Use Of Irony In The Cask Of Amontillado

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“A Cask of Amontillado”: Friendship at Face Value
In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “A Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses a first person narrator, an Italian man named Montresor, to tell a story of revenge. Montresor tells the story of how he fools Fortunato into believing he is his friend, and then strategically leads his arch nemesis to his demise. In this allegory, Poe uses irony throughout to illustrate that a way to get revenge is to make an enemy believe the aggressor is friendly. On the surface, the story is about a man inflicting revenge against another man who insulted him. The deeper meaning of the story is that a person should never take someone at face value. By fooling and manipulating Fortunato, Montresor succeeds in his wicked plan of revenge. Poe teaches the reader that a person’s appearance and use of words may imply one thing, but their actions show their true character.
Poe uses irony to inform the reader that something as simple as a smile, can fool the enemy into …show more content…
Throughout the story Fortunato believes Montresor is his ally. When he begins to cough violently, Montresor says to him, “Come,” I said with decision, “we will go back, your health is precious” (167). Then he also states, “We will go back, you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible” (167). Montresor then offers Fortunato more wine in order to keep him drunk, so that Fortunato is unaware of Montresor’s true purpose. By doing this, Poe illustrates that while Montresor verbally expresses concern for Fortunato being ill, Montresor actually does not care. Montresor keeps Fortunato drunk, so that Fortunato cannot see Montresor’s true purpose. Fortunato makes a mistake and takes Montresor at face value. Not paying attention to how Montresor is treating him, allows Montresor ultimately to lead him to his death. Poe’s story shows that despite what someone says, their actions reveal their true
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