Examples Of Fortunato In The Cask Of Amontillado

In Edgar Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, Fortunato, upon realizing that his demise is certain shouts “For the love of God!” to which his murderer, Montresor responds “Yes! For the love of God!” What may appear to be a moment where the murderer is merely tormenting his victim by mocking his desperate plea, may actually be a sudden exclamation of hope that Fortunato is about to redeem himself thus preventing his demise. Of course Fortunato does not. It would be a serious error for Poe to not allow the horror to proceed. However, if we consider that the name Fortunato is the masculine of Fortuna who is the goddess who spins a wheel and controls the rise and fall of man’s fortune. In addition to the fact that the concept of fate as an

uncontrolled force is in contrast to the Judeo-Christian belief in an ordered universe. Then, Fortunato represents what would be heresy. This is not to say that Montresor is a champion of the church. In fact, a close study of the Montresor family shield and motto would suggest that he is more the devil. Even so, Montresor may be acting on the belief that he is correcting a wrong that goes beyond personal insult.

Additionally, Montresor chooses to bind and immure his victim, which is reminiscent of Zues binding Prometheus and Odin binding Loki, as well as many other examples of gods binding other gods to

maintain order. Therefore, I believe that Montresor’s motive for murdering Fortunato is not as important to the story as the method he uses, and that Poe’s is using the method of binding a victim as a an allegory of God’s will triumphing over the concept of a random fate.
Poe’s decision to never reveal the motive for Montresor’s vengeance should signify to the reader that it is of no importance to the story. What is important is the method that Montresor uses to punish Fortunato. Montresor wants to commit murder Fortunato in a way that would preclude someone from seeking vengeance against him, but also in a way that his victim would be fully aware of who his murderer is. This would rule out a public duel or an arrow shot from afar. However, keeping a murder hidden and allowing the victim to look his murderer in the eye is accomplishable in many ways; the most obvious would be that Montresor run through Fortunato with his rapier before sealing him in the walls of the catacombs, or flay Fortunato with his rapier which would be just as horrific as immurement if not more so. Poe is trying to tell us that there is a reason that he chose to bind and immure Fortunato other than the element of horror that comes from dark and enclosed places, the catacombs themselves are dark and enclosed space.
In the greater context of the story, Fortunato is not just a foolish victim, but representative of one who profits from good fortune and is a subject of jealousy by those, like Montresor, who suffer from ill fortune, as well as the personification of fortune itself, the force that places some men in a subordinate position to those who are considered as unworthy, such as Fortunato who is portrayed as a braggart and a drunk. Therefore, when Poe depicts Fortunato as foolish and blind, he is also characterizing personified fortune as the same. The personification, and negative characteristics of fortune has been a literary tool since ancient times. For example, during the Middle Ages when Christianity arrived in Europe St. Augustine, in The City of God, refers to fortune in the classical sense as Fortuna the deity associated with fate’s capriciousness, a concept considered at the time as a contradiction to the will of God. St Augustine asks how can fortune be good, she “who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad?” Consequently, when Montresor binds Fortunato, what Poe is doing is expressing man’s natural desire to control their own life, or, which would be fair to say about the majority of those in the United States during nineteen-hundreds, place it in the hands of a deity known for rewarding the good and the just.
A familiar element associated with fortune is the Rota Fortunae, Wheel of Fortune, used by a veiled Fortuna to determine man’s fate.

