The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe - 763 Words

Throughout American literature, stories contain themes that can be similar or different. The themes are as diverse as the stories themselves. Three stories will be discussed in this paper -- first, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado tells a dark tale of revenge. Next, in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, it is shown that a tradition can be dangerous when followed blindly. Finally, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown deals with the loss of innocence and faith. In The Cask of Amontillado, the narrator, Montresor, is seeking revenge on Fortunato, a man who has offended him one too many times. Montresor lures an already drunken Fortunato into the catacombs beneath his house with the enticing idea of trying some amontillado that he†¦show more content†¦This proves to be true in The Lottery. On a summer morning, June 27th to be exact, a small town gathers to conduct their annual lottery. Nobody knows when it began and nobody believes that it should e ver end. In this ritual, for lack of a better word, each head of the family draws a slip of paper from a black box. The head of the Hutchinson family, Bill, draws a slip of paper with a black dot. His wife Tessie claims that it’s unfair that Bill drew that certain slip of paper. The five member Hutchinson clan proceeds to the front of the townspeople to draw slips of paper once again. The town holds its breath as the Hutchinsons draw their slips of paper. They open them to find that Tessie drew the slip of paper with the black dot. Mr. Summers, the man who is over the annual lottery remarks, â€Å"Let’s finish this,† and the townspeople proceed to stone Tessie Hutchinson to death. In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that human nature is full of wickedness. Upon bidding farewell to his wife, Faith, Goodman Brown departs into the forest to meet someone who bears a close resemblance to him. Along the way, Goodman Brown sees a woman who taught him catechism when he was younger. Why would such a godly woman of the community be partaking in the same errand that Goodman Brown is partaking in? After a while, Goodman Brown sits down, resolute on not going any farther into the forest. He hears what sounds like the minister and a deacon discussing a woman