Preview

Edgar Allan Poe's Influence On American Literature

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2237 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Edgar Allan Poe's Influence On American Literature
The American Literature, as in any other country was based on the phase and situation where the country was going through at that moment. The 20th century, has an indelible trail on it, left by the World War I (7/28/1914 – 11/11/1918), this was a turning point to the American Literature, which was molding its shape before this event, and continued to do it subsequently. Significant movements continued to develop the authors in the faces of literature such as drama, poetry, fiction and criticism. Each one of them counting with outstanding representatives such as, Edgar Allan Poe, who was not only influencing in one these areas but many of them. In effect Poe’s writing was influenced by society, yet the key points to his job were his life experiences. …show more content…
He begins the story by saying how Fortunato, has hurt him through insult and offenses. The narrator exclaims, that Fortunato, who he considered his friend, must be punished. More explicit the narrator must get revenge. Montresor, wearing a black silk mask, meets Fortunato, who is dressed up in jester clothes for a carnival celebration. Once, he sees Fortunato, who is already drunk, Montresor mentions that he bought a pipe of amontillado (a brandy), knowing that his friend considered himself an expert on wines and will be tent to go and verify the wine’s …show more content…
Still, it also is a complex situation open to individual interpretation. Montresor plan of murder is motivated by a number of insults which are never mention in the story. However, the constantly indication of his family to be involved on the conflict may well take the reader to believe on a possible payback for some past encounter between families of society and power. The narrator’s tone when describing Fortunato, is a held feeling of likely envy, “You are rich, respected, admired, beloved, you are happy, as once I was.” Montresor sees on Fortunato, what he proclaims had once and misses at the moment. Therefore, Montresor reliability is to be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Montresor, the main protagonist, appears as a dangerous and brutal psychopath “I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will” and “he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.” (Poe 144). As time is passing by in the story, Montresor reveals how obsessive and insecure he is. Montresor decides to get revenge and kill Fortunato just for a mere insult, and only because of his weak and unconfident personality. The insult and the other thousand injures mention before could have been just part of Montresor’s insecure nature. Furthermore, Fortunato does not expect that Montresor is seeking revenge or sees him as a threat. Besides, Montresor plays a great role of a caring friend until the end of the story. Montresor even refers to Fortunato in several occasions as his friends or “My poor friend ” (Poe 147) making Fortunato doubts of…

    • 826 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, we will speak about Fortunato’s tragic flaw: His ego. We see throughout the story that Fortunato believes himself to be the best at what he does. Believes himself to be the best wine connoisseur there is. It is due to this flaw that Montresor was able…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cask of Amontillado

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon, I vowed revenge.” Montresor has felt that he has been insulted by Fortunato and he seeks revenge upon him. Since Montresor is seeking revenge Fortunato has to watch out, but that may be hard because throughout the story Fortunato is gullible, full of pride, and is an alcoholic.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Edgar Allan Poe is a brilliant author who wrote amazing stories and poems using various emotional effects. Throughout his lifetime he went through lots of tragedy and personal conflicts. Within his pieces of literature he uses his creative writing style abilities by making readers feel emotional effects such as horror and sorrow. With all of his past conflicts, I believe it made him a lot better at connecting to readers in other ways certain authors couldn’t. Poe’s style is characterized by his use of sound imagery, irony, and repeated elements.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Edgar Allan Poe had a major impact to literature and brought many changes. He introduced a new concept which were mysteries and the first detective story. His stories set him apart from other writers at the time because they built a suspense that no one else was doing at the time. He is the Stephen King to generations before us. Poe has even impacted Stephen King himself! Along with many other writes who are still influenced by his writing today. Horror is bigger today than ever and we can thank Edgar for that. There is a vast library of commentary on Edgar, a lot of people bash him based on Griswold’s biography on Edgar. “Mr. Poe is too fond of the wild — unnatural and horrible! Why will he not permit his fine genius to soar into purer, brighter, and happier regions? Why will he not disenthrall himself from the spells of German…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Montresor's Target

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Due to the fact that Fortunato is lonely and sincere at times, he does not realize that loneliness makes it easy for Montresor to get away with murder. In order for Montresor to set up his plan to kill Fortunato he decides to joke around with Fortunato, which shows that Fortunato is foolish in believing anything Montresor says. "Very good, indeed an excellent jest. He will have many a rich laugh about it in the Plazzo. He! He! He! (p. 4, li. 36-40). In addition to Fortunatos lack of intelligence, this action shows that he is slow on gathering information. It is clear from this information that Fortunato does not think Montresor would do anything violent to him since they are friends.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Cask of Amontillado