The Wheel of Fortune is a never ending cycle of man rising to prominence at its top, only to fall from it, and ultimately tossed beneath it. Poe alludes to this maddening cycle repeatedly throughout the story. The first allusion to the cycle occurs when Montresor states that a “wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser,” and imparting that the end of this cycle would be the purpose of actions. The second obvious reference to a maddening cycle is in the description of the Montresor coat of arms. The foot d’or and the rampant serpent seemingly caught in the very same perpetual retribution that Montresor wishes to avoid. Not as obvious, but neither so subtle as to avoid attention, is the repetitious interaction between Montresor and Fortunato. It is as if Poe is describing several versions of the same scene: He mentions the Amontillado; Montresor has his doubts; Montresor baits Fortunato by mentioning Luchesi; Montresor facetiously mentions his concern for Fortunato’s cold and suggests exiting the catacombs; Fortunato expresses his desire to continue; and, the bells on Fortunato’s cap jingle. Although the repeating of these elements serves to increase the tension in the story, as well as to create a an uneasiness in the reader by imparting a playful tone that contrasts with what is happening, as a whole what we are

given are further examples of maddening cycles that Montresor aims to break by the end of the story, as he stated he would do in the opening paragraph. It is a well known fact that Poe struggled with the effects of alcoholism, and that he suffered many losses in his life, beginning with abandonment by his father and the death of his mother. Poe may have felt, after suffering a series of misfortunes, it was as though his life was the result of the injuries stemming from a world with no God, and in it’s stead a rampant and unpredictable fortune. Therefore, by having Montresor punish Fortunato, he is exorcising the spirit that haunted him the most and appealing to the order promised by Judeo-Christian belief that only the unjust should suffer.
Considering the probable reason for punishing Fortunato, it raises the question about the appropriate method. One reason why Poe may have chosen to bind Fortunato is as a reference to older stories of about being the binding of gods. In Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, Zeus binds Prometheus to a mountain as punishment for thwarting his plan to destroy mankind. In Norse myth, Odin orders the binding and imprisonment of his son Loki as punishment for instigating many of the troubles in Asgard. The implication of these stories, and many others like them, is that the world returns to an order, if only temporarily, that is defined by the one who condemns them, but, although it may be their motive, it is not their purpose. In other words, the reason for binding someone is not the same as the reason for their condemnation. What binding a victim does is assert the authority of the one who does the binding over the one who is bound. Therefore the motive for Montresor seeking to kill Fortunato is to redress a thousand injury’s, but the purpose of the binding is to demonstrate his power. Yet, Montresor at one point smiles and states that his joy “was at the thought of [Fortunato’s] immolation,” which would mean that being bonding Fortunato to the rock is not only a punishment but a sacrifice as well.
A tale of binding someone for sacrifice immediately brings to mind the Old Testament story of the binding of Isaac. Yahweh seeks to control men who are by nature capable of self determination and orders that Abraham bind and sacrifice his only son. A close reading of the story of the binding of Isaac and The Cask of Amontillado reveals correlations which are too coincidental to ignore. The binding of Isaac is set in the wilderness of Canaan among pagan people who have yet to know God. The Cask of Amontillado is set during carnival season, a pagan ceremony when the people are allowed to exercise their base tendencies with wild abandon. Both tales begin with the imparting of dramatic irony; neither Fortunato nor Isaac knows what will befall them, but the reader does. The tales continue with the dismissal of servants, and attendants. Abraham tells his servants “Stay here,” and that he “will come back to you.” Montresor tells his attendants “I should not return until the morning,” and do “not to stir from the house.” The tales continue with both Fortunato and Isaac being led by someone who they trust to the place where the sacrifice will take place. Then there is the moment when both victims become aware that something is amiss. Isaac asks “where is the lamb?” Fortunato, who is inebriated, does not come to the realization until his already bound, and is not able to express his realization as a question; instead he interjects “the Amontillado!” Just as Isaac realizes that he will be the lamb, Fortunato realizes that he is the Amontillado and the cask is the niche in which he will be sealed. Furthermore, although the method of the sacrifice differs, there is a moment of salvation in both tales. When Fortunato shouts “For the love of god!” Montresor is interrupted just as Abraham is interrupted when an angel intercedes, and in both tales the fear of God is recognized. Montresor responds “Yes! For the love of God!”similarly the angel declares “now I know you fear God.” Of course the esoteric elements in Poe’s story must also fit within the theme, being that The Cask of Amontillado is a story of horror, so the moment of salvation for Fortunato passes and Montresor completes his work.