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To What Extent Does Edgar Allan Poe's Use Of Humor

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To What Extent Does Edgar Allan Poe's Use Of Humor
Is it so that Edgar Allen Poe makes his stories better by using dark humor? Poe doesn’t need to add humor to his stories to make them better. Yet he writes this story and adds multiple humorous moments and it just makes the story creepier. I think that Poe's choice of adding humor to this story was a good idea on his part. Poe's use of humor in this story adds to the horror because it makes the story more suspenseful, it adds to the creepiness, and some of his words of humor have a double meaning.
Poe's use of humor in some cases builds the suspense of the story. Montresor was trying to get this Fortunato no doubt to follow him to this "cask". When he had offered the Fortunato some wine he gladly drank it and did a sign of a free mason while he did so. The Fortunato asked if Montresor knew of this group. Montresor, knowing he needed to show a sign, shows Fortunato a trowel. "It is this" I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaure a trowel" (87). When this was done in the story it added suspense because, as we know, Montresor is trying to murder Fortunato. Was this trowel going to be the murder weapon?
In this story humor adds creepiness into the time and place of the event. Montresor is in the process of committing the crime when the Fortunato started laughing as if this was some sort of joke. "...he!he!he!-a very …show more content…
I go back to the part of the story where Montresor offers Fortunato wine and he does the sign of the free mason group. As readers we do not know if Montresor was being humorous or if he didn’t know anything about the group. Poe did a great job making a double meaning joke in this story. "It is this," I answered, producing...a trowel..."You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces..." (87). This is very smart of Poe to put into the story but also kind of creepy. I feel that he knew what the reader would know about the free mason and a regular
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