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The most ironic thing we read in "The Black Cat," is the narrator's unstable state of mind. We should know that our first clue to his madness is his intent to assert that he is not. He writes, "Mad I am not" (Poe Black Cat 182), as he begins to pen one of the most insane narrations ever written. It is as if he is trying to convince himself of this lie. His alcoholism only makes matters worse as he wavers between extreme emotions. One moment, he loves the cat and the next moment, he hates the cat. He kills the cat to rid himself of it and, ironically, it haunts him. Of course, we cannot mention the story without mentioning how the narrator kills his wife in an effort to kill the cat. We can say that even this act is ironic because the narrator is so open about how he "buried the axe in her brain" (186). The narrator in this story is positive that that he is not mad. The irony is that he is perhaps one of the most mad of Poe's narrators in that he can never bee free from the cat regardless of what he does.
The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Black Cat," illustrate Edgar Allan Poe's achievement as a writer. He is not only able to craft terror stories that chill us to the bone but he is able to craft them using irony, a technique that makes his stories even more...
Each narrator in these stories exhibits strange behavior that causes us to pause. Montresor, for his sickening brilliance and the narrator in "The Black Cat" for his complete insanity. Without the irony, these stories would still be good but they would lack that extra punch that hits us in the gut as we read what is happening. The irony of life's experiences often makes them stick in our memories a little longer and this was Poe's goal. He wanted us to remember these narrators for a long time and the way to ensure that we would is by adding a dash of irony to the recipe. We cannot forget because, like the car crash at the side of the freeway, we like to look.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Minnesota: Amaranth Press: 1984.
The Black Cat." Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Minnesota: Amaranth Press: 1984.
Platizky, Roger. "Poe's the Cask of Amontillado." EBSCO Resource Database. Site Accessed August 01, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Stevenson, Robert. "Literature: 'The Works of Edgar Allan Poe.'" GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed August 01, 2008 http://www.galegroup.com
Winks, Robin. "Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage." GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed August 01, 2008 http://www.galegroup.com
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Minnesota: Amaranth Press: 1984.
The Black Cat." Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Minnesota: Amaranth Press: 1984.
Platizky, Roger. "Poe's the Cask of Amontillado." EBSCO Resource Database. Site Accessed August 01, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Stevenson, Robert. "Literature: 'The Works of Edgar Allan Poe.'" GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed August 01, 2008 http://www.galegroup.com
Winks, Robin. "Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage." GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed August 01, 2008 http://www.galegroup.com
The irony here is that the crime he failed to commit -- the killing of this cat -- led to the narrator's doom. The irony is heightened in "The Cask of Amontillado" because the entire time the narrator, who is looking back on the incident fifty years later, evinces no lack of confidence or surety until the very end, where his feelings of guilt become suddenly and drastically clear.
Paradoxically, based on the outcome of the story, it can be argued that the snake in the crest is not poisonous or else Fortunato's "bite" would have had more severe consequences on Montressor; however, the story ends with Montressor getting away in Fortunato's murder. Symbolic foreshadowing can also be seen in the conversation about masons between Montressor and Fortunato. As Fortunato questions Montressor about being a mason, Montressor assures his
Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe uses vivid dialogue to give his characters life. He begins his tale by speaking directly to the reader. He pulls the reader in by saying that "You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat" (Poe, 191). The reader knows that the main character is speaking to him. And the reader understands
Somehow, this made the story illustrate Fortunato's character and somehow has given me some thoughts on Fortunato's character, reasoning why Montresor bears bitterness to Fortunato. The next scene in the story is the place where the crime will happen, at the catacombs of the Montresors, a place underneath the Montresor palazzo and where a lot of deceptions and verbal ironies were suggested. This includes the concern to Fortunato's health that
Symbolism in "The Cask of Amontillado" Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" contains many rich symbols. It is a story deeply shrouded in mystery and destruction for the character of Fortunato, and although Fortunato does not realize it, he is going to meet in his fate on the night of the carnival. What is worse, is that he will meet this untimely death at the hands of someone he
Edgar Allen Poe tale of premeditated murder such as "The Cask of Amontillado," readers will immediately delight in the author's skill at suspense. Like wandering through darkened and ancient catacombs, reading "The Cask of Amontillado" stirs the imagination and maintains tension throughout its eerie passages. Deeper analysis lends insight into Poe's employment of various literary techniques to impart this sense of the tale being a campfire ghost story. Poe's