The Cask of Amontillado

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In the short story, "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe uses two types of irony, dramatic and verbal. Dramatic irony is when the reader perceives something that a character in the story does not. Poe uses this type of irony in the character Fortunato. Verbal irony is when the character says one thing and means something else. This type of irony can be recognized in the statements that the characters, Fortunato and Montresor, say to one another. Through the use of foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism, Poe paints a horrific drama of two men. One who will stop at nothing to get the revenge that he deems himself and his family worthy of, and another whose pride will ultimately be the fall of his own death. Fortunato falls prey to Montressor's plans because he is so proud of his connoisseurship of wine, and it is for the sake of his own pride that Montressor takes revenge on Fortunato. Poe utilizes literary techniques such as foreshadowing, revenge with pride, and irony, in order to create a horrific and suspenseful masterpiece. Poe utilizes foreshadowing in a most grim and dark way. First when Fortunato says, "’I shall not die of a cough’", Montressor replies, "’True – true’" (Poe 16). Instead, Montressor knows that Fortunato will perish from his vengeful scheme of walling him up, Huffman 2 and having him die by means of a slow suffocation. Fortunato is a proud man and he does not think that his death with be due to something as petty as a cold. Rather, he believes that his life will end as a result of some courageous act and he will die a noble death. However, Montressor can only laugh at this thought because he knows Fortunato's death will be far from noble and his pride will be broken when he is caught in his trap. Another instance of foreshadowing comes with the trowel scene. At one point in their journey, Fortunato makes a

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