Similarities Between “The Cask Of Amontillado“ And “A Good Man Is Hard To Find“

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Similarities Between “The Cask of Amontillado” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

Both Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are short horror stories, but some may consider them to be dark comedies. Since both of these stories contain some comical scenes and strange characters, they end with some very ironic twists. Irony is not the only similarity between these two stories. Evil is another underlying plot in these two stories. Pride is also another characteristic shared between some of the characters in these stories, which can lead to some very bad things if either too much is there, or if there is not enough.
The most ironic thing about these two dark comedies is that the main characters are being led to their deaths throughout the entire stories. “The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre.” “Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado!” (P764). Fortunato continues his journey towards death by his own will. Another ironic twist in the story is when Montresor responds to Fortunato saying, “I will not die of a cough.” Then Montresor responds, “True—true…” There is talk about death, and Fortunato has no idea that he is actually leading himself into his own death. Fortunato’s own name is ironic, because it means fortunate and he is not very fortunate at the end.
The characters in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are also leading themselves into their own deaths. Instead of going on vacation to Florida where they believe the Misfit is, they head to Tennessee, where they actually lead themselves into the path of the Misfit. It is also ironic how the grandmother prepares herself for death, but she does not know that she is really going to die. “Her collar and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. I...