Poe's "White Canvass"

The Cask of Amontillado is one of Edgar Allan Poe's most popular short stories, and for good reason. It is dark; it is entertaining; it is suspenseful; it is compact. And if we look to connect all of these attributes with on common thread, one way to do it is to consider Poe's lack of excess. If we take a close look, gentle reader, we might notice that Poe excises exposition from this tale like a surgeon wielding a scalpel. There is nothing, nothing included that does not need to be. The opening assumption that we understand his mind (and therefore tacitly support what he's doing); the "thousand injuries" which never become clearer than that (are we talking emotional injuries? physical? did Fortunato cause Montresor to tear a meniscus playing flag football?); the grotesque gesture, a sign of the Mason's, later given by Fortunato that remains obscure and more of a means of ironic insult than a secret-society handshake... it all adds up to what is not on the page that makes this story fun. And suspenseful. And cruel.

Poe's lack of excess moves things along, with a poet's rhythm. It establishes a dark casualness about the action, culminating in a casual, semi-aware burial of the motley Fortunato. It allows for the un-commented on word-play of the name Fortunato, substituted instead for family crests and mottos, given in un-transcribed Latin (thank you, textbook footnotes!).

Poe's lack of excess exists in the negative space of the story. It is a detail not there. It resides in the white space of the canvass. And as fun as it is to enjoy a story like this, and to be put under its spell, it is harder work to analyze this component because we need to discuss the omission of details. We are required to talk in the lack. Harder, yes, but more rewarding. Discovering what Poe leaves off his page, and then understanding why these details precisely compose this sinister story will create in us an even keener ability to recognize the selection of details that make great stories great.

We are again talking about the challenging task of explaining how language impacts meaning. How style emphasizes theme. Why details, or the lack of them, matter. And not only in our reading them, but how we as communicators choose to give, or withhold, as needed.