Throughout Edgar Allen Poe's career, his stories and works of art have all carried their own independence, but one of the very Few things that most of Poe's stories had in common was the literary element of symbolism. Symbolism is the practice of representing things through symbols or investing things with symbolic meaning or character. In Poe's works such as "The Black Cat" and "The Cask of Amontillado", Edgar illustrates the mental state of his characters through the use of symbolism. In the story "The Black Cat", the psychological state of the narrator is represented through the signs or symbols of the white fur, the cat, its eye and the wall. In the second story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” the irony of fate and identity is signified through names and costumes. The mental state of the 2 main characters is demonstrated through the symbols of the motto, the amontillado and the Montrestor coat of arms. Throughout the story of "The Cask of Amontillado", there are many instances where Poe decides to use symbolism to show the irony of fate and identity. An example of this is when Poe chooses to use the name "Fortunato" as the main character. Poe chose this name because it literally means lucky, but as you read on, you will quickly understand that Fortunato dies as a result of an assassination, and/or otherwise, he has become unhappy. Additionally, both Montresor and Fortunato wore costumes that symbolized their identity and destiny. Montresor decides to put on an executioner's costume; this would represent the evil of the execution that Montresor is going to commit on Fortunato. Fortunato, a bit of a fool chosen to wear a fool or jester costume, this outfit would be aptly named because fortunato was actually...... middle of paper ......dary works of art like " The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, there is a recurring theme of despair, self-destruction and infinite pain. Loss of identity and the slow self-eruption of the main characters are the norm in these stories. It is through the symbolism of stories that most of these transformations occur. Beneath the surface of the written words, each work contains meanings of its own. It is the breakdown of the symbolism contained in these works of art that reveals their mental impact on the characters. A recurring type of physiological symbolism succeeds as a central driving force affecting the endless suffering or death of the main characters. Between the use of darkness and black cats, this tends to test the reader to delve deeper into the story and see the truth behind the death and horror that Edgar Allen Poe's characters mean..