Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
edgar allan poe literary analysis essay
Literary analysis of edgar allan poe work
the importance of symbolism in the cask of amontillado
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: edgar allan poe literary analysis essay
The Vengeful Montressor of The Cask of Amontillado
The story "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe is a story of murder and revenge. What is disturbing about this story is the lengths to which Montressor goes to gain this revenge. The statement "At length I would be avenged, this was a point definitely settled - but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk" (1314) tells much about the character Montressor. In this essay, I intend to show that this statement and others in the story indicate that Montressor was vengeful for past injustices and calculating in his plans to kill Fortunato. He was cold hearted enough to carry out these plans. This is the truth revealed about Montresor.
The first paragraph of the story tells us so much about Montressor's personality. The statement "At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled..."(1314) shows that forgiveness is not an option for Montressor. The statement "...when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge" (1314) shows that his main focus is to avenge the wrong doings of Fortunato. In fact, there is no other choice for him as the motto of his family crest states, "No one wounds me with impunity" (1317). So, not only is the focus of his life revenge; but revenge has been the focus of his entire family, for generations.
The last part of the statement says "...but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk" (1314). This statement shows that not only was Montressor going to have his revenge; but, he would do so in such a calculating and premeditated way that he would be certain not to get caught. The first step would be to make sure that there would be no witness...
... middle of paper ...
...essor began the task of building a wall to close Fortunato in. This type of death was a calculating choice by Montressor. It must take time to build a wall of eleven tiers. Time for Fortunato to realize that he was going to die a slow and horrible death.
In conclusion, the truth revealed about Montressor in the statement "At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled - but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk" (1314) is that he is a vengeful, calculating and cold- blooded killer. The reader is never told what injustices Fortunato inflicted upon him; however, it does not matter. There is not much, which could justify this type of torture. Montressor made sure he had the last work in this, their last, encounter.
Work Cited
Poe, Allan, Edgar. The Cask of Amontillado (Mass Market Paperbacks, 1990
In Edger Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado the narrator, Montresor, seeks revenge against his friend Fortunato who he claims had cause him many injuries. The story takes place during carnival time and many are celebrating even Fortunato who was dressed as a clown and wore a colorful hat with bells. Fortunato had been drinking which made him even less aware of any sort of plot against him. Montresor lures him into his wine vaults and easily chains him to a wall deep inside a small crypt. Fortunato is too drunk to even comprehend what is happening or even resist. Finally Montresor builds a stone wall confining Fortunato inside to die. In the story we can distinguish many notable characteristics of Montresor. He may be perceived as heatless or even bit psychotic. We can learn about his personality through his motives and actions as the story progresses.
When they arrive at the Montresor estate, Montresor leads Fortunato down the stairs into the catacombs. Down here is where the Amontillado Fortunato is going to taste and where the revenge of Montresor is going to take place. As he get closer and closer, the narrator opens up more and more to how he is going to kill his "friend". It sound like it is a premeditated murder. Montresor seems so inconspicuous that he acts like he cares about Fortunato which is still a part of his plan.
Throughout the story, Montresor does not justify his reasons for committing murder. He does not disclose anything about the “thousand injuries” (250) done to him by Fortunato, nor does he even reveal the details of the supposed injuries that drove him to vow revenge. Montresor’s family motto, “nemo me impune lacessit” which means “no one insults me with impunity” (252), indicate that Montresor only killed Fortunato to protect his family’s
The author introduces the readers to the narrator who is known as Montresor when he is talking to an unknown audience. In the course of the discussion with the unknown audience, Montresor attests to the fact that Fortunato, who is a close friend of his has morally insulted. Due to the moral insult labeled against him, Montresor intends to revenge. “Part of Montresor's vengeance plan, however, is to ensure that he does not expose himself neither to Fortunato nor to the society at large” (Johnson et.al, 8). To this effect, he does not let open the ill feelings that he harbors against Fortunato. Montresor asserts to the fact that he would consider his vengeance plan a failure if at all Fortunato found out and exerted revenge. That notwithstanding though, he says that he would let Fortunato know that he is the mastermind of all his misfortunes when he will be satisfied that his vengeance plan will not backfire.
