To earn the trust of someone, one must present himself as someone who is mentally healthy. Edgar Allan Poe presents Montresor, the narrator in “The Cask of Amontillado”, at first as a smart man who could be trusted given his constant use of vocabulary. However after an acquaintance of Montresor, Fortunato insults him, he is determined to get revenge. By slowly describing his murder of Fortunato on his deathbed it becomes obvious to the reader that the narrator is deranged and untrustworthy. Poe creates a clear image of Montresor’s unstable mental health as he explains how the narrator buried alive a friend in the catacombs of Paris. While the narrator in “The Cask of Amontillado” is detailed, skilled, and intelligent, his quest for revenge …show more content…
In the opening sentence of the story, Poe establishes the reasoning behind the narrator's hatred for Fortunato by expressing his vow for retaliation: “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 1). The vengeful rage Montresor has towards Fortunato is proven with Poe’s descriptions of “ventured” and “vowed revenge”. Poe presents the narrator as vindictive, immediately causing the reader to question the narrator’s reliability. For example, Patrick Mcgrath, a novelist who specializes in gothic writing, explains “‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is also a superb early example of the unreliable narrator at work. Having drawn us into Montresor's paranoia with his very first sentence” (Mcgrath 1). Directly describing Montresor as an “unreliable narrator”, Patrick Mcgrath claims that in the beginning of the story Poe reveals the narrator’s paranoid and psychotic mindset. Again Poe proves the narrator is untrustworthy at the beginning of the story, when he uses descriptive imagery to prove Montresor’s psychotic and twisted mindset: “I continued, as was my in to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my to smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 1). Poe represents the narrator’s unreliability by presenting him with a scheming “smile” and his plan for “immolation” of Fortunato. By representing Montresor as a vengeful narrator, Poe proves Montresor’s unreliability after he murders Fortunato while smiling. This forces the reader to question if the narrator is psychotic, thus proving he is unreliable. Furthermore Patrick Mcgrath explains, “In his tales of Gothic horror, Edgar Allan Poe gave the world a fine collection of neurotics, paranoids and psychopaths. But none are quite as deranged as the narrator of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’” (Mcgrath 1). Describing Montresor, Mcgrath uses
“The Cask of Amontillado” starts out with the narrator, later discovered to be Montresor, positioning himself as a victim of Fortunato. In the opening line, he states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could” (714). Instantaneously one feels sympathetic towards a person that has withstood a thousand inflictions. Montresor goes on to tell a parable of sorts about vengeance, and “when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (715) he has lost. In this instance Poe has set Montresor apart from being at the least an unsuspecting
With a premeditated motive to commit such an act, the culprit, Montressor, thinks, constructs and orchestrates a presumed murder against his insulter, Fortunado. “Poe begins by describing, in characteristically precise and logical detail, Montresor’s (and Poe’s) idea of perfect revenge. At the same time, he needed to end his story by telling how his revenge had affected him. When Fortunatosays, “For the love of god, Montresor!” and Montresor repeats, “Yes, for the love of God,” Poe is indicating that Montresor is already experiencing the closure he sought”(Delaney 39) Unbeknownst why he wants retribution, or what it is that his victim has done to compel Montressor to kill him. What is given is a recount of the night under discussion.
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a dark piece, much like other works of Edgar Allan Poe, and features the classic unreliable narrator, identified by himself only as Montresor. This sinister central character is a cold ruthless killer that is particularly fearsome because he views murder as a necessity and kills without remorse. Montresor is a character who personifies wickedness. Poe uses this character and his morally wrong thoughts and actions to help the reader identify with aspects of the extreme personage, allowing them to examine the less savory aspects of their own. The character of Montresor detailing the glorious murder he committed is a means of communicating to the reader that vengeance and pride are moral motivators that lead to treacherous deeds and dark thoughts.
A main theme presented in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is that Montresor shows obsession with the murder of fortunato. This is exemplified by Montresor’s precise planning, carefulness and slowness of speed in the process.
