Montresor, the narrator and main character in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," tells the story using the first-person point of view. Consistent in voice, Montresor uses a sadistic and manipulative tone that creates dramatic irony. He is an unreliable narrator because his story tries to justify his crime. "Barn Burning," by William Faulkner, is narrated from a third-person point of view by a limited-omniscient narrator. The action and the characters of the story are presented through a narration interspersed with dialogue. The main character's thoughts appear in italicized passages. Both dialogues and italicized passages help the reader to understand the character's inner conflict and dynamic traits.

At the beginning of the story "The Cask of Amontillado," Montresor expresses his intolerance toward an insult. His words to the reader foreshadow an imminent punishment to the aggressor: "You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat" (Poe 209). Throughout the whole story, Montresor uses a first-person point of view to narrate his encounter with his future victim, Fortunato, the man

reader to know what Sarty thinks about his father: "He aims for me to lie, and I will have to do hit" (Faulkner 217). The case is closed and the court asks Abner to leave the town. He leaves and takes his family along: the boy's mother, the aunt, two sisters, and a brother. Abner submits Sarty under his command and the boy obeys.

Montresor leads the way inside the extensive vaults. His manipulation turns now towards Fortunato. Fortunato starts coughing and Montresor pretends to care about his companion's health. On the other hand, Montresor keeps offering wine to Fortunato in order to keep him away from common sense and stick to his evil plan. By now, the reader perceives the dramatic irony of the situation. Montresor is determined to murder Fortunato and he feels no remorse about it. The irony increases while Montresor and Fortunato walk through the vault. Bones of dead people appear along the way and neither of them worries about the outcome, which the reader might already guess. At the end, Montresor's sadistic behavior and lack of remorse are completely exposed. Provoked by an alleged insult and driven by revenge, the narrator buries his antagonist alive. Fifty years later, Montresor is not tormented for what he did.

dramatic irony. He is not aware of the seriousness of his crime. Throughout a consistent voice, his manipulative and sadistic behavior tries to justify a crime, which makes the narration believable, but unreliable. On the other hand, "Barn Burning"

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Approximate Word count = 1010
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)