What Is The Mood In The Cask Of The Amontillado

In “The Cask of the Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe sets a mysterious and suspenseful mood. The main character, Montresor, sets it immediately in the beginning when he desires to seek revenge on Fortunato. Poe’s story keeps the mood hanging in the air throughout the whole tale. The suspense and air of mystery is what keeps the reader wondering what will happen to Fortunato.

To begin, Montresor talks to Fortunato at carnival about a cask of amontillado being kept somewhere. Fortunato is somewhat disbelieving, but Montresor gradually convinces him to come with him to retrieve it from the catacombs belonging to his family. Montresor lures Fortunato in his drunken state through the catacombs. He feigns concern when his victim has a cough and insists

It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre.’” Fortunato refuses Montresor’s pleas and continues through the catacombs in search of the amontillado. The mood is set through verbal irony. In the text, Montresor actually shows concern for Fortunato instead of being hateful towards him. Another way that the mood is set is through dramatic irony. The reader knows that Montresor is scheming to kill Fortunato, but Fortunato is not aware of that. However, Fortunato does say that he believes he won’t die from a cough. Page 117 says,“‘Come,’ I said, with decision, ‘we will go back; 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. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchresi

The vivid details create a clear image of Montresor chaining Fortunato to the wall in his victim’s drunken state. The text says,“In niche, and finding an instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess.” The climax of the story is reached in this section of the passage when the reader knows that Montresor has succeeded in capturing Fortunato so he can succeed in his plan to kill him. The writing causes you to latch onto every word with a desire to know what will happen next. Almost always, the death of a character results in a negative mood, such as