Dorothy Mounts
Eng120
February 18, 2014

Symbolism in The Cask of
Amontillado
c
Carnivals usually represent celebration and freedom. In The Cask by
Edgar Allan Poe
,
the setting is a symbol for deception and confinement. It takes place during a carnival and then later in the catacombs. In this story the carnival setting is very deceiving. Everything seems to be joyful, but Montresor has very evil plans, which leads him to the catacombs where he traps
Fortunato.
At the beginning of the story, Montresor vows revenge on Fortunato for insulting him in some way. He comes up with a very deceitful plan to get back at him. He tells Fortunato that he has acquired some
Amontillado, and that he needs someone to confirm that it is the real thing.
He uses reverse psychology to get him to come with him, and then he traps him in some sort of chamber. Everything was joyful at the carnival, but it turns out that the joyful theme was a symbol for deception when the scene turns toward confinement instead of freedom.
Fortunato has no clue of what is really going on while he is traveling through theatacombs with Montresor. He thinks they are going to taste some wine. The reason he is so unaware is because he is intoxicated. Fortunato loves wine, so it wasn’t that hard for Montresor to convince him to come with him. The entire time Montresor was deceiving him.
During the trip through the dark and eerie catacombs, Fortunato is being lead to his confinement. It is ironic because he’s coming from being in a free state of mind, just to end up trapped in an underground cemetery. That is just one of the reasons why