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People are always looking for a good scare or thriller. There are many stories and poems to choose from. However, the two stories that really stand out to the average reader are “The Open Window”, by Saki, and “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe. Both stories offer unique characters, sophisticated plots and colorful imagery as well as contrasting narrators. “The Open Window” offers fast reading while “The Cask of Amontillado” offers slow but in-depth reading. These qualities will vastly improve the examinations of the two stories’ differences and similarities.
First, closely examine “The Cask of Amontillado”. It has a gloomy and sinister plot line followed by an unreliable narrator with a Halloween-like imagery. The usage of characters by Poe is quite extraordinary yet logical. For example, the antagonist and the protagonist of the story both have unique qualities that show the true nature of each character and in some ways, they can be quite shocking, which was Poe’s actual intention. One of the main characters, Montressor, is the antagonist and at the same time, he is the narrator. His name suggests the fact that he is actually a monster by nature throughout the story. Fortunado, the protagonist, his name suggests that he is fortunate; however, he ends up chained to a wall for half a century, therefore making him quite unfortunate, which is also very ironic. Montressor and Fortunado differ in personalities, Fortunado, a noble and honorable man, and Montressor, a pseudo personality with his true self a malignant man. The unique plot of “The Cask of Amontillado” is based upon a story of revenge, from which sprouted from an insult. The plot line’s sinsterness and gloominess comes from the setting, which is a dark and untouched catacomb. A catacomb is probably the last place anyone would search and would also give a sense of insecurity similar to that of an alleyway on a dark night. Other reasons for its sinsterness are due to the

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