An Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado'

ANALYSIS OF “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”0
Analysis of “The Cask of Amontillado”
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

ANALYSIS OF “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”1
Introduction
“The Cask of Amontillado” is one of the representative work of Edgar Allan Poe which
was first published in 1846 November’s issue of one of the most popular periodical of the time in
America- Godey’s Lady’s Book. It is in keeping with the previous writings which dealt with the
Poe’s obsession with murder by strangling or suffocating in an enclosed place.
Discussion
The story revolves around two family friend Montresor and Fortunato who have been
together since the time they can recall but we see the narrator in the beginning that he has been
planning since the time he has been insulted by Fortunato on the basis of his family business of
freemasonry (Arikan). In the end, we see him luring his friend into a tunnel underground of his
own house and burying him alive without any remorse and without leaving any evidence of the
crime.
Setting of the Story
The tittle and the ending of the story is one of the most prominent feature which is
foreshadowing the character’s fate from the very beginning of the narration. We hear Montresor
in the very first line that- “Fortunato has hurt me a thousand times and I have suffered in quietly”
(Poe, pp.72); we as a reader who is aware of Poe’s writing technique seems to understand the
suffocation of the character from the first line that he has been keeping things to himself and
plotting to have his revenge. The revenge however, seems to be based on complex feeling that he
Montresor has developed where he is unable to recall or reiterate to the reader even one
particular incident. Another thing that we see foreshadowing the narrative is the instability on the
part of Montresor psychological condition, he says that he has been planning for the revenge but
his criminal ideology comes out in his words- “I must not suffer as a result of taking my