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Montresor indulges in large quantities of Italian Vintages, resides with attendants in large suites with archways which lead into vaults which are extensive. The Montresor’s have their own family arms and motto. These are all indications that Montresor is wealthy and of an upper social class. From the very first paragraph, where Montresor vowed revenge, it is apparent that his character would not be made a fool of nor be taken advantage of. As the story is told you see just how calculated and planned out Montresor’s actions are. Evidence of the unreliability of Montresor as a narrator is revealed when Fortunato acknowledges he is of the Mason’s and asks Montesor if he too is a Mason. Montresor tries to convince Fortunato that he is a Mason however it is apparent that he is lying; this may give way to doubting what other memories and tales Montresor has held with expectations of revenge. As Montresor was about to complete the wall he was erecting, sealing Fortunato into a recess of the catacombs, he makes reference that it was the dampness of the catacombs making his heart grow sick. This implies that Montresor may be out of his mind or crazy, where he actually is a cold blooded murderer. He has taken the family motto “Nemo me impune lacessit,” Latin for “No one provokes me without punishment,” literally with the actions he…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The third factor that makes Montresor an effective villain is where he decides to actually commit the murder. Fortunato goes with Montresor to the wine cellars,…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Montresor

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the opening line, Montresor states that he has suffered a thousand injuries at the hand of Fortunato but now Fortunato has also insulted him and this is too much to take. Therefore, Montresor plots revenge. However, there is an indication that Montresor is insane because of lack of proof that Fortunado has ever injured or insulted him and of Fortunado’s friendly behaviors towards Montresor. In the whole story, Montresor has never narrated a single incident of injury or an act of insult that pushes him to the edge, that makes him a murderer. And even if Fortunado has done the thing that he, in Montresor’s mind, did, why would Montresor revenge for just one single insult? Wouldn’t “a thousand injuries” make a better motive for killing (Poe)? Therefore, Montresor’s reason to murder one person seems very unreasonable. Furthermore, later when they meet at the carnival, Fortunado is very friendly towards Montresor. If he has ever injured Montresor a thousand times for real, he will avoid meeting Montresor at the beginning. If Fortunado has insulted Montresor recently, he should have talked about that incident, or he may even say sorry about it. He can’t just let it go. Nevertheless, Fortunado has hardly mentioned it, and he is very cordial, like they’re best friends. Not only does Fortunato act friendly, but then volunteers to leave the carnival to go with Montresor to his home to test the Amontillado. Fortunato's vanity in being a connoisseur is part of that willingness, but surely he would not have been so cheerful in doing Montresor such a favor. Finally, Fortunato, this supposed enemy of Montresor, goes down into Montresor's cellar without the slightest bit of hesitation in being all alone in the dark cellar with someone he has supposedly injured and insulted. Montresor’s lack of proof and Fortunado’s warm actions both eliminate the idea that Fortunado is Montresor’s enemy. The one conclusion that can be drawn from the contradiction between Montresor's words and…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When thinking about Edgar Allan Poe a few of the very first things that comes to mind when you think of this famous writer is his dark and mysterious style of writing and also his crazy unfortunate personal life that is quite unbelievable. The result of his personal life is the truly amazing short stories and poems that we know and love to this day. Whether enjoying them around Halloween or any other time of the year Poe wrote many stories that enjoyed now and for many generations to come. If Edgar Allan Poe has been an influential writer in our culture close to two hundred years just imagine how long the infamous writer will be around. Poe has had many different influences on American culture throughout history, including, writers, films, popular music and even art. One could easily say that Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers.…

    • 1993 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Cask Of Amontillado

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the short story, "The Cask of Amontillado", the narrator, Montresor, tricks a man named Fortunato to his death. He claims that Fortunato had wronged him several times in the past but does not say exactly how or why, just that he seeks revenge. Being the narrator, Montersor admits to pretending to befriend Fortunato even though he resents him. Using his love of wine against him, Montresor tricks an intoxicated Fortunato into following him down into his personal vaults to taste a wine named Amontillado. He then proceeds to get him even more drunk and chains poor Fortunato to the wall and begins to build a barrier of brick, cutting him off from the rest of the world. Thinking it is all a joke Fortunato starts to laugh at the thought but the…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Not only does Montresor feel no guilt, but he perceives his murder of Fortunato as a successful act of vengeance and punishment rather than crime. ' Montresor presents himself as a person who had the right to condemn Fortunato to death; he planned his murder as an act of execution” (Baraban 49).…

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued...to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his destruction." These lines show us Montresor's true intentions of deceiving Fortunato into death with out him knowing of it. A mission well accomplished thanks to the help of Reverse Psychology.…

    • 540 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    My curent studies have helped develop my skills in analysing a piece of text and what to look for (Literature) and advanced my critical thinking on a philosopher and deciding what i think which is crucial for the exam (Philosophy). For example, my EPQ is about Edgar Allan Poe's influence on modern culture, I am analysing how Poe has influenced our culture in literature, media, and entertainment and whether or not it is important to include in my project. The more i look into Poe's influence, the more i learn about just how much of our culture has formed from Poe which will be critically concluded in my…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Next, Montresor feels resentment towards Fortunato for having the high economic status he once had. Montresor quietly shows that he is jealous of…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics