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18
TomaszKalaga
timebeingsomehowreflectiveoftheperceptionandinterpretationof
thetextitself.Inotherwords,thisparticularsymbolwouldperform
adoublefunction:withinthenarrativeasoneofitsmeaningfulelements
and“outside”thenarrativeasanindicationorasignpostintheprocess
ofinterpretation.
Letmeforestallpotentialcriticismbyremarkingthattheabove
observationsneednotapplytoallpossibleoccurrencesofmasksor
camouflageinallpossibleliterarygenres.Itseemsthattheprivileged
characterofthoseconceptsisofparticularrelevanceingenreswith
theevidentpredominanceofthepreviouslymentionedBarthesian
hermeneuticcodeorcodeoftheenigma.Suchtextsareusually
characterizedbytheirfocusuponmystery,suspenseandafinal“twist”
ofrevelation–itisnotsurprising,therefore,thatwemayfindmost
ofitsrepresentativesinthegenresofthrillers,horrorsanddetective
fiction.Themostobvious,andassuchleastinteresting,instancesof
amaskbeingthecrucialelementintheemergenceofaninterpretation
wouldbeintextsbasedonthesecretidentityofoneofthecharacters,
anidentitythatisrevealedattheendofthetale,frequentlytothe
shockandhorrorofboththereaderandtheothercharacters.Classic
examplesofsuchtalesareHowardPhillipsLovecraft’sWhispererin
DarknessandEdgarAllanPoe’sMasqueoftheRedDeath.Farmore
interesting,however,wouldbeacasewherethefunctionofamask
islessapparentandinvolvedinamorecomplexnetworkofrelations
betweenthenarration,thecharactersandthereader.Ibelieve,
however,thatthemostcuriousinstancewouldbeonewhich,atleast
tosomeextent,reversesthecustomaryroleofthemask,yetmaintains
theaforementionedparallelbetweentheartefactandthehermeneutic
circle,yetintheleastapparentway.
Letusthenproceedtoademonstrativeanalysisofsuchacasein
action:theillustrationoftheconcreteoccurrenceofamaskinaliterary
textswillallowmetosimultaneouslydevelopthetheoreticalsideof
myargumentandfurthercommentontheconsequencesofthespecial
treatmentofthisnotion.TheCaskofAmontilladobyEdgarAllanPoe
issurelyonetheclassictalesofrevenge.Atypically“Poesque”story,it
containsmanyoftheelementsthatwehavecometoassociatewiththe
grotesquestyleofthewriter:carnivalfrenzy,terriblevengeance,adescent
intothedepthsoftheearth,aliveburial.Montresor,theprotagonist
andsimultaneouslythenarratorofthestory,vowstoavengehimselffor
anamelessinsultuponhisfriend,Fortunato.Underthepretextofan
opportunityforappraisalofapipeofrareAmontillado,Montresorlures
Fortunatotothecellarsunderhisresidence.Havingintoxicatedand
broughttheunsuspectingvictimtothecatacombsunderthecellars,
