Montresor made an audacious decision in Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Cask of Amontillado” to commit a murder encased with envy. In the story, Montresor reminisces to his audience (fifty years after the felony), bragging about how he got away with this crime. Throughout the story, readers learn more about Montresor’s past; that he has been affronted by Fortunato about the squander of his family’s wealth. Montresor feeling a lack of virility; resorted to murder to feel influential again, without hesitation to his deed. His actions and choice of words throughout the story accede to the proof that Montresor’s jealousy of the aristocracy ultimately leads to him committing murder. From the beginning of “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor …show more content…
While Montresor finishes building up the wall, he takes a second to think over what he is doing, “... the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied” (Poe 165), not only does he feel no remorse for what he is doing, but he is proud of killing Fortunato. Montresor is so fixated on the fact that he scrutinizes Fortunato as better than him, turning him into a sociopath for murdering in cold blood. After Montresor finishes his construction of the wall to seal Fortunato in Montresor determined, “My heart grew sick- on account of the dampness of the catacombs” (Poe 166). This sick thought, is ironic about feeling bad for killing Fortunato, he never felt bad; he is disdain about Fortunato. Even by a “...half of a century” after he sealed him in, “no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!” (Poe 166), Montresor feels no regret about killing Fortunato. In Fact, he feels pride that he got away from it. Montresor is delighted by the impunity of killing Fortunato that he feels the need to tell someone of his
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.
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.
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” is a short psychological thriller. The murder of Fortunato haunts Montresor so greatly that he feels the compulsion to tell the story some fifty years after the fact. He appears to be in the late stages of life desperately attempting to remove the stain of murder from his mind. That it is still so fresh and rich in specifics is proof that it has plagued him, “Perhaps the most chilling aspect of reading Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ for the first time is not the gruesome tale that Montresor relates, but the sudden, unpredictable, understated revelation that the murder, recounted in its every lurid detail, occurred not yesterday or last week, but a full fifty years prior to the telling” (DiSanza).
In "Cask of Amontillado", Montresor is the narrator. "The thousand of injuries of Fortunato he has borne as he best could; but when he ventures upon insult, Montresor vows revenge" (Poe 528). As the story unfolds, "Montresor's idea of perfect revenge" is "characteristically precise and logical in detail" as to how he commits his crime (Delaney 1).
Despite Edgar Allan Poe being one of the inventors of detective fiction, the Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart are not about detection but the process of the murder. The former one is about Montresor, who tells how he killed his ’friend’ Fortunato while he was illuminated. Montresor plans to commit the perfect murder ("I must not only punish, but punish with impunity.”), and seemingly succeeds in that, but scholars like Thomas Pribek, Walter Stepp, J. Gerald Kennedy, Charles May, G.R. Thompson and Scott Peeples argue that Montresor has failed to commit the perfect crime because he has suffered the pangs of remorse. (Baraban 47-48)
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.
1. What can the reader infer about Montresor’s social position and character from hints in the text? What evidence does the text provide that Montresor is an unreliable narrator? We learned from paragraph 23 to 24 that Montresor owns a Palazzo and also has lot of retainers based on that evidence, the reader can infer that Montresor is a very wealthy and successful man. About his character, the reader can imply that Montresor is a heartless, cold blooded, sneaky, manipulative, and untrustworthy man, as well as a man who hold on to grudges. Moreover, Montresor is an unreliable narrator, because he reveals in the first paragraph that he intends to have a revenge on Fortunato, but he did not indicate or clearly prove to the readers how Fortunato
"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.
The setting of a story sets the tone for the entire piece. Without the appropriate setting, what the author is trying to express is lost. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe uses the setting as a way to set the stage for the events that will come. Poe’s settings make his stories interesting, as well as easy to understand because of his descriptiveness and writing techniques. His use of vivid details and symbols in his settings intrigue the readers and set a particular tone. Each and every setting has a direct meaning and reason attached to that of the story and time.
“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.
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.
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.
Humans have always struggled against confinement and toward freedom. However, they choose not to recognize that history has proved time and again that too much freedom incites anarchy and too much confinement invites tyranny. It’s the nature of all animals to desire freedom and resist confinement. Many times the animal struggles so blindly it does not recognize it is destroying itself or condemning itself to further confinement. In “The Cask of Amontillado” Fortunato and Montresor are symbols of how human nature manifests differently in different people in varying combinations of psychological and physical freedom and confinement.
The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe describes how Montresor confesses the sequence of his well-designed or nearly flawless murder or revenge against Fortunato due to he is a threat to him. In his confession of a perfect crime, Montresor, who “vowed revenge” because of Fortunato’s “thousand injuries,” first say that his “heart grew sick” and then immediately add, “ it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so because he believes Fortunato insults him many times that his hatred against him become bigger and bigger. This makes him cannot stand for Fortunato’s behavior anymore as well as the setting completely makes everything prefect as he believes Fortunato deserves the punishment. The nature and family hold a significant role
One of the most respected psychologists, Edward Thorndike, defined psychology as, “the science of the intellects, characters and behavior of animals including man.” When critiquing literary works from a psychological perspective, the author’s life is linked with the behavior and motivations of the characters in the literary work being critiqued. In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author is Edgar Allan Poe, who portrays himself and his state of mind within the story. Montresor is a reflection of Poe 's character in the sense that he experiences Poe 's misery and depression as well as the emotional detachment from his victim. His tragic life is by some means connected to his writings, in which he portrays himself through the