Symbolism in The Cask of Amontillado and U.S. National Debt

Introduction: The Cask as a Financial Metaphor

In The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe depicts a man who lures his friend down to a cellar with the promise of fine wine, then walls him up and leaves him there as punishment for a perceived wrong (Poe's, 2003). Metaphorically, the national debt that the U.S. currently carries is "walling up" the country, and it will kill the United States financially if something is not done to reduce it. By walling up the U.S. with debt, there will be no escape from the financial struggles and other difficulties that always accompany too much debt and too little income (Wright, 2008). The American people are becoming trapped by what their government is doing, and escaping from debt is not really an individual problem in this country — it is more of a governmental issue. That problem goes deeper than whether the government owes money to other countries; it is an issue encompassing everything the government does that costs the country and the American people money. The Cask of Amontillado provides a high degree of symbolism that is indicative of what is currently taking place with the national debt.

There are many ideas and items that can be used as symbols in The Cask of Amontillado. The story is shrouded in mystery and destruction where the character of Fortunato is concerned, and he does not realize that he is about to meet his fate on carnival night. Fortunato is symbolic of the American people, because they, too, are moving toward destruction while remaining largely in the dark about their true financial situation. The national debt is growing at an alarming rate (Bonner & Wiggin, 2006). There is no end in sight to the level of debt that the U.S. faces today, and there are deep concerns about how much money is being spent and how the United States is using that money. Some Americans are concerned about the money itself, while others are concerned about the way the money is being used and how programs designed to help the American people are not actually helping them but are instead hurting them (Wright, 2008).

Fortunato and the American People as Symbols

The destruction of Fortunato is also symbolic of the destruction of the American people because it happens at the hands of someone who was trusted. For Fortunato, that person is Montresor (Silverman, 1991). For the American people, the trusted "friend" is the government. Even though people complain about their government, they still maintain a basic overall level of trust, believing that their government will take care of them and attend to their needs. While Montresor felt that Fortunato had wronged him, there is no equivalent in the national debt analogy. In other words, the American people have not "wronged" the government, and that is not why the government is walling them in with debt. The reasons behind the government's accumulation of so much debt can be confusing (Bonner & Wiggin, 2006; Wright, 2008), are open to speculation, and generate many conflicting opinions.

When someone trusts another person — or a larger entity such as the government — that person does not expect to be hurt. Trust is important and is often built over time. Some people trust blindly, but the majority require time and demonstrated reliability before extending trust to another person. With government, however, the dynamic is somewhat different, because people are raised within the framework of government and all it provides. Those who are born and raised in this country grow up knowing nothing else. Whether they trust the government is often a product of whether their parents and other family members trusted the government, and what those family members communicated when the person was young. Eventually, people grow up and form their own opinions about whether the government deserves their trust. The unfortunate part of this process is that people may base their views on misinformation, which can lead them into trouble.

Trust, Naivety, and the Government's Role

That is precisely what happened with Fortunato. He believed Montresor was his friend and that Montresor had forgiven him for past wrongs. In reality, Montresor is not Fortunato's friend at all, and he lures him down into the catacombs and dungeons beneath the city under the pretense of showing him a cask of Amontillado he has acquired. Montresor claims to be unsure whether the wine is truly Amontillado or something inferior, so he wants Fortunato to examine it and offer his expert opinion (Meyers, 1992). He knows Fortunato will not refuse, because Fortunato's love of fine wine is irresistible to him. Montresor even feigns concern for Fortunato's health, suggesting the damp catacombs might give him a chill — though this concern is entirely false. Fortunato is undeterred by the potential health risks, because the pull of the wine is too strong (Scott, 2002). He wants so desperately to believe that Montresor is his friend and intends to share something wonderful with him that he never stops to consider other explanations for the invitation.

A similar dynamic plays out between the American people and their government regarding the national debt. Americans are unhappy with the debt, but they also trust the government to protect their best interests. In some ways, like Fortunato, the American people as a whole are quite naive. They may hold differing opinions about candidates and specific political questions, but they generally believe in the same kind of government and the same overarching ideals — ideals they pass down to their children and grandchildren. Because of that shared framework, the naivety persists and nothing fundamentally changes. Fortunato should have recognized that Montresor might not have truly forgiven him, but instead he was enamored by the prospect of fine wine. Similarly, the American people are quick to forget past problems with their government's rampant spending, and they hold onto great hope each time a new politician presents a plan to reduce the debt without raising taxes or cutting programs. Such promises are not realistic, but they sell well when packaged attractively.

Eventually, disenchantment sets in when the promised debt "solution" fails to materialize, but the public buys into the promise for some time before that happens. People want to be rewarded for their loyalty and trust the government when told something great is coming. However, they fail to reflect on the problems of the past that the government has vowed to fix but never actually corrected. Chief among these is the national debt and how enormous it has become. The issue is not simply that the government owes money; it is about how that debt affects everything Americans do — including things they may not immediately connect to fiscal policy. The lack of assistance available to people who fall just above the financial threshold to qualify for aid, or the way inflation keeps rising and making necessities more expensive — these are all consequences of the national debt and the shortage of funds that could otherwise be used to improve people's lives.

Conclusion: Escaping the Debt Wall

Poe certainly did not write The Cask of Amontillado as a metaphor for the national debt of the U.S. However, many stories can be used as symbols for real-world problems, and this is one such story paired with one such problem. When — and if — the debt "wall" becomes too high and is never brought down, the U.S. will be "killed" financially. The country's credit rating is already under threat, and other nations hold enormous portions of U.S. debt. If those countries demanded repayment today, the United States would have no recourse. The government's priority should be getting out of debt, but it instead appears more interested in generating new debt. Bills get loaded with earmarks and special-interest concessions; money is shuffled between programs without reducing the overall debt burden that falls on taxpayers.