Symbolism In The Cask Of The Amontillado

“The Cask of the Amontillado” is a short story by Edgar Allen Poe. It is about a most likely deranged man who exacts revenge on his old friend for an unknown insult. The sotry’s tone is very dark and serious and has an equally dismal atmosphere. The plot contains many literary elements such as symbolism and foreshadow. An element of symbolism is expressed when the story turns its attention to Fortunato’s and Montresor’s clothes. “He [Fortunato] had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.” This symbolizes Fortunato’s foolishness in listening to Montresor, and ignoring the growing danger Montresor was leading him into. The symbolism also reveals how Montresor fools Fortunato into venturing deep in the catacombs by getting him drunk. In addition, Montresor uses Fortunato’s
‘”You? Impossible! A mason?” [Fortunato], “A mason,” I replied, “A sign,” he said, “a sign”, “it is this,” I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaire a trowel.”’ This group of quotes conveys that Montresor is a mason but not like Fortunato thinks. Montresor is a mason in the respect that he will use the trowel to wall up Fortunato after he is trapped, so that it will be difficult to find Fortunato or his remains. The trowel simply foreshadows Montresor’s intentions of walling Fortunato up. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe uses these two main literary devices to express important parts of the story without making it obvious. The simple symbolism gives the reader a clue to what each part the character will play in the short story. The foreshadowing gives the reader a vague sense of what may happen in the story’s future events. These two elements combine in “The Cask of Amontillado” to create a story that has a fascinating and creepy atmosphere that persuades the reader to continue reading to find out if his or her predictions are