English paper comparing/contrasting two short stories from the book: The compact bedford introduction to literature - Essay Example

The settings for these two stories, as has been mentioned, are vastly different. While Poe does not explicitly state where his story is set, he provides several clues that it is in Italy. The first of these clues is in the names of the characters, Fortunato and Montresor, both of which have Italian origins. This concept is reinforced when the narrator tells his reader, “He [Fortunato] prided himself upon his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit” (3rd para).

However, much the story happens not on the Italian streets, but deep underground within the burial crypts (serving double duty as a wine cellar) of the Montresor family palazzo, or large home, mansion or palace. This is very different from the sleepy southern town in which “A Rose for Emily” is set. Faulkner, like Poe, doesn’t expressly state this as the setting, but provides numerous clues such as the cotton gins that have grown around Miss Emily’s gothic-style home, the “cedar-bemused cemetery” and the “anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson” (2nd para.). Adding to these suggestions, Faulkner also includes details such as the town was once run by a Colonel Sartoris, references the treatment of negroes, and indicates the town is concerned about Miss Emily dating one of those disreputable Yankees in the form of Homer Barron.

Like Poe’s story, much of the importance of the plot occurs within the house of Miss Emily; however, it is only seen from the outside. While the plot in both stories is driven by murder, this is only obvious in Poe’s tale as the narrator makes it clear that his intention is revenge. “I must not only punish, I must punish with impunity. A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the