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Literary thesis statement of the cask of amontillado by edgar allan poe
Theme of cask of amontillado
Literary thesis statement of the cask of amontillado by edgar allan poe
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What is the definition of Insanity? Is getting revenge on a person the right thing to do? In this short story called “ The Cask of Amontillado ”, written by Edgar Allan Poe. The story is about a gentleman named Montresor who swore revenge on another gentleman named Fortunato by taking him to the catacombs of Montresor's family that was under their plazzo. So from understanding and reading the story, clearly Montresor is insane but he’s not completely insane. He still has some sane inside of himself. Within the story, Montresor is really losing his mind by showing that he wants to kill Fortunato but we the readers don’t know why he wants to kill him. In this passage, “ The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when
The Cask of Amontillado, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is a chilling story about two men named Fortunato and Montresor. The story begins with a narrator voicing his anger and resentment towards a man named Fortunato for “a thousand injuries” and insults. Our narrator sees Fortunato and lures him down into his vaults, or “catacombs,” on the premise of verifying that some wine is a certain type. Fortunato was already drunk, and had a cold. Eventually, the men reach a crypt, and the narrator chains Fortunato to the wall. Not stopping there, the narrator begins to trap him in the hole by filling it with bricks. Fortunato is quiet, until the hole is nearly filled, when he screams and then tells the narrator that it was a good joke. The narrator’s name is revealed to be Montresor. Montresor calmly takes the last brick and prepares to slide it into place, but stops and listens. All he hears are the jingling of bells. Then Montresor puts in the last brick, hence sealing Fotunato’s fate. There is chilling irony woven all throughout The Cask of Amontillado. It isn’t until the end of the story that we discover the tale took place fifty years before. Montresor’s vile deed’s motivation can be largely attributed to social class, fulfilling what he considered to be “just retribution” for the unnamed insult that was given him by Fortunato.
To some of the most fanatic and most creative Poe fans the question may arise: could I reproduce the great Edgar’s works? And if the answer is yes, then how? We might assume that Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most recognizable authors and poets not only of his age but of the whole modern literature, but still we would face numerous difficulties in trying to imitate his writing. Also, placing him into a certain style or literary movement would give us some really tough hours. Poe can be considered either a Romantic or Gothic writer but we could find a number of arguments and counterarguments for this matter. Poe, in fact, reinterpreted the whole Gothic horror style and created a unique, distinct brew of Gothic fiction, Romanticism and his own gloomy mind. On the basis of A Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart, we can deduct that despite the uniqueness of Poe’s works there are some recurring elements in Poe’s short-stories. Generally, if anyone wanted to write a Poesque short story, here are the ingredients: a fine case of murder, a big spoonful of madness and a pinch of revenge.
“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is a story of one man’s revenge on another. Montresor feels insulted by Fortunato for unspecified reasons. At the height of carnival season Montresor meets Fortunato and lures him to his death with the offer of a rare sherry. Fortunato reveals before his death that he is a Freemason but Montresor is not. Montresor is a Catholic. The Catholic Church deems Freemasons as heretics. This reveals the “insult” that Montresor has had to bare from Fortunato. It is Montresor’s duty to act as the hand of God and kill this heretic. Fortunato is foolish in his trust of Montresor, believing Montresor is his friend. Fortunato is consumed with his hedonistic lifestyle to the point of it leading him to his own death. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” symbolically conveys the anti-Masonic beliefs of the Catholic Church through Montresor’s murder of Fortunato, the heretic.
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
Edgar Allen Poe's, "The Cask Of Amontillado," is a between two enemies. It humorously portrays the foil of Fortunato, as he is led through the catacombs. Poe's humour is dark, sarcastic and very ironic, which quickly becomes a signpost of the tale. Poe sets himself apart from other authors in his works, based on how he depicts and encounters death. It accentuates the notion that at times, your worst enemy will appear as your best friend. Pride is the downfall of every man and the same can be said for witty and daring tale fortunato.
“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.
