The Cask of Amontillado Literary Analysis Essay Example

The room was pitch black besides the faint glow and flicker of a torch is seen through a fresh crudely built brick wall, another light source is seen but quickly fades into darkness. A slight whimper seeps through the wall, no one will hear except the culprit, who mercilessly ignores his dread and fear of death. Fortunato is experiencing dread.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” the author uses dialog, foreshadowing, and character actions to enhance the mood of dread in the story.

In the first paragraph, the main character sets the mood of dread for the piece by the way the author describes how Fortunato has wronged him in the past. In the intro, Montresor vows revenge on Fortunato. Montresor describes why he hates Fortunato and gives a very vague reason by saying “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne”(Poe 1) So during the whole story the reader knows the ill intentions of Montresor and is suspicious of the seemingly pure action of Montresor. During every interaction, no matter how innocent-seeming Montresor's actions are, the reader dreads what will happen to Fortunato. During the first interaction between them, Fortunato seems unaware of Montresor's animosity toward him.

In this scene, Montresor is talking to Fortunato at a small party and tries to get him to come with him to his celler to verify the authenticity of the alleged fine wine that Montresor bought. During the conversation, Fortunato's judgment is impaired due to the libations he had consumed.

During the dialog exchanges, Montresor states "As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If anyone has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell me—"(Poe 13). Which is a clear bait for Fortunato to get him to leave his engagement. Fortunato retorts "Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry."(Poe 14) Montresor knows Fortunato is hooked and he exploits Fortunato's ego and gets him to eagerly follow him to the place where he stores his wine. Montresor uses other techniques to push Fortunato's confidence. When reading the dialog exchanges between the two during the party, the reader dreads why Montresor is talking to him, the only conclusion the reader can infer is that it is some sort of ploy to get Fortunato to do what he wants.

Edgar Allen Poe uses foreshadowing to portray dread in his poem. Montresor knows that Fortunato is intoxicated and not in the best state of mind and he exploits that by tricking him to follow him to his eventual demise. For this part of the story, they are far underground into Montresor’s cavern and after a brief conversation about a secret wine club called “the Masons” of which Montresor is not a part of such club, he claims he is in fact a Mason and pulls out a trowel.

The reader knows of Montresor's malicious intent and that Fortunato is likely to not return from his trip with him. The reader can see by this dialog that the author is using foreshadowing to portray the mood of dread. Paragraph 65: “It is this, I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the folds of my roquelaure.” 

Montresor holds the very same trowel that he later uses to encase Fortunato in his tomb. The reader may not know it,  but at this point, Fortunato is becoming increasingly inebriated by accepting a constant series of drinks from Montresor and can’t see what's happening. The reader knows of Montresor's ill intent and wonders what is going to happen next. This is the foreshadowing of the main character's action later in the short story. Because few people carry a trowel with them, but at this point, it is too late because Fortunato is not thinking straight and doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation. Fortunato realizes far too late, allowing Montresor to enact his revenge.  

The author uses character actions to illustrate the mood of dread, by having character actions solidify the other techniques used by the author of portraying dread and bring them together into a dreadful poem. 

Montresor's plan the whole time was to lure him into his cavern and feed him wine and trap and leave him for dead underground. Paragraph 76 is dedicated to the description of the first character action once the final stages of Montresor's diabolical plan. We get to see the character's true colors, Montresor is cold heartless, and feels nothing for the intense fear and panic Fortanado is feeling. Montresor hearing the cries and moans from his victim persists through it. “There was then a long and obstinate silence.”Poe 76 Montresor continues working” I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth” after this he “heard the furious vibrations of the chain” Poe76. Montresor rather than continue working he “sat down upon the bones. When at last the clanking subsided I resumed the trowel, and finished without interruption”

The author makes it very clear that this took a while. Describing him laying many layers of bricks. But he stops working to listen to the tortured screams and cries of Fortunato, Sourcing pleasure and satisfaction from the dread and mental anguish of Fortunato. Once the noise subsided he continued to work confirming that theory. Still needing to finish the wall, he starts again using his trowel.

Now nearing the end of Montresor's task he “hastened to make an end of my labor.” Poe89 the wall is nearly complete, and he starts to lay the last stones into place.

The use of the word “hastened” makes it sound like he is excited to get out of the catacombs later confirmed by his announcement to Fortunato “In pace requiescat!” The exclamation point gives off the impression of sarcasm, mocking his victim. He truly feels nothing for him. In the whole piece, the author wrote that Montresor detested him. But knowing that he will tell no one, Fortunato now has to sit and wait for his eventual demise, likely dreading and fearing what will come next.

Now the torch has completely faded, Montresor has left and will never come back. All he has inside his tomb is a torch to put hope in. hoping that by some miracle anyone will see it and save him. Fortunato is in a truly dreadful situation, the author Edgar Allan Poe has a great skill for using foreshadowing, dialogue, and character action to boost the mood of dread in his short story. How he foreshadows Fortunato's fate by having Montresor out a trowel, and in the denouement of the story once Montresor's true colors were shown we could see how much he hated Fortunato with his actions, such as when he stopped working to listen to his wrestling moaning and crying and continuing once he had stopped. But not hearing the reasons why Montresor did this Fortunato, aside can't be taken on the matter. But one can wonder if Fortunato deserved the punishment or if it was the vicious vulgar act of an insane sociopath. But does anyone deserve such a fate? Left alone to slowly wilt away with the faint glimmer of a torch to keep you company in your final hours.