I love reading Poe's short stories, for he was a master of the craft. He talked about how a short story should have a "single effect" that strikes a chord within the reader's emotions. There is quite a bit of dramatic irony in this piece since the reader knows that Montresor is going to exact vengeance on Fortunato but Fortunato knows nothing about it. Fortunato's name, which contains the root word "fortune", is ironic, since he is going to meet with a future demise. Montresor makes ironic statements to Fortunato in order to mask his true intentions, intentions that the audience is well aware of: "I drink," he (Fortunato) said, "to the buried that repose around us." "And I (Montresor) to your long life" (par. 40). Yet one question that the reader may ask iswhy does Montresor want to kill Fortunato? Well one thing that really jumped out at me (and I caught this when I read it before I took this class) is that Montresor is a Mason, and that Fortunato must've said something to deeply offend him on religious grounds, even though the reader dosen't exactly know what Fortunato is guilty of. One thing I like about Poe's tale (and even more so Herman Melville's Moby Dick and Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter) is that they give the reader some liberty to interpret the story for themselves. One quote that might prove that Montresor is a Mason is this one allusion from the biblical book of Genesis about how Christ will conquer Satan (in Montresor's case, the Catholic Church): "...the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel" (par. 45).
Works Cited: Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 10th ed. New York, London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2011. 107-113.
I really enjoy the thought of Montresor being a Mason. I have never thought about that, in the numerous times I have read this short story. Dr. Hobby has mentioned psychoanalysis in describing how I often view the characters in the stories I read. I love Poe for this reason. He can create horrific characters who do awful things, yet make them human. Montresor is a deeply prideful individual, and I love his rationalizations for murdering someone so psychologically violently. Poe is a master at reflecting the dark side of humanity, while also bringing a beauty that only a fantastical (I hesitate to say Romantic) heart can bring. His poems and stories are brilliant and gory, way before that was vogue. I am glad he has the admirers that he does.
I really enjoy the thought of Montresor being a Mason. I have never thought about that, in the numerous times I have read this short story. Dr. Hobby has mentioned psychoanalysis in describing how I often view the characters in the stories I read. I love Poe for this reason. He can create horrific characters who do awful things, yet make them human. Montresor is a deeply prideful individual, and I love his rationalizations for murdering someone so psychologically violently. Poe is a master at reflecting the dark side of humanity, while also bringing a beauty that only a fantastical (I hesitate to say Romantic) heart can bring. His poems and stories are brilliant and gory, way before that was vogue. I am glad he has the admirers that he does.
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