Irony is an important part of any story. As Thomas Foster writes in “How to Read Literature,” “irony trumps all.” Some authors use irony to develop a theme, setting, tone, or add depth to their characters. An example of this is Edgar Allen Poe who uses irony in "The Cask of Amontillado" to develop multiple themes, tones, and possibly some depth of character. READING POETRY 846-848 Edgar Allen Poe knows how to use irony to describe sinister themes. Mortality is one of the most striking themes of “The Cask of Amontillado.” Poe begins the story with irony regarding mortality in the form of Montresor and Fortunato participating in a carnival, a place of celebration, happiness, light, and life. This is a major contrast to when Montresor brings Fortunato to his family caverns, a place of mourning, sadness, darkness, and Fortunato's name could represent any number of things. Fortunato's name can be seen as ironic, as he ends up very unfortunate in the fact that he is tricked into following Montresor into the catacombs only to be chained to a wall and left for dead. Perhaps another meaning of the name Fortunato is that Fortunato was rich or gained things that Montresor did not. This could give Montresor cause for jealousy instead of simple betrayal. It is also quite possible that Fortunato amassed his wealth by cheating and betraying Montresor. Montresor's name could be used to show that he is a monster, and perhaps it was not Fortunato, apart from misfortune, who killed him. Montresor could have been crazy and only imagined that Fortunato had mistreated him repeatedly. This would be a possibility because Montresor never stated exactly what Fortunato did to desire his cruel punishment. This would also explain why Fortunato would trust someone by claiming that Montresor had suffered a thousand wounds.