The Cask Of Amontillado Mood Essay

Cooper Bush
Ms. Glatz
English 9B-5
11 January 2023

The Foreboding Mood of “The Cask of Amontillado”

Edgar Allan Poe, famous for his poetry and short stories in the 1800s has become synonymous with the moody, eerie, ominous tone common in his writing. One of his iconic short stories, “The Cask of Amontillado,” is no stranger to this iconic dark tone. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allan Poe, the author uses setting, diction, and dramatic irony to enhance the story’s foreboding mood. Edgar Allan Poe uses setting to enhance the foreboding mood in “The Cask of Amontillado.” The story follows two characters, Montressor, a ‘mastermind,’ and Fortunato, who is severely drunk. Montressor wants to exert revenge on Fortunato—for some unknown

On the way to Fortunato’s impending doom, Montressor takes the chance to get him even more drunk. From other “casks” lying about the cellar, they drink…and they toast. Montressor cheers: “I drink, to the buried that repose around us.” (line 96) The word choice in this sentence is very interesting because of the word “buried.” Poe could have used any word to describe the dust-covered casks, but instead he chose “buried.” This is to control the reader's thoughts, and uncover the foreboding mood in the story. The pattern is too good to be true; buried…what other context than reposing in a grave would that word be used? Obviously Fortunato is headed for a similar fate. Another one of the clues in “The Cask of Amontillado” of Fortunato’s fate is his cough. Throughout the story, and his journey to the crypt, Fortunato hacks and wheezes nonstop, only made worse by the damp air and niter on the walls. The sick, drunk man is told to, “observe the white web-work which gleams from these cavern walls.” (line 72) Once again, Poe demonstrates the foreboding mood with tactical word choice. Though “web-work” could be taken literally as cobwebs, the characters clarify it is indeed niter. Comparing niter

They don’t know why, or how he’ll do it, though. The foreboding mood is revealed as Poe establishes Montressor as a conniving creature, who doesn’t always say what he intends… Montressor encourages Fortunato to turn back, even though he has him right where he wants him. “We will go back; your health is precious. You are [...] a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible.” (line 82) This circumstance of verbal irony shows the foreboding mood by hinting at what could be Fortunato’s end, and demonstrating Montressor’s mind games. Obviously he does not care about Fortunato’s health, it does matter if he turns back, and he will ultimately be responsible for Fortunato’s looming death. But Fortunato refuses to turn back, falling right into Montressor’s trap. Montressor captures Fortunato in the dank crypt, chaining him, and then begins to seal him away with bricks and mortar. Still drunk, Fortunato laughs and believes it is all a prank, “Ha! ha! ha!—he! he!—a very good joke indeed—an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo—he! he! he! —over our wine—he! he! he!” (line 199) The reader would like to believe Fortunato, but they know that’s not the case. Poor Fortunato wants to believe he’ll make it out to