Suspense or No suspense: That is the Question?

Makenzie Davidson

No one attacks me with impunity.(pg. 64) Edgar Allen Poes short story, The Cask of Amontillado, is suspenseful in some ways, but it is very predictable in others. He uses suspense techniques where his Antagonist is highly motivated; he Raises the Stakes, uses Single Point of View flawlessly, and is successful in winding down the Time. He deviates from the system by doing two key things; he creates a Protagonist declares his evil plot in the first sentence of the short story. I believe he was successful only some what in creating a suspenseful environment in this short story. Having a well-developed Protagonist in a short story is a key part of creating an enthralling and suspenseful milieu. Poe developed a Protagonist that met only the main character aspect of Protagonist criteria. Montresor, the short storys Protagonist, ineffectually fits the typical profile of a Protagonist. A central character is required to be likeable, somewhat flawed, and in essence be the good guy in the story. Montresor doesnt make the cut when you notice that hes morbid, egocentric, deceitful, and has illusions of grandeur No one attacks me with impunity.(pg. 64) Motivation and pride are two things Montresor refuse to give up I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. (pg. 61) Montresors motivation to obtain revenge was so powerful it drove him to kill. Poe has, even though his character is showing profound obscurity of emotional tie to any of his wrong doings, created a character with an outstanding will to obtain what he desires. Unfortunately, his main desire in this short story is to end the life of Fortunato, but he believes this was all coming to him, repayment for his insults against Montresor. but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially: I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself (pg. ) Montresor knows that Fortunato has a weakness for connoisseurship of wine. When Montresor brings up Luchesi as a choice for the imbibing of the prestigious Amontillado Fortunato knows he must have the wine instead. Even though we never really discover the degree of Fortunatos insult, he is still the Antagonist, and Poe develops his drive well as he did well with Montresors. Fortunatos only true drive in the short story is to get the wine. He doesnt think anyone else can judge is properly. I believe that Poe developed these parts of the short story fairly well. I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it at a breath.(pg. ) In the short story there is a very good instance of a suspense technique called raising the stakes. Poe made Fortunatos senses weaker and he lets down his guard. Poe really erects risen stakes well for the Antagonist, but there isnt really anything at stake for our Protagonist. This is where the short story becomes almost predictable. There is nothing stopping Montresor from achieving his goal, and the odds are completely against Fortunato making it hard not to predict the inevitable ending to the story. I do not think that this creates suspense at all, it really almost eliminates it.

Poe presents a well organized and malicious character to be his starring point of view. The fact that Montresors thoughts can be heard gives us a heads up on what hes planning on doing before he does it. In the very first sentence of the story he exclaims his grief and frustration at the fact he has been insulted. I think Poe could have withheld more information and still made his point, but instead he gave us a complete idea of what was going to happen by Montresor exclaiming he must kill, he must get revenge. In depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven.(pg. ) As time moves slower they travel through tight spaces in the catacombs. This creates tension between the two and Fortunato, intoxicated at this point, even snaps at Montresor at one point. I had finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained but a single stone to be fitted and plastered in.(pg. ) This represents a lot of time that it took Montresor to do this, and gave Fortunato a chance to sober up. I think the suspense Poe has represented with time is sufficient at best but isnt immense. Edgar Allen Poe was successful in some areas you cant deny this but, he deviated from suspense in too many ways to be fully effective. No one attacks Edgar Allen Poes character, Montresor with impunity. Poes characters were messed up in ways that they didnt act their part. The Antagonist to you may have seemed good, and the Protagonist bad, but he did very well in giving all his characters astounding motivation to get what the needed to get done done. This alone proves that Poe misused suspense techniques, but admitting Poe succeeded in creating suspense wouldnt be a lie. You can look at it any way you choose, but Poe triumphed and failed in generating suspense.