The mood of The Cask of Amontillado

The Ghastly Mood of The Cask of Amontillado

Throughout The cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe creates a mood of horror. Mood is the feeling in the reader created by the author s choice of details. Aspects of the story such as setting, theme, and small details make the reader shiver with disgust as they read about Montresor s deeds.

In the first few lines of the story, Montresor reveals to the reader that he wants revenge against Fortunado without consequences, and because it is a night of celebration and chaos, the reader knows that something bad is going to happen to Fortunado. The reader is convinced that something horrific is going to take place, and if Montresor goes through with his plot of revenge, he will get away with it. The setting is perfect for a plot of revenge with no penalty; in the dark underground burial place of the unsupervised household on a day when everyone is celebrating and no one cautious of murder, Fortunado is being tricked into this extensive death plot. Poe creates a setting that helps to foreshadow what is to come of Fortunado.

Revenge, the theme of The Cask of Amontillado, is in itself an appalling trait. In the first few lines when Montresor reveals plot of revenge it becomes clear to the reader the mood of the story is horrifying. When Montresor s revenge scheme is taking place at the end of the story, the reader once again gets an intense feeling of horror because Montresor s actions are so dreadful. Revenge is also a part of the mood Poe creates in this short story.

The small details that make The Cask of Amontillado horrifying are dispersed throughout the story. For example, Montresor s family motto shown in the picture above the front door of his house symbolized that if anyone in Montresor s family was attacked, insulted, or done-wrong the attacker would be executed or at least punished for their harm towards the family. This creates a feeling of horror because it lets the reader assume that the family members would become evil if a family member were hurt in any way. The darkness, bones, and thickness of the air of the catacombs also give a feeling of horror. With small details, Poe creates a mood of horror.

Clearly, Poe creates a horrifying mood in The Cask of Amontillado. Using the setting of the story, Poe makes creates a dark, evil, and mischievous place where evil can take over without getting discovered (at least for fifty years) creating a scared feeling in the reader. Poe uses the theme of revenge to create a mood of terror by describing what was happening when the actual revenge was taking place at the ending of the story. The small details in the story are catchy and Poe clearly created a horrific mood when writing about the family motto and other fine details that may have been perturbing. As one can see, Edgar Allan Poe clearly creates a mood of horror in The Cask of Amontillado.