“I waited and watched for seven years. I saw him come and go – Dolan”, “The thousands of injuries of Fortunate I had borne as I best could, but when ventured upon insult. I vowed revenge – The narrator” With the words spoken by these two men, in the stories, “Dolan’s Cadillac” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, one can see their ambition to get revenge on the ones who wronged. The characters, plot, and theme of the two stories are very much alike. The main characters seek revenge on the people who avenge them and gain their control of life back after their revenge has been succeeded.
The theme that will best fit the stories is revenge is best served cold, in the Cask of Amontillado it’s served hot. Focusing on the characters, the narrators of “Dolan Cadillac” and the “Cask of Amontillado”, the reader can notice that they have the same thought process, and both take revenge on well known males in their society. While both authors are great writers, it is the reader’s decision on which writer they prefer. To begin with, the narrators both have the some thought process on revenge.
First, they both watched their man from a distance before pursuing them face to face. In Dolan’s Cadillac, he watches his avenger for seven years, planning, building, and retrieving all the materials he needed to take revenge on the guy that killed his wife. That was his main purpose of wanting revenge. In Cask of Amontillado, he waited for him and his avenger to meet face to face, also planning, building, and retrieving materials, for the perfect time to begin his plan of revenge.
The narrators’ main purpose of revenge was being insulted by Fortunato, his avenger. Second, the way they are getting revenge is similar. They both bury their victims alive. In Dolan’s Cadillac, he buried his avenger in the middle of a road that is under construction with his victim still in his Cadillac, hence the title, alive and well. In Cask of Amontillado he buried and burned his victim in a wall, alive and drunk with no mercy.
With the way these characters are portrayed in the stories, Dolan and the narrator, they will be classified as unreliable narrators because they are two main people that most certainly, cannot be trusted. In Dolan’s case, his a little mental and hears voices in his head of his dead wife. In the Narrator’s case, he burned a man alive for an insult the Reader nor does the avenger know about. In addition, the victims they have revenge for are well known people in the society they live in.
In Dolan’s Cadillac, he has revenge on a well known man with money and power, which is how his wife got killed, he supposes, living in Las Vegas. In Cask of Amontillado, he has revenge also on a well known male, that was to be respected and be feared and also prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. With this, it shows how the two stories plots are equivalent. The two men are both acknowledged that when they kill their victim, people will be asking question and wonder where they have went, but Dolan and the Narrator still take action and kill their avengers.
With the ending of the stories, the reader could make an inference that they both got away with murder and continued with life. Furthermore, it is the reader’s decision which author is a better writer. Begin an Edgar Allan Poe reader he is a personal favorite. Has the reader Cask of Amontillado is favored more than Dolan’s Cadillac, because it is greatly worded with vocabulary that draws the reader to the story, its quick to the point without to much detail that may bore the reader.
Another interest of the story is the dramatic and situation irony used. With the irony of the story, the reader can have a very vivid picture on what is happening in the story as they read. Another component that draw a favor to the story, was the time period the story it is set in which is around the 1600’s or so and the country, which is France. With the time period, it makes the reader want to read, and try to visualize the little details of the story. As an Edgar Allan Poe reader, favor goes to him as better writer than Stephen King.
All in all, Dolan’s Cadillac and The Cask of Amontillado were two interesting stories, with two main characters, seeking revenge on the people who’s done wrong to them. Their avenger being people that are well known in their society, the plot and the theme of the stories are greatly similar. Both stories written by skilled writers, a personal favorite is The Cask of Amontillado, but one can have other thoughts. A moral that can be learned from this stories is, be careful who you avenge because they can be more than capable to take their revenge in the most dangerous way.
