I had first read “The Cask of Amontillado” during my sophomore year of high school, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Written by Edgar Allen Poe, it is expected to have some dark turn to it.  Revisiting it, I love the irony woven into the story. My favorite part during the main pair’s decent into the Montresor family castle was when Fortunado toasted to the dead and Montresor toasted to Fortunado’s life. Even Fortunado’s name is ironic considering he met his end in the story.

My English teacher used “The Cask of Amontillado” as an example of both irony and expert short storytelling. Poe was concise in his delivery, only focusing on the critical, emotional parts of the story or using the scenes of the party to the depths of the castle basement to push the story along so it would not feel rushed nor would it feel too short nor too long. The language Poe uses makes Montresor seem hurried and his eagerness seem real. It felt more like a fun tale than it did an account of murder.

I see the story as a fun tale riddled with Poe’s dark humor and excellent manipulation of language to create a fanciful mood. The reader can surly feel Montresor’s pride as well as his anger against Fortunado, the giddiness and sly undertones in Montresor’s speech, and the short pang of remorse as Montresor placed the last stone on Fortunado’s resting place.

Reflecting on the fact that this is my second time studying this short story, I found that it does not resonate with me as strongly as it did the first time. This is not to say I did not enjoy it or find humor in it, but it is a tad more difficult to write about it since it evoked only nostalgic feelings as opposed to new, fresh ones.

On a side note: this story, in a sense, relates to Chaplain Holcomb’s sermon Thursday morning about the effects of anger and bitterness and how it can destroy a person. In this particular story, Montresor’s hate created the victim; his hate drove him to murder. Though it does not reveal to the reader Montresor’s guilt, if he had any, at the time Montresor was telling the reader his story, he was very proud of what he got away with. It is a sad thing when people–real people–no longer feel remorse for their actions. Perhaps it is of their own accord; perhaps it was due to circumstance. Regardless, that is just another reminder of how awful the world can be and how much people need Christ’s love and example.