I chose to read Roger Platizky's analysis of Poe's "Cask of Amontillado". In it, Platizky stipulates that CoA was an effective horror because "the threat of being buried alive is both a psychological fear and a historical reality". Simply put, the very idea of being chained and entombed while conscious is enough give most people (including your humble narrator) chills. To continue to drive the evidence of this subjects popularity home, Platizky references the popularity in devices during the time that could warn the living of either an unneeded burial or an imminent zombie invasion. The fear of living entombment was alive and well during the time, and it is suggested by Platizky that Poe was perhaps inspired to write this short story because of an article written by a Joel T. Headley in 1844. Headley's article relates a real crime which was very similar to Montressor's is CoA that was unearthed in the small Italian town of Don Giovanni.
It's obvious to see, especially after reading the analysis of the story, why it was able to remain fresh after so many years. The tale of murder and revenge is timeless, and it's implications are limitless. People murder for many reasons, and most of them are trite and momentary, even if the application is not. It is the method of the application that is hook. CoA provides a riveting tale that hits the psyche of most individuals. It is both the fear of this kind of slow death and the methodical way that Montressor carries it out that makes this story both timeless and terrifying, in it's own way.
I wonder how much of a problem actually being mistakenly buried alive was back then. Apparently a big one if coffins were equipped with inside openings and bells. I agree with what you have to say about Montressor, his eery dedication to perfect masonry highlights his psychotic nature. Also, if intended, I like the Clockwork Orange "your humble narrator" reference.
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ReplyDeleteMikael,
Aha! Someone finally responded to "Cask". You write, "The tale of murder and revenge is timeless, and it's implications are limitless. " This is a good observation. You also write, "People murder for many reasons, and most of them are trite and momentary, even if the application is not." By application, do you mean "end result" or effect? Or method?
I find A Clockwork Orange much creepier than Cask of Amontillado, both in its novel and film form.
All three, sensei. It is both the whom the person is killing, why they are killing, and how they are killing that makes up this grim opera. The first is simple: who they are killing may be based on personal preference, or on the impact that the target has on the assassins surroundings. The end result is similarly important. What does this death achieve, sans vengeance? And the method, oh the method. Any any classical prose; the means are symbolic to the entire plot! From Delilah's cutting of Samson's hair to the "birth" of soldiers from the Trojan horse, the symbolism in the means of death often narrate a story far outweighing the actual murder.
Deleteagreed.
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