Montresor narrates that he had borne the thousand injuries of Fortunato as best he could. The reader is left unfortunately to imagine what these injuries could be. The tipping point in this relationship is also not explained. Fortunato has insulted Montresor and this he could not bear without revenge. We are introduced to this betrayal of Montresor by Fortunato, but we are left with no details to explain the cold and calculating plan of Montresor. Fortunato must have wounded Montresor greatly, yet he fails to give us enough or any information to allow the readers mind to prosecute Fortunato for his alleged crime against his friend. Montresor assumes the reader will understand his injury, and becomes not only the judge but the jury and executioner of Fortunato as well. The wounded pride of a man driving him to assault even a friend is not a new device developed by Edgar Allen Poe, but the little to no explanation given the reader by his central narrator is a little different. In the famous Burr and ...
Revenge can be an act of sanity or insanity. Insanity is a state of mind where a person lacks emotion and the ability for a higher level of thought. In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character, Montresor, murders Fortunato for insulting him. Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs under his mansion during Carnival in Italy with the promise of amontillado. Montresor walls Fortunato into a niche, thereby killing him. Montresor is sane because he is able to think of a plan to kill Fortunato and feel regret after the deed is done.
Revenge can be an act of sanity or insanity. Insanity is a state of mind where a person lacks emotion and the ability for a higher level of thought. Conversely, sanity is a state of being where a person is in complete control of their emotions and cognitive functions. In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character, Montresor, murders Fortunato for insulting him. Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs under his mansion during Carnival in Italy with the promise of Amontillado. Montresor walls Fortunato into a niche, thereby killing him. Montresor is sane because he is able to think of a plan to kill Fortunato and feel regret after the deed is done.
The greatest question is if Fortunato was the biggest fool to drunkenly trust Montresor, or if Montresor is the fool for overreacting. Although Montresor had his doubts that he must satisfy, murdering Fortunato over a single insult was hardly worth it. Montresor’s final wish that Fortunato rests in peace confirms that he would live to regret his decision. Even though Fortunato is the one that dies due to this dispute, and wasn’t nearly as fortunate as him name suggests, Montresor had to live at least fifty more years with this guilt; making Fortunato the freer character of the two despite is eternal confinement.
Maybe Montresor is giving us his prideful details of how he got away with the perfect murder. Revealing to us that Montresor revenge was nothing more than a twisted plot of a psychopath "Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by deficits in personality and behavior. Personality deficits are marked by interpersonal and affective facets, including pathological lying, grandiose sense of self-worth, lack of remorse and callousness." (Thompson) . Montresor presents with three of the signs necessary to have a diagnosis antisocial behavior. According to Mayo Clinic, One of the symptoms is using charm or wit manipulate others for personal gain or sheer pleasure. Montresor proclaims that he smiles in Montresor 's face to hide his intention but "my smile now was at the thought of his immolation" (Poe), and he also states that " I was so pleased to him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand." two instances in the story where it could be interpreted as one of the symptoms. Another symptom is "Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others"(Mayo). The whole story of Montresor having a cask of Amontillado is predicated on a lie and almost everything he said to Fortunato was a lie from his intent on finding Luchresi to bring him to the wine to his outlandish lie about being a Mason..The last symptom that would make Montresor a
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.
Montresor in "The Cask of Amontillado" is similar to the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" in that his obsession with consuming the soul of Fortunato influences his every action. However, it is with Fortunato himself that he is obsessed. He feeds off of Fortunato's pain, unlike the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" who's obsession is with destroying a menacing inanimate object. Montresor's entire conspiracy is focused around making Fortunato suffer, and for him to know just who is causing this suffering. This is why he goes to such lengths to put together this intricate strategy. It could have been so much easier to kill Fortunato in some easier, quicker way. Instead, he dedicates himself to torturing Fortunato. He creates a plan that leads Fortunato into the depths of the catacombs beneath his home, and kills him in an excruciating manner.
The first indirect factor that could contribute to Montresor’s vengeful act, and thus the story’s theme of revenge, is the character of Montresor. Montresor tends to harbor feelings of resentment and has a hard time not taking things out of context (Womack). He also plans the murder of Fortunato in advance and devises it in such a way that he will not be caught. In killing Fortunato, Montreso...
Some people would like to think that just because you kill somebody, it does not make you a bad person or insane. That is not the case. If you can get so mad over something that you are going to take a life, there is something wrong going on in your mind. You obviously cannot think for yourself to make good rational decisions. In this story Montresor,who is insane, never shows any remorse, never reveals a good reason for why he is mad at Fortunato, and never, even after half a century, thinks his desire for vengeance is excessive or abnormal.