Foreshadowing is a major and effective technique used by
Edgar Allan Poe in his famous short story “The Cask of Amontillado.” Often the
foreshadowing is combined with a kind of dark irony. Among examples of such
foreshadowing are the following:
- The opening
paragraph of the story opens with Montresor’s announcement that because Fortunato has
injured him, Montresor vows both revenge and punishment. Practically everything about
this paragraph involves ironic foreshadowing of some sort. Thus, Fortunato will later
prove most unfortunate; Montresor will indeed accomplish the revenge he vows to achieve;
and that revenge will be punishing in a particularly horrific
way. - The third paragraph mentions Fortunato’s love of
wine, thus foreshadowing the method by which Montresor will entice Fortunato into an
underground wine vault. - The story is set at dusk, thus
foreshadowing the literal and symbolic darkness that will grow as the story
proceeds. - Montresor refers to the “supreme madness of the
carnival season,” thus ironically and symbolically foreshadowing the supreme madness of
his own later highly effective plot. - Montresor mentions
that Fortunato has been “drinking much,” thus foreshadowing the drunkenness that will
allow Montresor to deceive Fortunato so easily. - Fortunato
tells Montresor that the latter has been “imposed upon,” not realizing that Montresor
will later “impose upon” Fortunato himself in a much more serious
way. - When Montresor and Fortunato reach Montresor’s
house, Montresor notes to himself (and us)
that
There were no attendants at home; they had
absconded to make merry in honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return
until the morning and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These
orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and
all, as soon as my back was
turned.
This passage
foreshadows (1) the privacy Montresor will enjoy as he disposes of Fortunato; (2) the
contrast between carnival season and the horrific death Montresor will impose on
Fortunato; (3) Montresor’s cleverness in manipulating the behavior of other people
(including Fortunato); and (4) Montresor’s ability to take advantage of the flaws of
other people (including Fortunato).
In short, the story is
brimming with ironic foreshadowing, and anyone who reads the story more than once can
see how artfully it uses this technique.
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