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Robyn Dudley
Professor Martin
EN102 A Madman’s Retelling
Edgar Allan-Poe is not only renowned in literature, but mostly in the genre of dark literature. In Poe’s
short story The Cask of Amontillado, the main character, Montresor, claims to have been insulted by a
fellow member of high society, Fortunato. Throughout the story Poe uses symbolism to indicate the
revenge that Montresor will take, and point to key details that the narrator leaves out. The scene is not
only important in its own rite but serves as a powerful symbol of Montresor’s viewpoint; “It was about
dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend”
(116). Montresor is certainly no sane man, and Poe is not only eluding to Montresor’s madness, but if the
reader should trust a man as mad as he. In the process of setting the scene, Montresor describes Fortunato
as dressed like an old timey fool; “The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and
his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (116). Montresor wants Fortunato to die in the fool
costume like the fool he is. As Montresor recounts the night, this foolery is the reason why Fortunato