as a result of taking my revenge.” This indicates that Montresor is well prepared and have carefully planned out everything to take his revenge. It also states, “I continued to smile in his face, and he did not understand that I was now smiling at the thought of what I planned for him, at the thought of my revenge.” Montresor puts up a facade as his mind is full of thoughts on how to make Fortunato suffer. Based on Montresor’s evil thoughts, the reader can tell that he is a man full of
To begin with, it is definite that Montresor is very determined to do what he needs. In the text, it states how this narrator has a completely thought out plan that he has prepared to put in effect in order to kill Fortunato. It states, “There were no attendants at home… I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given
“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had Borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe, 1108) Right away Montresor states this and as a reader, we start to feel sympathy for Montresor, he is the first character we are introduced to and because of this we naturally take his side. Of course at this point we don’t know what “revenge” really means, but by the end when we find out what his “revenge” entails our opinion of him most likely changes. His “revenge” of course is murdering Fortunato. He could no longer put up with the injuries he had borne and wanted to put an end to his own humiliation from being “insulted” by Fortunato. . Before he proceeds with the killing of his once friend Montresor thinks to himself, “It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my won 't, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe, 1108). This text is so haunting and terrible how one could smile at the thought of a person’s immolation. We can also see in this text that the murder of his friend has been pre-determined and well thought out. This almost makes what he does worse because he knows how horrible of a murder he is going to commit. Although we
While Montresor has become fatally involved in his plan of revenge he still has not forgotten that Fortunato is a friend. When they are ready to go to the vaults, Montresor shows concern for Fortunato’s health.
Montresor, fifty years after it happened, is confessing to the murder of his foe, Fortunato. He justifies his actions by saying that Fortunato caused him a thous...
Montresor is a man who feels pride in himself and in his family, so when Fortunato—an acquaintance of Montresor— “venture[s] upon insult,” Montresor “vow[s] revenge” against him (1). Montresor hastily decides that he must kill Fortunato, even though his use of the word “venture” implies that Fortunato had not yet insulted him, but nearly did. Montresor’s impulsive need for revenge causes him to formulate a plan to murder his acquaintance. He keeps Fortunato intoxicated by “presenting him…[with] wine,” he “fetter[s] him to the granite,” and he “plaster[s] up… [a wall of] new masonry” to trap Fortunato in the catacombs (39, 71, 89). All of these acts are signs that the need for revenge has made Fortunato insane. A person who has any sense of morals would not commit crimes such as Montresor’s. His impetuous decision to exact revenge caused him to lose his
In The Cask of Amontillado, the theme of revenge is established at the start of the story, when the narrator states that he suffered irreversible insult by his associate, Fortunato, thus he vowed to avenge this action. This is evident in the following statement in the opening paragraph of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 7). Therefore, it is apparent to the reader from the onset of the story that revenge is a major driving force for Montresor for him to dreadfully murder his acquaintance,...
These imply Montresor’s the whole family is filled with acts of revenge. These also illustrate self-esteem or pride hold a critical role in the family that they do not accept anyone try to injure them. If someone does so, they will use their own method to punish their wrongdoings, which they at least find a way to release their discontented against such behavior. Montresor also considers this action as an insult because he perceives that he is not being respect and look down by Fortunato. This is because Montresor is a poor man compared to Fortunato who can afford to buy the entire shipment of Amontilado. Therefore, Montresor says, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (331). This shows Montresor family’s coat of arms and motto can be the key that leads him wants revenge for being insulted by Fortunato. Since no one is able to clear up the internal injuries that have been in his heart for a while, he deems he should take the risk and punishes Fortunato by himself. In some way, he may think that he helps the society to cut weeds and eliminate the roots by killing all the loose end or
Now is the technology era for in the world, many people live with technologies in their daily life. In general, technology meant knowledge of tools improve a pre-existing solution to a problem. There were so many habits of using technologies, like using computer to do documentation works, using social network to chat with friend in other country, until now using mobile devices to view web sites. Growth in mobile devices and smartphones had eased many people access Web pages. Normally, we use the computer or desktop to open a browser and visit to some websites. The content of websites is same when you use personal computer and desktop to visits it, caused by the size of screen is almost same. To build a more user friendly website that allow user to view the exactly same content of the Web pages regardless of the device’s screen size, a web pages with responsive web design is introduced. Responsive web design is ways to design web pages that work consistently across different screen size, platform, and user interface by using the same codebase (Pilon, 2013). The issues we always focus is the elements, pros, and cons. Hence, this report will discuss about the main components, advantages, and disadvantages of responsive web design.
The story begins with Montresor’s monologue, explaining why he wants to take revenge on Fortunado, actually a friend of him. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”. Although the writer doesn’t give the detail explanation of what, on earth, Fortunato did by the “thousand injuries”, we can still feel the anger of Montresor, burning in his mind. He wants to revenge, using his own way. “It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile NOW was at the thought of his immolation.” He knew Fortunato’s characteristics well, including the weak point. That is how he did the whole revenge.
The current challenges of democracy around the world should prioritize each encounter that should be addressed through networks, global gatherings, and various activities. As a continuous concern, the progress of democracy discusses various strategies and activities. These various strategies and activities lead to lessons that are learned in advancing democracy, making democracy deliver, strengthening democratic fundamentals, and more current challenges. Democracy faces threats from every spectrum as the threats surge the need to reinforce democratic forces through aid and greater international solidarity. Each country reflects on a certain assessment towards the current status of democracy.