What do you think of when you hear the name “Edgar Allan Poe?” » The words dark, scary and even frightening may come to mind. The Cask of Amontillado shows how far a vengeful narrator is willing to go to restore his honor and dignity, while creating a frightening atmosphere laced with symbolism and irony. It's no wonder Poe was considered a great master of horror. In The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor, our narrator, is driven to take revenge on Fortunato, the man who dared to insult him. It's not said exactly what he did, but Montresor was determined to punish Fortunato with "impunity" and led us to believe that the crime was horrible enough to be punishable by death. Since the story is told from Montresor's selfish point of view, his thoughts and actions are easily classified as something only an unsane person would and/or do, thus making him an unreliable narrator. In his mind, he is doing the right thing by committing murder because he thinks he is right and even tries to justify his wrongdoing to us by mentioning his family's coat of arms and his motto: "No one insults me with impunity." . The atmosphere of The Cask is created by taking place primarily in the dark and gloomy catacombs, in contrast to the lively and spirited carnival setting of the beginning of the story. Poe does an excellent job of building tension by letting the reader know that Montresor, although he has only dark intentions, inflates Fortunato's ego with compliments, thus being more likely to leave him ignorant of be led to his inevitable fate. Despite leading Fortunato into a trap and ultimately his death, Montresor remains calm, collected and even appears to be caring and sympathetic towards F...... middle of paper ...... the stories are inspired by real events, including this one? Maybe not everything you read is just “imaginary.” Works Cited Eroden, Veli Okan. "'The Cask of Amontillado' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan POE." January 24, 2013. the web. November 20, 2013. http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/20815/the-cask-of-amontillado-tell-tale-heart-edgar-allan-poeLeonard, Alicia Gale. “The Personalities of Unreliable Narrators.” 2005. Internet. November 20, 2013. http://www.daltonstate.edu/faculty-staff/bmurray/EXEMPLAR/EXEMPLAR%20E-BOOK%202008#page=39Lorcher, Trent. “Symbolism and irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”. » SForsyth, September 10, 2013, Web. November 17, 2013. Nillson, Christoffer. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. " 1997. Web. November 20, 2013. http://academic.luzurne.edu/shousenick/104--EDGARALLANPOE_cask_summary.doc Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." 1846. Print.