Theme Of Sinfulness In American Gothic Literature

“Subdue your appetite, my dears, and you’ve conquered human nature.” The nature of sinfulness has an important influence in American Gothic literature. Gothic literature is focused on the darker side of humanity. It establishes a hero and a villain but ultimately shows that even the hero has tragic flaws. Gothic literature also aims to expose the problems found in western society, such as alcohol/drug abuse, controlling fate, classism, and ambition. These aspects can all be found in “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Monkey’s Paw”, and “The Most Dangerous Game.”
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a short story about greed, anger, and revenge. A man named Montressor vows to seek revenge on Fortunado, whom he feels has wronged him. They run into each
We can infer that Montressor’s family was rich at one point but lost their wealth recently. In the first page, we learn that Fortunado has been insulting his family, which is why Montressor planned to kill him. As Montressor was leading Fortunado into the catacombs, Fortunado asked him to remind him what his family crest was (Poe 868). This is insulting because in Italy, not knowing a person’s family crest was disrespectful and diminished their importance. Finally, of course there is the more obvious gothic theme, which is murder. The villain in “The Cask of Amontillado”, of course, is Montressor. He lured another man into his family’s catacombs, trapped him inside the wall, laid bricks and cement, and then set him on fire. It’s evil, dark, twisted, and a cruel way to die. However, Fortunado wasn’t so clean. He was extremely proud and foolish enough to get drunk with his enemy around, and then follow him into a dark, cold, and creepy place. Alcohol abuse is a recurring theme in Western gothic literature and in Edgar Allan Poe’s work. Fortunado was lured into Montressor’s family’s catacombs while he was inebriated and he did not stop drinking. Montressor decided to go against fate, took things in his own hands, and decided to kill Fortunado, perfectly depicting another theme of gothic
The hero and his tragic flaws display the innate imperfection of humanity and forces one to reflect on our own weaknesses and how they lead to failure. Lastly, these pieces can be used to observe the characteristics of human nature and the role that it plays in society. Our greedy desires, dangerous ambition, and uncontrolled anger can end up being disastrous for ourselves, the environment, and the people we interact