Limits in The Cask Of Amontillado Essay

The Tale Within the Tale: An analysis of the Cask of Amontillado

When a man is pushed to his limits, or goes to extremes in the sake of pride, disaster can ensure. Edgar Allen Poe explores these dilemmas in his short story The Cask of Amontillado. Poe, who is known for the dark and murderous short stories and poems he had produced in his lifetime, starts the story off by introducing the reader to Montresor, a man who is more than fed up with his friends disrespect. The leader never learns how Fortunato, Montresors target, offended him in such a way that drove him to the point of murder, but it isnt necessarily relevant to the story considering that the biased narrator is telling the story 50 years after the events occurrence. What is relevant is the way Poe tells the story, bombarding readers with literary elements that are well hidden but bring forth a larger meaning. Edgar Allen Poe took a dark and mysterious approach to most if not all of his work, but with the help of literary elements he conveyed a deeper message.

The story starts off with Montresor approaching Fortunato at the carnival in town. Montresor, wearing a dark silk mask, and Fortunato, wearing what seems like a jesters outfit, are perfect examples of imagery. Montresors mask signifies that of an executioner while Fortunatos colorfully flamboyant outfit makes him out to be a fool, or at least implying that in this situation he will end up as the fool. After using Fortunatos pride against him, Montresor leads Fortunato into the vault where the bait, the pipe of amontillado, lay. As they proceed through the catacombs, Poe uses yet another literary element. The nitre on the walls caused Fortunato to start coughing violently; Montresor showing what seems like concern for his comrade offers him wine to clear his throat as well as suggesting that his health was of main concern and that his competitor Luchersi could help instead of him. Fortunatos pride immediately urges him to claim that he, Shall not die from a cough. After drinking the wine offered to him, Fortunato made a gesture that threw off Montresor; A gesture signifying that he was a member of the brotherhood of the freemasons. When accused of not being a Mason, Montresor pulls out a trowel, a device used in stonemasonry to build walls, and the two move on to the vault never looking back.The insignificance of the trowel as well as Fortunatos coughing are examples of foreshadowing. The whole passage was just Poe using foreshadowing to give hints as to what was coming next, as well as building the suspense. Finally in the last moments of the story, Montresor chains Fortunatos leg to a large immovable stone, and then proceeds to building a wall using the aforementioned trowel, mocking his every word.

While he is finishing up Fortunatos tomb and after hours of painful moans coming from inside the tomb, readers are subject to one last literary element. Montresor screams out Fortunatos name twice in order to relish the moment even more but Fortunato doesnt answer. It doesnt say in the story why he does not answer, but one can assume that Fortunato won a silent victory over Montresor. Montresor wanted that agony and pain. He wanted to savor every moment of it, but ironically enough, Fortunato doesnt give him the satisfaction he wanted. Another ironic twist is given to the reader at the very beginning of the story. Fortunato, or Fortunado in Spanish, is Italian for fortunate one, which in this case it is very unlikely that being trapped in a catacomb alive can be considered as fortunate. All these literary elements and more are the reason people are still reading Poes work over a century after his death. One can only hope that future authors would portray those same literary illusions that Poe used in all his work.

In The Cask of Amontillado, a lot of information is left out, such as the cause of Montresors hatred and what really happened to Fortunato. The absence of this knowledge doesnt take away from the story however, it just adds to the darkness and mystery that Poe will forever be known for. His use of literary elements to paint readers a deeper picture is something that almost all writers strive for today.