Comparison Of Stone Mattress And The Cask Of Amontillado

Derived from the Greek word “protagonistes” meaning chief or lead actor, the word protagonist has held onto its original meaning while slightly shifting its mainstream role from actors in a play or drama to characters in a written piece. Authors creatively construct plots around the protagonist of their story in such a way that it coerces the reader into empathizing with the character whether they are good or evil, effectively humanizing the character and forcing the reader to become emotionally invested in them. In Poe's The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor is the character around which the story evolves and unfolds. Poe tells the story from the point of view of Montresor some fifty years later after being insulted while Atwood tells her story using an older woman named Verna whom was assaulted at a younger age. Both of these protagonists have some deep secret which they allow the reader to become …show more content…
Having now empathized with the protagonist, the audience feels her rage when she does, feels her sadness, feels her frustration and stress and connects with her. Verna opens the window into the story through herself as the readers humanize her through their own emotions and sympathy. Speaking of being “shunned by the girls” (pg 3 Atwood) , readers feel her loneliness and can understand the great distress and embarrassment the assault caused her.. With the audiences emotions tapped into, Verna begins planning her revenge. How will she kill Bob and get away with it? Readers know exactly what Verna is thinking as she goes through the many different scenarios in her head and different problems that may arise once he is dead. Although Verna is killing a person, the readers remain loyal to her and believe she is doing the right thing once they have empathized with