Poe's "Hop Frog" and "The Cask of Amontillado" compared

Edgar Allan Poe

In a short story, the narrator is the reader's link with the author and his or her message. It is the platform upon which the meeting of reading and writing mind takes place. Hence, the choice of narrator for every particular story is a very important one. The narrators of "Hop Frog" and "The Cask of Amontillado" lend themselves particularly well to a discussion of narrators.

Hop Frog" features a first-person narrator that is never named. Instead, he remains in the background while he relates the events of the story. He indicates that he observes the events as they occur, but he is never part of these events. In addition to narrating in the first person then, Poe has accomplished the rather unusual combination of narrator as both first person and omniscient.

The effect on the reader is interesting. The first-person narrator connects with the reader on a very personal, conversational level. In this story, the connection is reinforced by the tone the narrator uses. Initially his style is very light and conversational; one might go as far as calling it pleasant. As the story progresses however, the reader becomes aware of a darker truth in the relationship between the king and his jester-dwarf. Indeed, as the story progresses, the narrator increasingly refers to the king as a "tyrant." As the story continues, it also becomes increasingly brutal - the king and his ministers are demonstrated as tyrants in every sense of the word. The turning point occurs when the king mistreats Tripetta.

At this stage, Hop Frog is driven to an extreme of resolution and possibly even madness. Still, the narrator's calm, cool and conversational style persists. This tone increasingly contrasts with the brutality of the story. Even the climax of the story is related in the same style as the beginning, where neither reader nor king realized the impending danger. The effect of this is very striking. The narrator fades to the background and lets the events speak for themselves, shocking as they are. The end is filled with silence and a sort of peace after the brutal king's death. Through very targeted description, the narrator assaults the reader with the silenced king's corpse. While horrified, the reader tends towards siding with Hop Frog. The effect of the narrator's lack of emotion increases the shock effect on the reader.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," the narrator also tells a story of revenge. The main difference in this story is that the first-person narrator and the avenger are one. The tone of the narration is also somewhat darker and more negative than the one in "Hop Frog."

While the narrator in Hop Frog only begins to suggest later in the story that Hop Frog is seeking revenge, the reader has no doubt about Montresor's intentions. In this way, the narrator creates a focus for the reader's mind: revenge is to be dealt, but how? In "Hop Frog," the reader wonders merely what will happen from scene to scene in a fairly unfocused way.

Both avengers in the stories trick their tormentors into their respective damnations. And they both do so by using the victims' favorite element. The narrator of "Amontillado" uses wine to lure Fortunato into the recesses of the city, where the latter meets his slow and agonizing end. As such, both narrators clearly state their tormentor's favorite things, which would be used towards their demise: "In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he was sincere."

In "Hop Frog," the narrator opens his story with "I never knew anyone so keenly alive to a joke as the king was." Both references to the favorite skills practiced by the culprits occur close to the beginning of the story, foreshadowing the climax later. Both narrators also provide the climax to their stories close to the end.

The fictional style in which each story is told differs significantly. It is mentioned above that the narrator in "Hop Frog" uses a light, conversational tone for his story. He is not by any means emotionally or otherwise involved in the events. It is his duty to inform the reader of the events as he observes them unfolding. Even when he describes the tyranny of the king and the brutality of his death, the narrator never allows his own emotions or opinions onto the story platform. As such, he acts as a mediator between the reader and the story.

Amontillado's" narrator has no such consideration for the sensibilities of the reader. His emotion, along with his story, is focused on one thing: revenge. After the cold and calculated introduction to the story, the narrator leads his friend into the catacombs. The journey is arduous and long, exhausting not only Fortunato, but to some extent the reader as well.

Fortunato is blissfully unaware of the doom waiting for him at the end of the tunnel. The reader is, but is assaulted by having to wait for the long journey to end before being able to see the end. Montresor is furthermore very focused on his own injury and anger. He uses these to follow through the revenge, even when he doubts the wisdom of his actions near the end.