Suspense In The Tell-Tale Heart 'And The Lottery'

Everybody will eventually want revenge on an old friend or just someone they know. Montressor, similar to many people in the world, wants revenge on one of his old friends, Fortunato. The story opens with, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 212). In this statement, Montressor tells the reader what the cause of his revenge against Fortunato is. “The Cask of Amontillado”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, tells the story of how Montressor brings Fortunato into the catacombs to bury him alive. Montressor, from the story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, is insane because he lies about wine to get Fortunato into the catacombs, he plays off of Fortunato’s ego, and he buries Fortunato alive.

Many authors use setting to create suspense . Suspense is “the sense of growing tension,fear, and excitement felt by the reader” (95). Edgar Allen Poe and W.W. Jacobs create suspense throughout their short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw”. Three techniques, these authors use to create suspense are ambiguous ending, the scaring techniques , and the setting.

The lack of mental stability, homicidal tendencies, and the large gap in time, it is safely said that Montresor is not a reliable narrator. It is apparent to the reader that he does not have all his marbles. In what society would someone who is not all mentally there be seen as a reliable source? The fact that he is able to pick up on Fortunato’s weakness and exploits them proves how unreliable he is. “He had a weak point… He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine…” (Poe, 360). Montresor use of verbal irony demonstrates that the murder is premeditated. “... the cough… it will not kill me…” states Fortunato who receives “True-true…” as a response from Montresor (Poe, 362). He exploits this and deceives the man to go down into the caverns that housed the supposed Amontillado. Furthermore, Montresor never tells the reader what Fortunato actually did. He only states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe, 360). Insults do not call for homicide. Additionally, it seems to be a retelling from an event fifty years ago. “For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them.

Many stories in literature are not complete without an Antagonist. The Antagonist can be the embodiment of evil or just a roadblock for the main character to overcome. In the short story Sweat, written by Zora Neale Hurston, features an abusive husband, Sykes, as the Antagonist. Sykes dominates and abuses his hard-working wife, Delia. Whereas, Edgar Allen Poe, author of The Cask of Amontillado, uses an ambiguous relationship between Fortunato, a man full of ego and arrogance, who wrongs protagonist Montresor. In both stories, the Antagonists believe themselves above the laws of society and nature; and this ultimately leads their respective demises.

In The Cask of Amontillado, the narrator, Montresor, lures Fortunato into his wine vaults in order to murder him. The reason behind it is never clearly stated in the text. Montresor merely says, “A thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe 1108) Montresor never reveals the exact nature of the insult, nor the multitude of injuries that he had supposedly borne. The audience cannot even be certain that the insult ever occurred. Perhaps the slight is only in Montresor 's mind. Fortunato seems blind to Montresor 's true intentions, meaning he is either completely oblivious and insensitive to those around him, or, what Montresor has deemed a horrible crime punishable by

Shirley Jackson a very popular author well known for her short story called “The lottery” which always leaves the reader thinking. “The Lottery” was published on June 28, 1948 which is just weeks after it was written. Some other pieces written by Jackson are “The Haunting of Hill House”, “We have always lived in the castle” as well as “Life among the savages”. Jackson tends to write about horror and mystery and has many other pieces with supernatural themes. Many pieces written by Jackson have a small-town setting that end with horror. The short story “The lottery” is about a small village that has an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. Many of the townspeople know this is inhumane, but they choose not to speak out because their name isn’t picked. Jackson uses direct characterization to describe all the characters in the village and uses symbolism throughout the story. Not to forget about the vivid description of the setting in the beginning of the short story. Shirley

Montresor tortures Fortunato, both physiologically and physically. Montresor clearly gives Fortunato “multiple chances to escape his fate” (Delany 34), as he gives Fortunato obvious clues to his true intensions. These include leading Fortunato into a place for the dead, telling Fortunato not to go due to his severe cough that made it “impossible to reply” (Poe 5) at times, reminding Fortunato of his family arms, mentioning Luchesi, and showing Fortunato a trowel. Montresor seems to receive morbid joy out of the fact that Fortunato is so intoxicated that, just like the foot on Montresor’s coat of arms, he is unintentionally “stepping into his own destruction” (Cervo

