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Charles Oliphant

Laurie Oberg

Language Arts 11

13 September 2017

Irony, Pathos, Imagery “The Cask of Amontillado”

The author Edgar Allan Poe is one the most famous authors an American history. He has

amazed the world with his famed short stories. He has set a precious that all English students

writing essays about him must ascribe to. In Poe’s Short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, he

uses different rhetorical devices and strategies to tell his story in a beautiful and captivating way.

He tells of man seeking revenge and he will find it no matter what the cost. In his short story Poe

uses Imagery, irony, and Pathos to tell the story from the murders point of view as he goes and

enacts his revenge.

Poe uses imagery in his short story to envelope the readers with a sense that he or she is

actually there witnessing the event taking place such as when they enter into Montresor’s family

crypt (5). He describes the damp walls filled with nitre as well as Fortunato’s unsteady gate as

he walks through the crypt on his way the Amontillado (5). Tells of the piles of bones just like in

the Paris catacombs(6). He elaborates to the reader reader of the pile of bones that he has hidden

his bricks and mortar under the bones, the way his uses imagery to tell him sealing Fortunato in

his prison in absolutely exquisite.

Irony is used many times throughout this story, specifically dramatic irony where readers

know what is going to happen but the characters of the story do not. This is particularly evident

in “The Cask of Amontillado”, where Poe uses irony to grip readers into the story. One example

of this is at the beginning where Montressor says he has borne “The thousand injuries of
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Fortunato…. As I best could but when he ventured on insult, I vowed revenge.”(1) The first line

of the story is about how Montressor is going to kill Fortunato for his insult. He also keeps

calling back to it throughout the story. Like when he tells Fortunato his family motto “Nemo me

impune lacessit.”(6) This means no one insults me with impunity. Even then when is just about

to get his revenge he states the reason for doing so: no one insults me without getting punished.

Another rhetorical device that Poe uses in his story is Pathos.

Pathos is the ability for someone to evoke pity or emotion in someone else. Montressor

uses pathos to lure Fortunato into the catacombs. He uses the fact that there is always Luchesi

that can come identify the Amontillado as real or not (6). He uses Fortunato’s own stubborn

pride against him. What Fortunato thought was one of his strengths actually leads to his own

destruction. Even when faced with his own demise Fortunato is still trying to find the

Amontillado. He is still trying to follow the passion that Montressor has fueled within him “The

Amontillado!’ ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment.”(9)

In The Cask of Amontillado Poe uses many rhetoric devices that make the story a truly

great one. 3 of those devices are imagery, irony, and pathos. Imagery is used to describe the

scene of the story to that the reader actually thinks they are there. Irony ( specifically dramatic

irony) is used to grab the reader they know what is going to happen before Fortunato does. And

pathos is used against Fortunato himself to lure him to his death.

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Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Cask of Amontillado.” Elegant Ebooks, public domain. Web.