The Cask Of Amontillado Theme Essay

Edgar Allan Poe is most famous for the gothic themes he presents in his writings, this was no exception for Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”. Several important ideas are brought up about the story’s central theme of revenge. These ideas can be broken down into 3 parts: the incentive, the extent, and the reaction of the person partaking in revenge. It is essential to consider these ideas while reading Poe’s story, in order to comprehend his views on revenge. It also provides the reader the ability to question their own views on revenge as well as compare it with Poe’s. However, with most readers having no major revenge experiences such as the one in the story or some extreme cases in general, it is somewhat hard for the average reader to relate

Revenge is a real thing in today’s society. It happens every day. There are different reasons for revenge from as small, as a small child stealing a stick of gum to a drug dealer murdering a nark. Regardless, taking revenge in itself may be for the greater good, or evil. But every action has a cause and effect. Poe focuses mainly on the concept of, is it worth taking revenge for, how far you are willing to go for it, and will you end up regretting your choice. In Montresor’s case, he might’ve ended up with regret in either scenario of him taking or not taking revenge on Fortunato. Either way, I believe Poe’s theme of revenge relates to a much bigger theme in life, choice. The ability to choose is everything we do, decide, and without it, we wouldn’t be anything. The ability to choose which avenue we will take, and weigh the pros and cons of each one, enables us to make a better choice. Ultimately, when it comes to the end, nothing ever matters except all the things you’ve done up to that point. Did you take the risks you wanted to, did you live your life, did you get what you wanted, did you take revenge? Live life to the fullest, go out and do things, but as Poe might say, make sure it isn’t the wrong things you’re