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    Cask of Amantillado

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    Aqsa Memon
    The document provides an analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado". It summarizes the key themes of ambivalence, self-delusion, and substance abuse. It outlines the plot of Montresor luring his friend Fortunato into the catacombs and murdering him for perceived insults. It also discusses the use of irony and symbolism in the story, with the characters' names representing "my treasure" and "fortunate one".

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    Cask of Amantillado

    Uploaded by

    Aqsa Memon
    120 views2 pages
    The document provides an analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado". It summarizes the key themes of ambivalence, self-delusion, and substance abuse. It outlines the plot of Montresor luring his friend Fortunato into the catacombs and murdering him for perceived insults. It also discusses the use of irony and symbolism in the story, with the characters' names representing "my treasure" and "fortunate one".

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    Cask of amantillado

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    The document provides an analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado". It summarizes the key themes of ambivalence, self-delusion, and substance abuse. It outlines the plot of Montresor luring his friend Fortunato into the catacombs and murdering him for perceived insults. It also discusses the use of irony and symbolism in the story, with the characters' names representing "my treasure" and "fortunate one".

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    120 views2 pages

    Cask of Amantillado

    Uploaded by

    Aqsa Memon
    The document provides an analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado". It summarizes the key themes of ambivalence, self-delusion, and substance abuse. It outlines the plot of Montresor luring his friend Fortunato into the catacombs and murdering him for perceived insults. It also discusses the use of irony and symbolism in the story, with the characters' names representing "my treasure" and "fortunate one".

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Introduction: “The Cask of Amontillado” is a short story about a young man, Montresor, who had his

    family’s name insulted. Thus seeking revenge by tricking a man into the catacombs, where Montresor
    leaves him to die.

    Themes: The main themes in “The Cask of Amontillado” are ambivalence, self-delusion, and substance
    abuse.

    Ambivalence: Readers are never told the nature of the “thousand injuries of Fortunato,” and Montresor
    himself seems somewhat ambivalent about the revenge he takes on his “friend.”

    Self-delusion: Montresor appears to be under the delusion that his murder of Fortunato is just, and
    perhaps even that Fortunato has wronged him at all, while Fortunato is under the delusion that
    Montresor means him no harm.

    Substance abuse: Alcohol and drunkenness play central roles in the story, contributing to Fortunato’s
    gullibility and ultimate demise in Montresor’s wine cellar.

    Setting: The Cask of Amontillado takes place in Italy during Carnevale: a festive time in the country
    similar to Mardi Gras in the United States. We start there, at night, in the madness, but are then taken
    back to the home of Montressor, more specifically, into the catacombs/wine cellars below.

    Characterization: The main characters in “The Cask of Amontillado” are Montresor and Fortunato.

    Montresor is the narrator, who calmly tells the story of his revenge against Fortunato. Montresor lures
    Fortunato into his catacombs, chains him to a wall, and buries him alive.

    Fortunato is a friend of Montresor’s who is unaware that Montresor is plotting to kill him. According to
    Montresor, Fortunato has perpetrated “a thousand injuries” against him.

    Literary Device: one of the literary devices used most effectively in ‘’The Cask of Amontillado’’ is verbal
    irony, or when a speaker says one thing but means something very different.

    A single example among the many uses of symbolism is found in the names of the principal characters,
    Montresor ( French for “my treasure”) and Fortunato (ltalian for “fortunate one”).

    Point Of View: In this short story, Edgar Allen Poe uses the point of view of Montresor and the conflict
    between him and Fortunato in order to convey the central idea that in the light of revenge people’s
    greatest evils can be revealed. Edgar Allen Poe uses first person point of view through the eyes of
    Montresor in order to express the change a man goes through when dealing with revenge.

    Plot: Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story takes place in an Italian city and features two characters,
    Montresor and Fortunato. ''The Cask of Amontillado'' is about revenge, deceit, and murder, as
    Montresor tricks a drunk Fortunato by trapping him inside an ancient catacomb.

    Moral: Edgar Allan Poe’s Cask of Amontillado holds various moral lessons we could learn from.

    Despite the numerous morals we could derive from the story, a universally accepted lesson we could
    take from it is this: We should always be weary about how we treat others.

    Murdering someone is absolutely and unequivocally wrong and that revenge is a temporary fix for
    bigger issues within ourselves (insecurities, etc.).
    Revenge is not always equal to the offense it portends to make right, particularly if the act of retribution
    is murder. A comparison one might draw is that of Robin Hood – Was it okay for him to rob from the rich
    to give to the poor? Or is thieving always thieving just as murder is always murder, no matter what the
    motive?

    Revenge can never lead to goodness. However, more significantly, Fortunato’s fondness for wine—
    which can be interpreted as the deadly sin gluttony—leads him to his death. He willingly drinks the wine
    that kills him. Revenge and gluttony have no spiritual benefits, and in fact contribute to one’s eternal
    downfall.

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