the story.
In his article “On Memory Forgetting, and Complicity in “the Cask of Amontillado”” Raymond DiSanza suggests that an act of wrongdoing is always at the heart of good horror stories. (194) DiSanza’s article on “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe describes Poe’s writing in a way I didn’t think of myself. DiSanza finds Poe’s language in this story to “taste like amontillado: smooth, slightly sweet, and appropriately chilled”. (DiSanza 195) Throughout his article he mostly talks about what possibly could have been Montresor’s motive to kill Fortunato? And why did Montresor wait fifty years to tell the story?
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a dark piece, much like other works of Edgar Allan Poe, and features the classic unreliable narrator, identified by himself only as Montresor. This sinister central character is a cold ruthless killer that is particularly fearsome because he views murder as a necessity and kills without remorse. Montresor is a character who personifies wickedness. Poe uses this character and his morally wrong thoughts and actions to help the reader identify with aspects of the extreme personage, allowing them to examine the less savory aspects of their own. The character of Montresor detailing the glorious murder he committed is a means of communicating to the reader that vengeance and pride are moral motivators that lead to treacherous deeds and dark thoughts.
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 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
The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe describes how Montresor confesses the sequence of his well-designed or nearly flawless murder or revenge against Fortunato due to he is a threat to him. In his confession of a perfect crime, Montresor, who “vowed revenge” because of Fortunato’s “thousand injuries,” first say that his “heart grew sick” and then immediately add, “ it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so because he believes Fortunato insults him many times that his hatred against him become bigger and bigger. This makes him cannot stand for Fortunato’s behavior anymore as well as the setting completely makes everything prefect as he believes Fortunato deserves the punishment. The nature and family hold a significant role
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.”
”In the matter of old wines he was sincere,” Montresor proclaimed. A victim in Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Cask of Amontillado." He wronged Montresor, the narrator of "Cask,” who the reader is inadequate to trust because he is an unreliable narrator. Therefore, the reader is incapable of stating for a fact that Fortunato has wronged Montresor. he seeks vengeance against Fortunato and plains retribution during Carnivale. He used "Amontillado" to lure Fortunato into "the most remote end of the crypt" and walled him up alive, hence he could have his vengeance "at light." Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism, imagery, and the atmosphere to helpfully explore for Fortunato's pridefulness, alcoholism, and foolishness/intelligent within the short
The short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” is written in the first-person point of view. Poe tells the story through Montresor’s narration representing his interpretation of the events. Montresor conveys the first-person point of view by using the pronoun I when describing his actions and the word his when speaking of Fortunato.