Taking a Stab at Edgar Allen Poe

After finishing Dracula, our group decided to take on the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe. Not knowing where to start, Ben told me one day in class to grab an anthology and after a couple of suggestions I decided to read "The Cask of Amontillado". As I began reading, I instantly began drowning in a pool of words that was only five pages deep. No matter how many times I would reread a paragraph or the entire story as a whole, I just could not grasp any part of the plot. It felt as if it were written in a completely different language. Only after I checked Sparknotes was I able to follow along as I read the story. Montresor tells the reader about how he gets his revenge on a man named Fortunato who crossed the line when he insulted Montresor. What I liked about this story was the way Montresor carried out his revenge. He basically got Fortunato wasted to the point where he had a poor capabilty of functioning and then tricked him by telling him that the Amontillado is being stored in the small recess. While Fortunato attempts to go for the Amontillado, the narrator chains him to a stone and then seals the entrance to that crypt with bricks trapping Fortunato inside.

Since last week Monika read "The Masque of the Red Death," I decided to give it a shot as well. To my surprise I found it much easier to understand. In this story my main problem with it was the ending. Even after reading it and checking Sparknotes, I did not fully understand the ending involving the black and red room, the peculiar guest, and everyone dying. It feels like I am missing some sort of symbolism.