Reaction to "The Cask of Amontillado"

This was the first time that I have ever read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” which seems like a rare occurrence in our class. I have, however, always loved Poe’s writing style and content; I guess something attracts me to macabre short stories. As always, Poe did not disappoint.

The story is told through the eyes of Montressor, the soon-to-be killer seeking revenge. I loved how Poe presented this work, and many of his others, from this perspective. The reader gets to see how the murderer is thinking, planning, and scheming to achieve his goals. However, Montressor is not the more reliable narrator. While I think that he is honest about his actions and thoughts, he never mentions how he does not seem to actually want to follow through on his task once he completely traps his friend.We do get to see some of the hesitancy that Montressor has in paying back Fortunato, but it never actually comes from Montressor’s conscious thoughts. The in-depth look at Montressor’s thoughts helps to connect the reader to the uncertainty about Fortunato’s future.

As I first read through the work, I did not understand why Montressor keeps insisting that Fortunato not accompany him to see the pipe of amontillado, and to his death. Originally, I did not understand Montressor’s hesitancy to lead Fortunato to what Montressor believes is fair retribution; I believed that Montressor must have some reason for making numerous excuses to keep his plan from occurring. The first thought is that it must be reverse psychology; by insisting that they go back, Montressor ensures that they will continue. Another one of my first thoughts was that Montressor wanted Fortunato to cause his own death by succumbing to his own curiosity and Montressor’s flattery, but it seems that Montressor makes far too many excuses to believe that his plan will definitely cause Fortunato’s end in the vaults. Montressor turned our to be much better at playing to people's faults than I initially gave him credit for. Montressor insists "My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive you have an engagement.” After this failed attempt, he interjects “It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre." He even later insists that Fortunato returns from the vaults due to his illness, but nothing works. As this was occurring, I could not help but wonder if Montressor has some ulterior motive or if he is simply hesitant to kill his friend. Later, Montressor definitely falters in his plans. Montressor states that “For a brief moment I hesitated, I trembled.” He trembles, pauses, and seems to rethink his plan a number of times. I was surprised at this clear hesitancy coming from a man willing to entomb his friend, leaving him to starvation and cold. Montressor is clearly insane and rather evil, but I could not help but wonder if there was actual some hesitancy to follow through. At the end, I was somewhat surprised that Montressor actually followed through on his task. Despite his resolve, I thought that Montressor’s hesitancy might lead to a different fate for poor Fortunato. However, being Poe, I never expected a happy ending, and I did not receive one. I suppose Fortunato was not so fortunate after all.

Reaction to "Story of an Hour"

The thing that first struck me about this story was the length. I never know what to think of short stories when my response to them will probably be about the same length as the story itself. The brevity reminded me of my American Literature teacher from my junior year of high school; she always spoke of specificity and control, what she believed to be the two most important aspects to writing. The same thoughts appeared a year later. My English teacher senior year consistently made us write two hundred word analyses of poems throughout the year. I found that anyone can write ten pages on a subject, but it takes massive amounts of skill and precision to get a point across using only a few. What I am trying to say with this rambling memory of high school is that the lack of length in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” impressed me from the beginning.
On the other side, I was not fully impressed with the content of the story and I could have been. While the story is entertaining and surprisingly funny, I found the “short story filled with irony” form to be clichéd and downright annoying. While I understand that the story was written in the nineteenth century, where the story’s concept was probably not as hackneyed as it is today, the story does not stand out in modern times as anything more than an unoriginal story of irony with a feminist twist.
The twist does add a redeeming quality to the short story. I was honestly surprised that Mrs. Mallard is so happy about her husband dying. It made me wonder what kind of relationship the two of them must have had in order to make repeat that she is finally “free, free, free!” Even with an overbearing husband, it seems that the initial reaction would not be overwhelming joy. She even mentions that her husband has never looked “save with love upon her.” Mr. Mallard was clearly a loving husband, and the fact that she registers that she now controls herself before sadness is slightly disturbing. It is not as if she hated her husband, she admits that she will cry again when she sees him dead; she clearly cared for her husband, but values power over that love. The feminist message is clear, but I find it slightly odd. Mrs. Mallard’s joy at the thought of living the rest of her life alone made me not feel as sorry for her, even as she dies at the sight of her husband being alive.
Overall, I found the story entertaining, but rather worn-out. However, I do not think that my “fancy would run riot along those days” ahead of me if it suddenly disappeared.