I was really looking forward to reading Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado for this week
despite the fact that I’ve read it before, because it is an amusing tale.
We learn from the first sentences
that Fortunato has done something to insult the narrator, though we’re never
told what, and he states that he will have
his revenge. This does an excellent job of bringing suspense, because we have
no idea what Montresor is planning until the end. He also states a rather
interesting philosophy, which is that revenge isn’t revenge unless the victim
is caught completely and totally unawares, by some severe act of vengeance. If
Poe’s characters have anything in common, it’s that they never do anything
halfway.
I think the
parts that were most amusing to me were the hints of mockery and foreshadowing
while going through the vaults. Montresor tells Fortunato his family motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit”, No one
provokes me with impunity. He toasts Fortunato “To your long life”, and
repeatedly inquires about his cough. He later pulls out a trowel and tells
Fortunato he is a mason, and Poe points out in his description of the vault the
pile of bones from which Montresor pulls out the building stones and mortar a
few sentences later.
All in all,
The Cask of Amontillado is
delightfully suspenseful and intriguing, laced with Poe’s dark humor.
I think you have picked up on something that could be paper-worthy with the whole foreshadowing thing. This story is a great example for both suspence and foreshadowing. Poe in general is really good at that. I remember his story "The Pendulum" as one of his prime suspence tales.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm glad you wrote your blog on "The Cask of Amontillado" because I would have had no idea what to write about if I had chosen this story to blog on instead of "Sonny's Blues". I'm sure if we analyzed it enough, we could come up with some impressively deep meaning behind this story (maybe), but I, like you, really just find it to be more of an entertaining (yet slightly disturbing) story.
Your comment about how Poe's characters don't do things halfway really made me recall certain events in the story that I didn't think about before. Even though Montressor hit a few bumps along the way ( Fortunato asking if he really was a mason) he was still able to go through with his plan.
ReplyDeleteI also love the piece of artwork down at the bottom. I love it!