How Does Montresor Want To Kill Fortunato

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“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 165). This story by Edgar Allan Poe is a very dark story like most of his work. It is never stated what the insults that Fortunato made are, so it is left to the reader to ponder what it could be. I would bet Montresor has never heard the saying sticks and stones might break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Montresor manages to plan this murder to the point that he is telling us this story fifty years after it has happened. He makes this clear very early in the story that “I must not just punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed with retribution overtakes its redresor. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (Poe 165). Montresor has to make sure he gets his point across to Fortunato. Montresor has to make sure the way he kills Fortunato is planned well enough to not get caught and punished. Trying to understand what is going on inside the head of this mad man is what this story is all about. The key aspects of the story include understanding why Montresor had decided to kill Fortunato, deciding how to lure him into the catacombs, and understanding why he chose this place as well as how killed Fortunato. …show more content…

The thing that gives a hint of what could have been and insult is when Fortunato ask, “I forget your arms” (Poe 167). This is an insult to his family coat of arms saying it is not important enough for him to remember. The arm is “A huge foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel”(Poe 167). Fortunato also adds to this “And the motto?” (Poe 167) The motto helps us understand why he kills Fortunato. The motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit” (Poe 167). this translates to no one provokes me with impunity. As Patrick White

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