Amontillado-Tell Tale Synthesis

* Discuss the speaker’s attitude towards their victim. What kind of attitude will trigger a murder? Insane as it may sound, a negative attitude might actually induce a man to kill. Indeed, attitude determines destiny. In Edgar Allan Poe’s two short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, both speakers illustrate malicious and secretive attitudes towards their victims who both end up dead in a brutal way. First of all, a malicious attitude can be sensed in the two stories. To begin with, the mad man in “Tell-Tale Heart” treats the old innocent man spitefully. For instance, after watching the elder for several continuous nights, the speaker finally “dragged the old man to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him” just in an instant. The verbs “drag” and “pull” show that he has absolutely no mercy towards the old man. Fast and cruel, this is how the speaker carries out the murder. Without much hesitation, he kills a defenseless person in a ruthless way which gives the readers a sense of horror simply by picturing the scene. Therefore, the speaker of “Tell-Tale Heart” fully exposes his villainous attitude upon an old man through the brutal actions he proceeds murder.

Similarly, Montressor in “The Cask of Amontillado” also demonstrates malice towards his victim, Fortunado, during the carefully-planned scheme. To prove this, an example can be found the time Montressor “thrusts a torch through the remaining aperture” when he almost walls up the only entrance. That is, not only has he locked Fortunado to the wall and sealed up the entrance, he also throws a torch to burn down the last exit for Fortunado to escape from death. By eliminating all the possibilities of survival once and for all, the speaker’s merciless actions are beyond imagination. Thus, Montressor in “The Cask of Amontillado” has thoroughly presents his vicious inner being when he fiercely burns another man to death. In conclusion, both the mad man and Montressor in