America’s Classics: the Cask of Amontillado

Edgar Allan-Poe was a master of horror in the olden times, and had the ability to capture the readerr's feelings and emotions. Poer's great talents lead him to cunningly to create one of Americar's classics named The Cask of Amontillado. In this short story, Edgar Allan-Poe takes us on a suspenseful roller-coaster of a madmanr's perspective of how he has been wronged by his friend. Some of the most important and lingering moods throughout the whole story are the feelings of mystification, sympathy, and disturbing. Persisting throughout the entire short story, the reader always has the feeling of being mystified after every page. Montresor is most likely demanding impunity after his revenge against his wrongdoer named Fortunato when he states, A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser (1). Montressor states this and leaves it to the reader to interpret what it means, which again gives the reader a mystified feeling because in this sentence, he is most likely overshadowing how he will get justification, but never specifies how. Cunningly spoke, Montressor does not even give one hint of evil despite his unstable mind as he states, My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. The average reader might skim and see this statement to be a little puzzling because Montressor is apparently showing kindness and concern for his mortal enemy. This also dismays the reader, for Fortunato has no idea what Montressor has in his mind and his kindness only adds to the suspense and leaves the reader mystified. Not a lot of authors can utilize the art of mystification with other strong emotions like Edgar Allan Poe. Montressor is a man of great intelligence, but his lack of sanity makes his motives and actions pretty disturbing to read as he shows how he carries out the murder. Fortunato is in extreme pain as he yells and scrambles, but Montressor enjoys Fortunator's pain and decides to react by more screaming. The story states, I re-echoed--I aided-- I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did this and the clamorer grew still(6). The reader feels disturbed to how cruel and merciless Montressor truly is. Not only does he decide to attain revenge in the most unjust way possible, he yet has the audacity to put Fortunato in the most unfortunate position because he decided to scream alongside him. Montressor, as he begins his labors to seal off Fortunato in the niche, realizes how Fortunato is grappling with the chains. The story states, The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction(6). Here, in this perfect example, the reader starts feeling at unease when Montressor knows full well that Fortunato is up and is struggling furiously with the chains, he enjoys the pain and listens to it with satisfaction. This makes the narrator all the more disturbing read. Montressor is one of the top characters that come to mind when thinking on his unstable mindset, and how disturbingly he responds to the pain of his dear friend. Though the story has a persona of extreme madness, the reader starts feeling sympathy as the brilliant plan of Montressor unfolds. In the beginning of the story, the reader may realize how innocent and comical Fortunato is, and he shows kindness towards Montressor. The story states, He accosted me with excessive warmth he had on a tight parti-striped dress and his head was surmounted by the comical cap and bells(1). This innocence and friendliness leads the reader to feel bad for how bad Fortunato gets treated. After all, all he ever wanted to do was help Montressor and is already genuine and friendly. Because of this, the reader may feel disdain as to the outcome of the story. Poor Fortunator's unlucky fate had been resolved early on, as he has many flaws of an innocent human being, yet even at the end of his rope, he does not understand the grave danger he is in. The story states, Ha!-ha! Ha!-- he!- he! A very good joke indeed-- an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo-- he! He! He! -- over our wine-- he! He! He! Fortunator's gullibleness and his excessive warmth still had him thinking that Montressor was his friend and thought this was all a big prank, which makes this all the more sad and sympathetic. When it comes down to it, any reader with human emotions cant help but feel bad for the pitiful fate of Fortunato. While reading The Cask of Amontillado, the reader feels mystified, sympathetic, and disturbed. Poe uses a variety of words to take the reader on a unique experience only Poe can accomplish. All in all, Pow has contributed to the development in the horror genre by incorporating moods such as disturbing all the way to everyday human feels such as sympathy.

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