Hello Duncan
Your persuasive analysis I think proves that Stephen King modelled his novella on Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" although he does not overtly acknowledge that fact. As you say, he may have included clues which would reveal to his readers the debt he owed to Poe.
Since the story is evidently viewed by the author as an archetypal horror story he perhaps did not think that he had to acknowledge the fact that he had updated Poe's tale. We might note that even the titles of the two works, King's "Dolan’s Cadillac" and Poe’s "The Cask of Amontillado" bear some similarity!
One other thing: I am giving a talk on Poe's works to a senior citizens' retirement home here in the Baltimore area in January and will probably mention your analysis as part of my talk. I was at the same retirement home last month to talk about the mystery of Poe's death in this city.
All the best
Chris
Last edited by ChrisGeorge; 11-01-2010 at 12:33 PM.
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