Discussion Topic
Sensory details in "The Cask of Amontillado" used by Edgar Allan Poe
Summary:
In "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allan Poe uses sensory details to enhance the story's eerie atmosphere. He describes the musty, damp air of the catacombs, the jingling of Fortunato's bells, and the flickering torchlight. These vivid descriptions engage the reader's senses, creating a palpable sense of dread and foreboding as Montresor leads Fortunato to his grim fate.
How does Edgar Allan Poe use the 5 senses in "The Cask of Amontillado"?
Imagery, which is description using the five senses, makes us feel as if we are in a scene or perhaps watching a film of it. Although Poe died long before the advent of the movie camera, his stories are noted for their cinematic qualities, because of their vivd imagery.
In "A Cask of Amontillado," Poe primarily uses sight, sound, and touch (though not so much taste and smell) to convey a frightening picture of the catacombs.
There is, for example, a somewhat amazing scene at the end, where Fortunato, sobering up and realizing what is happening to him, starts screaming: but Montresor screams back, even louder, to drown out his enemy. The dual screams echo throughout the catacombs.
Visual imagery includes the black mask Montresor wears and the silly jester cap with jingling bells worn by Fortunato, which symbolizes his foolishness. We can visualize Montresor with his torch held...
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high, leading the way through the dark corridors of the catacombs, now and then illuminating the nitre growing on the walls and the piles of human bones. As for touch, we feel the chilly, moist, unhealthy air of this underground terrain.
All in all, Poe creates a creepy, frightening picture of the place where Fortunato will be walled up to die.
Poe also appeals to the reader's sense of taste by all his references to wine. Fortunato can imagine the taste of the Amontillado, and the reader also imagines what it must taste like. It would taste like an especially fine sherry. The story was originally published in a ladies' magazine, and sherry might be the only liquor that ladies of Poe's time would be acquainted with. Montresor also offers his victim two French wines while they are underground. He specifies that they are "Medoc" and "De Grave." But it is probably the imaginary taste of the nonexistent Amontillado that has the strongest appeal to the reader's taste sense. No doubt many readers over the years have bought a bottle of Amontillado to satisfy their curiosity or as a sort of homage to Edgar Allan Poe.
In any setting, the five senses are taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing. In terms of literature, imagery is descriptions of something in terms of the five senses. Imagery forms mental pictures of things through the use of words.
There is lots of imagery in "The Cask of Amontillado," from the descriptions of the characters to the setting. For instance, while descending into the catacombs, Monstressor continuously points out how uncomfortable it is down there. He uses words like "damp," "moisture," and "foulness" and similes such as "the niter hangs like moss" which make the reader imagine what it smells, feels, and looks like in the underground tomb. Poe also strengthens the imagery in the story by describing the sounds of Forunato's bells ("jingled"), his cough ("Ugh! ugh! ugh!...), his laugh ("Ha! ha! ha!-he! he!"), as well as his screams at the end of the story ("For the love of God, Montressor!"). Through his use of imagery, Poe helps the reader imagine what is happening in the story. This heightens the suspense of the story and the horror of the protagonist's actions.
What sensory details does Poe use in "The Cask of Amontillado" to enhance meaning?
Visually, Fortunato looks like a drunken clown. He is dressed for the Carnival. He has the appearance of a court jester with the "conical cap and bells." Montresor lures Fortunato to his catacombs by appealing to his pride of being a connoisseur of wines. Montresor is quite successful in playing to Fortunato's pride. He also keeps feeding him wine as they go, keeping Fortunato drunk. The image of Fortunato as a jester or a "fool" illustrates how easily he is fooled by Montresor.
Montresor, himself, dons a black mask. He does this to disguise himself as he leads Fortunato from the Carnival. The mask also symbolizes death, an example of foreshadowing that we might attribute to Montresor as well as Poe.
As they go farther into the vaults, the climate becomes colder, with moisture and nitre on the walls. The farther they go, the darker and colder it becomes. The darkness is associated with death. The cold symbolizes the coldness of a corpse and Poe plays with this idea of Fortunato's cold/cough. Fortunato claims that he will not die of a cough. Montresor agrees, knowing he will die another way.
When Montresor walls Fortunato in, he hears Fortunato laughing, thinking this is a practical joke. But Fortunato's cries become more and more desperate, heightening his desperation, and ending with "For the love of God, Montresor!" And finally, all Montresor hears is the jingling of Fortunato's bells. Fortunato has ceased crying out. All he can do is consider the tomb he is in. The sound of the bells by themselves is haunting, as if to say that Fortunato no longer has a voice.
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