Evaluation Of The Cask Of Amontillado

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Evaluation of “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe

In the story “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allen Poe, one of the characters actually gets away with murder.
I chose this story for the simple fact that I enjoy Poe’s work greatly, and have since I was a child. I had a book of Poe stories and poems that was illustrated by Gahan Wilson. If you have ever seen any of Wilson’s macabre and gruesome comics or illustrations, then you will know why he is perfectly suited to engage with Poe’s often sick and twisted stories. I believe that this helped me, as a child, appreciate Poe’s work even more. I have been a fan ever since.
The theme of this story, as with the majority of Poe’s work, is that of the macabre, grotesque, and more specifically, murder.
There are three main characters, but only two of them are realized in this story. The first is Montresor, whose eyes we see the story through. I take him as being a sort of noble or some type of semi-powerful man in early 19th century France. He is a smart man, perhaps well educated due to his family’s money and power. While money and power are still present, I get the feeling that neither are as prevalent as they once were, simply because Montresor states “The Montresors, were a great and numerous family.” (151) His use of the word “were” symbolizes past tense. The second character is Fortunato. He is in the same class as Montresor, with money, power, and respect all coming his way.
Fortunato seems very immature, so I get the feeling that he is a bit younger than Montresor, although it is hard for me to establish their ages. He is not as bright as Montresor, and while he is probably well educated, it is wasted on stupidity and cockiness. He is a very arrogant person, which causes people to tolerate him simply because they feel they have to. The third character, although we never meet him, is mentioned several times by Montresor and Fortunato. He i...