As with most stories, sight is the sense most frequently
invoked. Poe gives the reader
a visual description of Fortunatoin his fools
motley with absurd cap and bellsand makes
Montresor a more elegant, sinister
figure in his black silk mask and
roquelaure. The vast
catacombs of Montresors house, with walls of piled
bones, casks, and
puncheons are described as crusted with niter which hangs like moss on the
walls, lending a suitably gothicof decay to the narrative.
The
description of
niter also employs the sense of touch when Montresor says in a
chilling physical image that the
drops of moisture trickle along the bones.
Sound is used to similar effect in Fortunatos
incessant cough and then in the
succession of loud and shrill screams, mockingly echoed and
redoubled by
Montresor. At last, there is the feeble attempt at laughter by a man whose
spirit
has been broken.
Ironically, the two senses
missing from the story are those
of taste and smell, the
very...
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