The fictional short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe takes place in the catacombs of Montresor’s palace, during the carnival’s climax. The story begins when Montresor, the villain of the story, vows revenge on Fortunato. Throughout the story, the author doesn't tell us what the revenge will be, but his choice of words in the details creates a mood in the reader. The author’s detailed description in the short story creates different moods in the reader like anger, satisfaction, curiosity, and victory because the chosen words connect with the audience.

Fortunato is very disgusted in the way that he was insulted but now is his time for revenge. The text states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato i had borne as best I could but when he ventured to insult, I vowed

Montresor is a grudge holder. In the beginning, Montresor, explains why he is angry with Fortunato, but didn’t come into detail of what he did to him. Evidently, Fortunato injured and insulted Montresor, who says that he has endured peacefully as Fortunato repeatedly offended him thousands of time. Fifty year ago, Fortunato use to deny what Montresor would say about, who he was or what he had done, as if it was untrue. Montresor would argue back and forth with him explaining that it was true. Like when they were going to the catacomb, Fortunato didn’t believe that Montresor was a “Mason” and when Montresor said that was Amontillado he gave Fortunato to drink. Fortunato deny that it was and said to him it tasted like Sherry. Montresor wanted

Zaroff and Montresor are two characters in the short stories ‘’ The Most Dangerous Game’’ by Richard Connell and ‘’The Cask of Amontillado’’ by Edgar Allen Poe. Montresor and Zaroff are both wealthy characters who are the antagonist in their respective stories and murder other characters. The motivation behind the killing is what makes them apart from each other. Both of these characters are considered crazy but Montresor seems saner than Zaroff. Do they both have an exceptional excuse for what they did?

In Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor has an evil plan to get revenge on his “friend,” Fortunato. Montresor's plan involves drinking the wine, Amontillado. Fortunato loves wine, and he will do anything for it, or with it. Wine plays a huge role in Montresor's plan. Montresor gets Fortunato to really think that they are “friends.” Montresor told Fortunato that he is a “rich, respected, admired, beloved” (86) man. He does not actually think that. When he says he “must not only punish” (83) Fortunato, but he must “punish [him] with impunity” (83), which he does. The first step in Montresor's plan is to get Fortunato to go in the catacombs. He says to Fortunato, “Come, we will go back, your health is precious” (86). Montresor is doing reverse psychology.

Irony may appear in difference ways within literature. Irony changes our expectations of what might happen. It can create the unexpected twist at the end of a story or anecdote that gets people laughing or crying. Verbal irony is intended to be a humorous type of irony. Situational irony can be either funny or tragic. Dramatic irony is usually an over the top, tragic form of irony. Both Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” are great examples of an ironic situation. Every expresses the common theme in their own way. Although both of these literally pieces provide us with the theme of irony, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" gives the reader a sense of suspense with the irony that proves to be more effective.

There is always something that bothers us in life, whether it’s others or even our own conscious. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator has a difficult time following through with his cruel acts because a part of him knows it’s truly wrong. Throughout the story, his crimes bring more tension between him and the old man. Suspense is created with his every move, leaving readers hanging on the edge of their seats. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe builds suspense by using symbolism, inner thinking, and revealing information to the reader that a character doesn’t know about.

There are times in life where people do commit a small mistake, or a huge crime, but what really matters is if one will listen to their conscience. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character lives with an old man who has an eye that “resembled that of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” The story revolves around the main character’s obsession over the eye, and how he got rid of it-- by murdering the old man. Towards the end of the story, the young man confesses to the police about his insane stunt after they searched his house. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe focused on having the reader know more than the secondary character, using description, and using a first-person narrator, to build suspense.