Insanity In The Cask Of Amontillado

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" Montresor's unstable mental state can be recognized through the unhealthy obsession he has with revenge. He will stop at nothing to satisfy his obsession, even if it means murder. Montresor's revenge stems from a simple insult that Fortunato directes towards him. Once it is obvious that Montresor loathes Fortunato because of this insult, his insanity becomes apparent. It is also undeniable that Montresor does not take disrespect lightly and will kill a person if that disrespect is directed towards him. It does not matter the relation they may have to him; his demented mind craves revenge. Montresor's insanity is demonstrated through his manipulative ways, need for revenge, and the skeletons scattered

along the catacombs.
Montresor's insanity is first detected through his manipulative nature. He lures Fortunato in with the mention of Amontillado. Montresor knows that Fortunato's weak point is his expertise in wine and if it is questioned he will go to great lengths to prove his knowledge. Montresor knows that if he uses reverse psychology on Fortunato, he will manipulate him into doing exactly what he wants him to do. He creates the perfect trap that he knows will work because he did it with his house attendants. He knew they would do the exact opposite of what he told them. He even thinks to himself " These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned" (Poe 251). Montresor knows his attendants will leave if he said he is not returning, which indicates that he has done this before, possibly on many occasions. He uses reverse psychology on both Fortunato and his servants to get them to do exactly wat he intended. To further manipulate Fortunato, he mentions Luchresi, a wine expert, to get Fortunato to jump at the chance to try the Amontillado. Fortunato states " Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry" (Poe 251) because he wants to be the one to try the wine. He cannot stand the thought of Luchresi tasting Amontillado because he believes he has more knowledge. Now that Fortunato has invited himself to Montresor's vaults the second part of Montresor's plan can commence. Montresor then manipulates Fortunato into drinking an extensive amount of wine, so he does not catch on to Montresor's plan. "Unquestioning adherence to the normative on the part of Fortunato means that the dangerous situation beyond the words is largely edited out of his consciousness" (Mottram). Montresor knows that Fortunato is drunk because he is not suspicious of his behavior, which allows Montresor to easily chain him to a rock.
Although Montresor's plan is going smoothly so far, it is unclear what his motives for revenge are.

When Fortunato says that Montresor is not of the brotherhood and that him as a mason is impossible it is evident that Montresor's revenge stems from an insult. "Fortunato's statement 'I forget your arms' seems to be a great unintentional insult to Montresor because with this statement Fortunato belittles Montresor's origin and class." (Karadas). The masons are a sore spot for Montresor because he clearly is not one, although he proves to Fortunato otherwise. Part of his crazed plan is to show Fortunato a trowel, a symbol of the masons, which he will later use to kill Fortunato. Montresor's revenge seems irrational at this point because from a sane person's point of view Fortunato did not mean this as an insult, he was just curious. When Montresor explains his family crest to Fortunato because he has forgotten, it depicts a foot crushing the head of a serpent. The serpent is Montresor because snakes are the ultimate symbol of revenge, they bite back almost instantly transforming from the victim to the predator (Saxton). The golden foot is Fortunato and the snake is Montresor, biting Fortunato for his insult. After Fortunato insults Montresor, Montresor instantly hates him and generates a fool-proof plan for his demise. To satisfy Montresor's need for revenge, he murders Fortunato by leaving him chained to a piece of granite, then builds a wall to seal him in. Montresor is a

mad man who murders Fortunato over an insult and it is not the first time he has done this.
The skeletons scattered along the catacombs suggests that Montresor has been insulted quite a lot in the past.

There are piles and piles of bones that have rotting for years. Throughout the story there are subtle hints that Montresor is the one behind these dead bodies. Montresor states that the Montresor's are a big family, but there are no family members in the story, only his servants. As Montresor and Fortunato descend the catacombs there are numerous pills of bones stacked up along the walls. These are the remains of people Montresor has killed before because they have insulted him. Montresor is unhinged and there is no telling how far he will go with a murder. These bones could belong to family members who insulted him in the past. Montresor has no one to stop him because his plan is well executed and with no family member snooping around he will never get caught. The last thing Montresor says proves that he killed his family along with others. "In pace requiescat! This final phrase of Montresor's is significant, too. Now, indeed, the 'old rampart of family bones' can rest in peace." (Felheim et al. 300). These are the words Montresor tells Fortunato after he chained him to the rock. He implies that he killed his family members because his deranged mind craves revenge to the fullest extent. It did not matter that he was related to them, all that mattered was the revenge he would get on

them.
Montresor's incessant demand for revenge confirms that he is insane. He will manipulate anyone with reverse psychology if they stand in his way in order to obtain that revenge. This need for revenge simply stems from insults, whether they are meant as insults or not. Fortunato did not mean to offend Montresor, but it does not matter because Montresor took it the wrong way. All Fortunato wanted to know was if Montresor was a mason or not. Clearly this is not the first time Fortunato has gotten under Montresor's skin. Fortunato is not very fortunate when it comes to luck and dies a slow painful death in Montresor’s basement. Montresor is consumed with this need for revenge and will stop at nothing to get it. He has murdered many people, but in his insane mind, it was the right this to do. He will even murder his own family if they cross him. For fifty years Montresor has been sweeping the deaths of people under the rug and probably continue to do so if he feels insulted. Montresor is undoubtedly unhinged.