Analysis Of The Cask Of Amontillado Essay — страница 2

  • Просмотров 255
  • Скачиваний 9
  • Размер файла 15
    Кб

Fortunato: just enough to know that he must not have really known the true heart of his friend. He must not have been a guarded person. He must have said too much to make Montresor think he was insulting him and he must have boasted about his knowledge of wines. You feel that Fortunato was probably a bit too sociable and a bit foolish. He was an unfortunate man who found himself in contact with the wrong person. The setting Poe chose for the story adds to the horror. He sets most of the story in a dark, damp series of winding tunnels piled with bones. By taking Fortunato into the vaults, he cuts him off from help. The two characters are underground and isolated. As Montresor leads his friend through the vaults, we feel as if we are being led through the crazed corridors of

Montresor?s sick mind. Using the carnival as a backdrop is also skillful because it is a time when everything is in chaos and people have lost their self-control. There is noise in the street, the servants are gone, and Fortunato might have sensed something evil about Montresor?s intentions and left the vaults before it was too late. Poe?s style is what makes this a masterpiece of horror. He uses imagery to help the reader experience of the catacombs. We see the vaults ?encrusted with niter?(193), the ?walls piled with bones?(194), ? the glow of the flambeaus?(194), and ?the mask of black silk?(192) Montresor wears. We hear the jingle of bells on Fortunato?s cap, his hacking cough, and his laughter of despair as he is buried alive. We feel the dampness of the catacombs. Poe uses

irony throughout the story. There is situational irony in the fact that the crime takes place during a celebration, that Fortunato?s name means good luck, and that Fortunato is dressed like a jester. What is about to happen is just the opposite of what you would expect. Just about everything Montresor says is verbal irony. He says just the opposite of what he means. He keeps inquiring about Fortunato?s health and says he will not die of a cold. The greatest use of irony is when Montresor says he is a member of the masons. Fortunato thinks he means he is of a fellow member of a society when what he really means is that he is a bricklayer about to brick him in for all eternity. This conversation also provides foreshadowing in the story. This is the first clue the reader gets about

how Montresor will punish Fortunato. The overall mood of the story is one of horror and impending evil. The ending of the story is filled with suspense. What will happen now that Fortunato is chained to the wall? Will Montresor come to his senses and have mercy on Fortunato? We see Montresor carefully construct each tier of the wall. Why does he hesitate at the end? Will he react to the desperate cry of Fortunato? When the last brick is set in place, we know Fortunato?s doom has been sealed. I find that this story makes the hairs on my back of my neck rise every time I read it. There is no real violence in the modern sense of the word, it is almost more horrifying because rayther than see it with our eyes we se it with our imagination.