The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe

“ Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality “ - Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is best known as a literary figure of short stories and poetry, his tales told through horror and mystery, that captured the imagination and interests of readers everywhere, earning him a positive reputation. In this Analysis paper I will be discussing Edgar Allan Poe and his use of repetition, tone, diction and word choice to create an ominous, dark atmosphere, full of mystery, and a variety of effects he puts the reader through when telling his stories.

To illustrate, Poe uses reputation to either advance the plot of his short stories, or to prove a point he is trying to make. For example, in his poem The Cask of Amontillado, he writes “ "How?" said he. "Amontillado, A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!""I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain."
Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” He uses his choice of words as well as diction to create a dark atmosphere when describing this man’s paranoia and losing sanity, when explaining his story to the reader. I admire Poe’s use of first person narrative when writing this short story, he uses this technique to get the reader inside this character’s head, which I believe is really well shown in this short