The Cask Of Amontillado Mood Essay

930 Words4 Pages
Robyn Belzer 2/17/15 LIT 208 Dr. Bowles How Details & Symbolism Create An Eerie Mood In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe creates an eerie mood that is prevalent throughout the story. The main character Montresor wants revenge on his friend Fortunato for a “thousand injuries” that he had inflicted upon Montresor. He has thoroughly planned how he was going to kill Fortunato and he eventually leads him into the catacombs of his palace where Montresor buries him alive. The plot is pretty simple and straightforward with lots of detail and symbolism that help contribute to the overall eerie and creepy mood of the story. The details and symbolism both help to characterize Montresor and Fortunato, which in turn help create the eerie mood of the story. The story begins with Montresor saying that he vowed revenge on Fortunato because of the “thousand injuries” he had inflicted upon Montresor over the years (683). This shows that Montresor is the type of person to hold a grudge and informs the reader that this isn’t going to be a happy story. Right from…show more content…
Poe does an excellent job on helping the reader create an image of the where the story takes place in his or her mind. This helps establish an eerie mood. He describes a crypt in the catacombs where it appeared “less spacious” and the walls were “lined with human remains” that “piled to vault overhead” (687). It goes on to say how there were big piles of bones lying around on the ground (687). The whole setting of the catacombs with bones lying around create a creepy and dark image in the reader’s mind that help progress the plot and portray the eerie mood common in Poe’s horror stories. It also helps the reader know that where they’re at isn’t really a nice place to be, which adds to the horror element of the
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