Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.


What is the purpose of the author’s description of Fortunato’s clothing in “The Cask of Amontillado”?
A. Fortunato’s description here highlights his lack of discipline.
B. The description is included to create humor in the story.
C. The author includes this description in order to give the reader a sense of the carnival atmosphere.
D. The author includes this description to foreshadow Fortunato’s fate.

Answer 1

The correct answer is D: The author includes this description to foreshadow Fortunato’s fate.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this excerpt, the author describes Fortunato, dressed in traditional costume, in order to foreshadow his faith, this is, the fact that he will be murdered by Montresor because of his superficiality, foolishness and the fact he thought Montresor was his friend. Therefore, Poe uses this silly description to highlight his fate in the ending scene.

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story, written by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1846. The story describes how a man called Montresor plots to murder his friend, Fortunato, during the carnival, because Fortunato insulted him. Montresor invites Fortunato to follow him into catacombs, to try a rare wine from Amontillado. Montresor buries him alive and finishes his story with these words: May he rest in peace!