"The Cask of Amontillado" Short Story
Literary TermsSetting: The setting of this story is under Montresor's house in the catacombs at night. This setting affects the story because it's at night which adds to the creepiness of the story.
Static Character: One example of a static character in this short story is Fortunato because he keeps the same traits throughout the story and doesn't really change. He drinks a lot, is gullible, and is competitive throughout the story without changing. |
Literary TermsFoil Character: Montresor is the foil character in this story because he and Fortunato are both wealthy and seem to have many people they know. They have similar traits, but because Montresor is the foil character, he has to have a trait that makes him different than Fortunato. In this case, this is Montresor being somewhat psycho because he plots (and goes along with) the murder of Fortunato.
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Comparison"The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Graveyard Shift" are similar in many ways. Because they are both horror/gothic, they have elements are darkness and can be scary for the reader. They both take place at night, which adds to the creepy setting of the stories. Also, both of the settings are underground which gives of the creepy vibe of being confined and closed in. In both stories, someone is killed. In "The Cask of Amontillado", Fortunato is killed by Montresor. In "The Graveyard Shift", Hall was killed by the rats. Both of the main characters were trying to prove a point to someone in some way. In "The Cask of Amontillado", Montresor is trying to get revenge on Fortunato to prove that he shouldn't have insulted him. In "The Graveyard Shift", Hall was trying to prove that he wasn't just a "college boy" and that he was right about the rat infestation.
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Genre
The genre of The Cask of Amontillado is horror/gothic because along with being scary, the story line is also dark. This short story is dark because it's about Montresor killing Fortunato just because he wants revenge. It's also gothic because not only is Montresor killing someone, but he thinks it through, plans everything, has fun putting on a face so no one suspects anything, and seems okay with his decision to go through with the murder. The conflict of this story occurs when Fortunato is threatened by death, even though he was not aware of it at the time. The murder also happened at night and with little light in the catacombs, which also proves that this story is horror/gothic.
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Get to Know the Author
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/POE/cask.html |