"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” the reader can tell the narrator is unreliable. The narrator shows this through his lack of reason for killing Fortunato. Also, the narrator indicates that he is unreliable when he laughs as he kills Fortunato; only a madman would laugh while killing someone. The narration of the story makes it so the reader questions why the narrator killed Fortunato. Another question most readers have is, why is the narrator sharing this story? Also, readers commonly ask themselves, what has happened to make him share this story? The narrator says, “For half of a century no mortal has disturbed them” (Poe 113). This statement by the narrator may make a reader feel that Fortunato’s body has been moved or found. Likewise, it may make a reader feel that the narrator is bragging to someone about getting away with murder because he is possibly on his
Have you ever met someone so clever, determined, and cruel to leave a man to die over an insult? Montresor is the perfect example of these character traits. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor uses all of these character traits to get revenge on Fortunado for insulting his family name. Montresor’s clever planning, determination for revenge, and cruel murder are the perfect combination for his unequaled revenge.
Perhaps Montresor is coerced to confess his crime by his own imp, like the narrator of Poe's tale "The Imp of the Perverse," who lives for a time in apparent peace with his conscience, only to spill all the beans when his perverse spectre grabs hold of his will. One of the beauties of "The Cask of Amontillado" is that it will bear many interpretations. I do not lay claim to the definitive analysis of this tale. Instead I shall present diverse theories that support my general thesis: that Montresor and Fortunato represent a doppelganger illustrative of perversity.
Is Montresor a narrator who is reliable or unreliable? Edgar Allan Poe is an experienced author who made all types of characters as his narrators, he made them reliable and unreliable. Montresor, the narrator of “The Cask of the Amontillado,” is a great example of an unreliable character because his anger affects what he says. Montresor can very easily identify people's weaknesses with their actions, in which he did with Fortunato. Fortunato is a man who loves to drink, he has a lot of money and loves to spend it on things he adores. He wears a jester’s costume throughout the story and even when he meets Montresor. Montresor found Fortunato’s “weak point,” so he can lure him down to his death. As the story is told, Montresor is not a character that can be reliable in any story.
Poe’s first-person narration style in “The Cask of Amontillado” allows the reader to experience the story from a different level and the ability to look at the story from a different light. An unusual perspective. From the mind of a killer, the narrator and main character making him familiar with the reader. Poe focuses more of the thoughts and emotions of the main character rather than physical attributes of Montresor which made for a more intimately disturbing story for the reader.
Edgar Allen Poe uses irony and poetic justice all throughout “The Cask of the Amontillado”. The places where irony and poetic justice hold the most significance are the scenes where, Montresor speaks of the wronging done to him by Fortunato, where Montresor and fortunato speak of the coat of arms, and where at the very end when Montresor traps Fortunato in the catacombs and leaves him to die. These scenes clearly show the use of these two tools that Poe used to tell the story of Montresor and
Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go to great lengths to fanatically defend their honor.
Edgar Allan Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado" is perhaps the most famous tale of terror ever written. Montresor, the story's narrator, leads the reader through his revenge on Fortunato. Montresor entices Fortunato into the dark recesses of the family catacombs with the promise of a very fine wine. At the climax of the story, Montresor shackles Fortunato to a wall and seals him away forever behind brick and mortar. In all of Poe's short stories he attempts to convey "a certain unique or single effect." "A Cask of Amontillado" expresses its dark view of human intention by using elements of irony, foreshadowing, and metaphor. The first person point of view also lends itself to an exploration of the inner secrets of Montresor.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor sets out on a vengeful mission that will end Fortunato’s life in an untimely fate. Montresor appeals to Fortunato’s love for wine to tempt the unsuspecting fellow to his impending doom. While Montresor tricks the foolish Fortunato frightfully, it is ultimately Fortunato’s pride that leads to his demise in the crypt. Poe uses several literary devices to foreshadow this murderous exploit of Montresor. Through the use of irony, symbolism, and imagery, the story entices readers to delve into the relationships and differences between Montresor and Fortunato.
The major characteristics of the narrator and main character, Montresor, are anger, hatred, and revenge. In the story, he is angry with Fortunato because he believes that Fortunato has wronged and insulted him many times by saying, “thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could…he ventured upon insult…” (Poe). In addition, Montresor’s hatred for Fortunato goes so far that he believes he must kill Fortunato. He mentions this in the story as, “[y]ou, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe). He seems to say that his soul is made of hatred and goes on to say he must give Fortunato the utmost punishment: death. Montresor even shows traits of revenge when he says, “…but when [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” and “...I would be avenged…” (Poe). He is saying that he will get revenge on Fortunato, whom he is angry with and hates for being insulted by.