Edgar Allen Poes The Cask Of Amontillado Essay -- essays research pap

Edgar Allen Poe's, "The Cask Of Amontillado," is a between two enemies. It humorously portrays the foil of Fortunato, as he is led through the catacombs. Poe's humour is dark, sarcastic and very ironic, which quickly becomes a signpost of the tale. Poe sets himself apart from other authors in his works, based on how he depicts and encounters death. It accentuates the notion that at times, your worst enemy will appear as your best friend. Pride is the downfall of every man and the same can be said for witty and daring tale fortunato. â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† starts out with Montresor, the narrator, saying, â€Å"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.† Simply by reading the first sentence of the story, it is easy to see that Montresor is vengeful and plans to get â€Å"revenge† on Fortunato and there is a lot more to come in the story. Montresor also has a coat of arms which is, â€Å"A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel,† with a motto of, â€Å"Nemo me impune lacessit,† which stands for no one attacks me with impunity. The coat of arms and the family motto both suggest retribution. The arms symbolize Montresor and Fortunato, Fortunato stepping on Montresor, the snake, and Montresor getting even with Fortunato, the foot. Not only is Montresor vengeful, he is also very intelligent in his actions. In order to bring Fortunato into the wine cellars, Montresor had to make sure that â€Å"there were no attendants at home.† Montresor tells the reader, â€Å"They had absconded to make merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given explicit orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient; I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.† Montresor knew that by telling his servants that he would be gone until the morning they would go to the carnival whether he had told them to stay home or not. Montresor was also a mason and used his skill and intelligence to seal the fate of Fortunato. Montresor had hid building stone and mortar in the cellar under a pile of bones, and had carried a trowel with him. He did such a good job sealing the niche in the wall, where Fortunato stood chained, and replacing the bones that, â€Å"Fo... ...ine, to lead him to his own death. Fortunato is an Italian friend of Montresor's, and his sworn enemy, whom Montresor has planned to ‘‘punish with impunity. ‘‘Although Montresor's explains that Fortunato has committed a "thousand injuries’’ and a final "insult," no details of these offences are given. Fortunato displays no uneasiness in Montresor's company, and is unaware that his friend is plotting against him. Fortunato, a respected and feared man, is a proud connoisseur of fine wine, and, at least on the night of the story, he clouds his senses and judgment by drinking too much of it. What ever Fortunato had done to Montresor or his family must have been so unforgivable to make Montresor do such an evil deed. I believe that Poe is using the old saying keep your friends close but your enemies closer My conclusion to the story â€Å"the cask of amontillado† is that Poe creates a story that makes you want to read on find out if Montressor will succeed in his crime and will he get away with it?. The writer uses very good atmosphere to captivate the reader and make the scene feel chilling and scary. Poe creates a nightmare, guaranteed to give the reader a sleepless night.