Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme Compared Through the Stories...

Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme Compared Through the Stories â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† dark symbols and tones shape the plot, which allows man’s inhumanity to man, as a theme, to be expected. Both authors use imagery to allow readers to paint a picture of each setting in their mind. Also, each author adds in many symbols to make a concrete object into an abstract idea. In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† written by Edgar Allan Poe and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† written by James Hurst symbols, imagery, and the theme of man’s inhumanity to man are used to uniquely explain each story line. As the plot of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† unravel, both authors†¦show more content†¦When Doodle becomes weak one afternoon during a thunderstorm, Brother being selfish decides to run as fast and as far as he could away from him. â€Å"The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that strength of cruelty within me awakened.† (Hurst 563) In this part of the short story, the reader can tell that Brother had taken on a cruel personality, which he would later learn to regret. â€Å"One day I took [Doodle] up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we believed he would die.† (Hurst 557). Brother admits he was cruel to Doodle and now proves it when he forces Doodle to touch his own casket, threatening to leave him in the loft if he did not. Though Brother was cruel to Doodle, nothing he did could compare to the brutality Montresor inflicted on Fortunato. The anger and jealousy Montresor shared with Fortunato causes him to act in such a way unacceptable by the general public. â€Å"A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite.† (Poe 9). This scene shows how unaware Fortunato was and how Montresor took advantage of his drunken state. As the night grows on, Montresor starts to taunt him. â€Å"’Pass your hand,’ I said, ‘over the wall; you cannot help feeling the niter,’† (Poe 9) Fortunato has still not caught on to Montresor’s plan, and that Montresor is hinting at it. The niter pulls at Fortunato’s lungs causing him to wheeze and gag. The vindictiveness Montresor shares with Fortunato does not compare to