Literary works are guided by the author’s pre-determined audience and the message that ought to be passed. The choice of literary style is bound to the provisions of the conventions of the given genres as seen in the case of real of fiction, drama, romance, real life, and short stories. Literary elements including imagery, themes, characters and the plot are defined by an author to ensure that the work creates an appeal as far as the audience is concerned about ensuring precision and creativity. In undertaking literary analysis, there is dire need to understand the author’s intended message and the target audience to determine the efficiency of the work in attaining the desired goal of passing a message and appealing to the readers (Reich, 8). This essay will embark on character analysis of the short story ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ by Edgar Allan Poe to determine the work’s efficiency in articulating its themes.
The Cask of Amontillado: Character Analysis
Montresor
Montresor is the main character in ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ where he narrates the events that took place fifty years before the current time of the short story. Montresor is brought out as a ruthless killer who believes that killing is a necessary act and appears to enjoy murdering people. Edgar Allan Poe in the literary piece is deemed to be using the character traits of Montresor to communicate the nature of people and the society (Cadera, 12). While individuals may have an inherent inclination towards trusting other people, Montresor is unreliable character considering that he plastered Fortuno into a vault. Poe can be understood to be using Montresor to unveil the true nature of human beings and provoke self-emotional assessment of the audience to form an opinion about themselves and other people objectively. The short story ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is centered on the theme of betrayal and Montresor’s unreliable, unsympathetic and bragging personality depicts how betrayal is a reality in societies.
Fortuno
Fortuno is the victim in the literary work ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’ Because Montresor is the narrator in the short story, Fortuno’s analysis is solely based on the revelations of Montresor. The death of Fortuno for allegedly insulting and hurting Montresor cannot be verified or justified in that Montresor is not explicit on how Fortuno exactly hurt or insulted him. However, Fortuno’s character according to Montresor’s narration is key in ensuring that Poe’s intended message is passed. While the ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ can be fiction, the author ought to represent the society realistically. Montresor reveals Fortuno as characterized by weak personality traits that renders him vulnerable leading to his death. Fortuno is addicted to wine, and during his meeting with Montresor, the character is drunk and only thinks about Amontillado. Fortuno’s addiction to wine allows Montresor to make him drunker in the catacomb thus making it easy for Montresor to make the attack. Fortuno is also an insensitive and trusting character. Fortuno is unable to realize that Montresor is upset and blindly follows Montressor who was masked then into the catacomb. The personality weaknesses brought out by Fortuno in the ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ allow Poe to evoke audience’s to mirror their weaknesses. Also, the emphasis on the theme ‘drugs and alcohol’ in the short story which is normal in any society is asserted by Fortuno as a character in ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’
Luchesi
Luchesi is Fortuno’s competitor in wine tasting as brought out by the narration of Montresor in the short story ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’ Luchesi can be viewed as a plot device as opposed to a real character in ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’ Edgar Allan Poe aims at ensuring precision in theme articulation by bringing in Luchesi as a character in the short story. Folly and foolishness are depicted as a costly vice by Poe where the actions of Montresor and Fortuno end up bringing sorrow and pain to both characters. Montressor uses Luchesi as a catalyst to ensure that Fortuno is distracted from realizing his feelings and plans (Poe, 2). However, while the role of Luchesi can be considered unnecessary in that Fortuno is already drunk, human weakness and foolishness are portrayed by how pride over an insignificant activity such as wine tasting can derail one from focusing surrounding occurrences. Luchesi acts as an additive towards Fortuno’s weaknesses that allow Montresor to undertake his plans. Self-reflection by the audience of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ will unveil the distractive characters in who may disorient one from focusing on analyzing and understanding the contemporary environment and act accordingly to avoid repercussions that befall Fortuno.
Montresor Family
Edgar Allan Poe highlights the Montressor family in the short story ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ but leaves the audience in suspense as far as the details about the whereabouts and what happened to the family are concerned. Montresor makes an implication that the bodies in catacomb comprise only of the dead Montresor family members when Fortuno comments on the size of the graveyard. Also, Montresor asserts that at his home, there was no one except the servants (Poe, 2). The details of the whereabouts and the cause of death of the rest of Montresor family leave the audience of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ with more questions than answers. Poe is successful in creating a creepy experience for readers of the book and draws a suspicion that Montresor is heartless than already portrayed.
Conclusion
Character analysis is a step towards understanding an author’s intended message to the audience. While the themes of a literary work are not always explicit, assessment of the elements including themes and characters allows one to draw inferences and determine an author’s success in utilizing creativity to ensure interest from the audience is guaranteed. From the short story ‘The Cask of Amontillado,’ the author Edgar Allan Poe can use various characters to evoke feelings from the audience through the creation of suspense and self-reflection. The audience can place themselves in the place of the characters to reflect on self-weaknesses and the true nature of human beings through as seen in the actions of the work’s narrator; Montresor. Also, deliberate provision of partial information on characters as seen in the case of Montresor family enhances a literary work’s success in evoking audience feelings and intuitions as well as passing addressing the inherent themes.
Work Cited
Cadera, Susanne M, and Andrew S. Walsh. Literary Retranslation in Context. Oxford; New York: Peter Lang, 2017
Poe, Edgar A. The Cask of Amontillado. U.S; Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1846
Reich, Wilhelm. Character Analysis. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013.
