What are you Sensing?

The Cask of Amontillado is just another short story by Edgar Allan Poe that provides terror, madness, and fear. This story enters the psychological territory (as do Poe's many other short stories), that engages readers to wonder what will happen next and travel deep into the unknown of rage and horror. Poe's life is often referred to as a haunting, or disturbing tale. His mother passed away when he was at the age of three and his father left him when he was two years of age. Poe began to write poetry when he was a teenager. In 1833 one of his tales won a prize. After his wife, Virginia Clemm, passed away of tuberculosis Poe's ability to connect with others was lost. This is what brought him to have this darkness he uses to write with. Imagery is a literary element that can be seen in this short story. Imagery is a word or group of words in a literary work, which appeal to one or more of the senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell.

Imagery is important to a story because it lets the readers have a better look at what a character in a story is seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, or tasting. In the story imagery is used when Montressor is looking at what Fortunato is wearing. Montressor can see Fortunato is wearing a multicolored costume of a court jester or clown (Page 59). Montressor can also hear that Fortunato is partially drunk due to the way he speaks. Another form of imagery that can be read in the story is after Montressor chains Fortunato to the wall. He tells him to "Pass your hand," he said, "over the wall: you cannot help feeling the niter. Indeed it is very damp" ( Poe 63). Fortunato is experiencing the touching of the wet mold. Poe uses imagery to describe the sense of this feeling and it is telling and explain this to the readers.

Imagery helps make The Cask of Amontillado more interesting because it helps readers to understand exactly what the character is experiencing. Imagery helps readers connect to the story and in their mind they can almost feel as if they were the character in the story. In a readers mind they can picture what is happening and what the character of the story can/could be feeling. Through imagery readers become connected to the characters and have the creativity to see what is really happening in a story.