Many times situations occur that are the exact opposite of what is expected.  Often, when situations like this happen they are examples of irony.  Edgar Allan Poe was one writer who used irony in his stories.  He wrote the story “The Cask of Amontillado” which is about a man called Montressor who takes revenge on an unexpecting friend.  Edgar Allan Poe uses verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony to keep his story suspenseful.

In “The Cask of Amontillado” verbal irony is one type of irony that Poe uses.  When Montressor greets Fortunato as an old friend, he says, “You are luckily met” (55).  In reality, Montressor doesn’t think that Fortunato is lucky because he knows that he is going to kill him.  While Montressor is leading Fortunato to his death, he makes a toast and says, “And I to your long life” (56).  Montressor means completely the opposite when he says that, he knows that Fortunato is going to have a short life.  Verbal irony helps keep the story suspenseful because it keeps the reader guessing and wondering what is going to happen next.

Dramatic irony is also used in Edgar Allan Poe’s story to build suspense.  At the beginning when Montressor says, “I vowed revenge” (54) we know that he’s planning to do something to Fortunato, but Fortunato is ignorant of this.  Montressor carries out his revenge by leading Fortunato down a crypt so that he can later leave him there to die.  In another part of the story it says, “I passed down a long and winding staircase requesting him to be cautious as he followed” (55).  In reality Montressor doesn’t care about Fortunato’s welfare, and again, Fortunato is ignorant of Montressor’s real intentions.

Situational irony is when the turn of events is totally unexpected.  “Throwing the links around his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it” (58).  This quote shows the fate of Fortunato.  Fortunato doesn’t expect this turn of events at all, he is totally surprised that someone he assumed to be his friend would do something to hurt him.  Also, the reader knows from the very beginning that Montressor is planning to kill Fortunato, but we don’t expect it to be so brutal and such a long death that he has planned for him.

These are some of the many ways that Edgar Allan Poe uses the three types of irony to build suspense in his story.  The fact that the reader knows more about the situation than the actual character does makes them want to keep reading to find out what happens.  Irony is something that happens often in real life, and when applied to writing can help create a very suspenseful effect.