The Zebra Storyteller by Spencer Hoist & The Cask of Amontillado by

The Zebra Storyteller and Cask of Amontillado starts off entertaining people but then takes a turn for the worst. The storyteller was trying to warn the other zebras about a vicious cat, but no one listened. The same thing goes for The Cask of Amontillado, which has signs that could have saved Fortunato’s life if he had listened to them. The zebra storyteller is purely trying to entertain the other zebras since there were many avoiding the place; the storyteller wanted to lighten the mood so he made a story about a Siamese cat who thought of himself as a lion who spoke perfect Zebraic (the zebra’s language).

The Cask of Amontillado opens up at a party and Fortunato and Montresor are talking about the deal that Montresor had with Luchresi.

People can easily trick you and make you think you are safe, but in reality, you are not. Montresor's ego was damaged because of words Fortunato said which led to his untimely demise, his pride led him to murder his friend, comparatively, the cat killed was killing for pride and wearing the skin of deceased zebras as fashion and running and bragging to his friends as if an engaged woman showing off her diamond ring.

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Those are the things you do not expect from others, many people like to think that the world is not filled with many monsters but in reality there is. It could be a stranger on the streets or your friend, and you won’t see it coming like a zebra grazing in the field while the lion stalks them waiting for the right time; just like what the charismatic cat and Montresor did to Fortunato and the storyteller.

The cat would go straight up to the zebras and speak Zebraic and kill them but after a time of all the killings; many heard rumors about a lion running around but the quite dashing noses of the zebras said otherwise, and they were right but still, they kept away because they believed that it was a ghost of a lion(line 6 and line 18-20). If you skip over to poor dear old Fortunato he was led down the catacombs, quite questioning you might say but he went down with Montresor to the wine cellar, there are clues that anyone could see but Fortunato turned the blind eye to it all, perhaps he should have open his eyes more but than again he was drunk. When they reach the wine cellar the Montresor's family crest pops up it has a snake getting crushed by a heel with the words “ Nemo me impune lacessit.” meaning “ no one provokes me with impunity.”( line 45-49) ; you can easily think of this as Fortunato getting killed by Montesor for in his eyes slaughtering his good name.

The crime that Montresor and the killer cat have in common is hubris, a crime of pride. They both killed for pride, to boost their ego. There are so many things that people don’t pay attention to in your life. People don't see that there are small things that could get you in trouble and how things could lead you into danger or to your death. There is trickery in both of these stories, you can see it right in front of you, it is in plain sight with the text. If you will learn anything from both stories, it's that some people are not what they seem and that they can and will deceive you, so be careful about what you do and be aware of your surroundings.

Works Cited

1. Spencer Holst - The Zebra Storyteller, www.archipelago.org/vol3-1/holst.htm.
2. Poe, Edgar A.(1846). ‘The Cask of Amontillado’, in Booth A., et al The Norton Introduction to Literature Ninth edition.W.W. Norton & Company, New York:2005.print.768-776