Short Story

               Short story authors include a variety of formal elements in order to create virtuous fictional pieces of literature. To construct a well-developed piece of writing such authors use characterization to form stories to be appealing to the reader, to create a meaning .Two authors that partake in this are Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway. In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe used literary elements like foreshadowing, setting, and irony in order to formulate a successful story for the reader.

               Edgar Allan Poe was an extremely successful author whose writing became famous and valued after his life ended. He wrote stories that were categorized as horror, and a lot of this had to do with the way he used his literary elements. In his short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses irony to allow the reader to get a sense of what the characters are about. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventures upon insult I vowed revenge (Poe 1).” With this being the first sentence the reader gets a sense of darkness, revenge isn’t anything nice and right away Poe allows the reader to conclude the dark side of his main character Montresor. The reader doesn’t need to know why Montresor wants revenge, or what he is going to do in order to realize something bad is going to happen. By looking at the name Fortunato, it resembles the word fortunate; when revenge and harm is going to be put on someone they won’t be so fortunate, so Poe is using irony through this character’s name. “I drink,” he said, “to the buried that repose around us” “And I to your long life” (Poe 5). In this part of Montresor and Fortunato’s conversation the notion of Montresor drinking to Fortunato’s “long life” sets up irony allowing the reader to recognize that Fortunato will be killed somehow at some point in this story.  Through these examples the story becomes serious and intense, the reader notices how these two men will take a turn for the worse, and something is going to happen. Irony is extremely important in helping the reader understand a character. Irony is also used by Ernest Hemingway in his short story, “A Clean. Well-Lighted Place.” The “nada” prayer in this story told by the older waiter allows the reader to distinguish the difference between the older and younger waiter. Characterization isn’t portrayed just through irony, the point of view in which a story is written is important as well.

               Poe writes this short story in the point of view of first person, the narrator being Montresor. Poe writes on page four, “Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, and admired, beloved; you are happy, as I once was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchresi--.” This is being said by Montresor in the story, and when the reader reads this they can understand what he intends for Fortunato. The use of foreshadowing in this part of Poe’s story helps to develop characters; it helps to formulate what change is going to occur and has the reader question what is going to happen. On the other hand, Hemingway foreshadows who the type of guy the old man is who drinks at the café late at night. The old man is not a distinct character in this story, but through this excerpt of the story the waiter gives a hint as to why this man does what he does. “I am of those who like to stay late at the café,” the older waiter said. “With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night” (Hemingway 145). These lines support how the reader will view the older waiter and the old man who drinks outside. It’s clear the older waiter foreshadows the intentions, and reasoning behind the old man staying out late at night drinking alone. By having foreshadowing in both these short stories, Poe and Hemingway developed a successful story with meaning through their characters.

               Lastly, setting is a huge factor in shaping what a character is like. In Poe’s short story, both Montresor and Fortunato alter due to the change in the setting. The two start to travel further in order to fine the Amontillado. “He leaned upon it heavily. We continued our route in search of the Amontillado. We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow then flame”(Poe 7). A crypt is a place where someone is kept and buried, the setting is now framing this story to be horror filled, and now the reader can interpret what Montresor has intended for Fortunato this whole time. Montresor states “Proceed,” I said; “herein is the Amontillado. As for Luchresi—“(Poe 7). Poe gradually changes the setting of this story from a party, to an underground death trap, allowing time for the reader to understand the progress of each character along with the point of this story. In Hemingway’s short story, setting didn’t change. This story took place in the same spot and no one seemed to move. On page 143 Hemingway writes, “…and looked at the terrace where the tables where all empty except for where the old man sat in the shadow of the leaves of the trees that moves slightly in the wind.” The waiters were looking at the old man late at night waiting for him to leave; they watched as he sat outside alone and drank his brandy. Hemingway’s use of one setting permits the reader to draw conclusions, and apprehend why each character has the attitudes they do, and why they do the things they do.

Authors can use literary elements in different ways in order to form an overall meaning to a story that they are writing. Foreshadowing, setting, and irony were all used in the framework of Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado,” and Ernest Hemingway’s, “A Clean. Well-Lighted Place.” These two stories included the same type of literary elements, and even though used in different ways, they still created distinct characters that helped to develop a successful, prosperous piece of literature to read.