The Cask Of Amontillado Essay

The Case of Amontallido
In a psychological perspective, the author’s life is linked with the behavior and motivations of characters in the story. The author’s name is Edgar Allan’s Poe who portrayed his self in his writing. The miserable life of Poe can be measured through “The Cask of Amontillado” in which character named “Montressor” showed indifferent feeling towards his victim. After burying Fortunado alive, Montressor felt bad after burying his victim alive but then he attributes the feeling of guilt to the damp catacombs. To the character and to the author, it seems that ghastly nature murder and the immoral approach of treachery is merely an element of reality. This story is a true representation of author’s anguish and torment nature.

Perhaps, he wanted to alleviate his depression by literally burying it and the defense mechanism name as “sublimation” is been used in order to convert his own harmful wishes into safe actions i.e., writing. It is also proved through his alcoholism because he intakes it due to higher level of depression in order to alleviate the symptoms. Another psychological issue which arises in the writing is the description of revenge which evolves from pride and envy. This story is a reflection of his personality, in which the character of Montressor was so engrossed in the thought of taking revenge from his victim that he did not even define the precise reason behind his revenge. The idea of assassinate someone only for one’s own arrogance and resentment makes us remember the time when the very first person came to the earth. In her article, Renee utters that when the thought of vengeance build up in an individual’s brain, it coerces him insane and does not tolerate him to present it a second thought. The first sentence of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge,” clearly describes the whole theme of the story as a deeply enrooted revenge in Montresor’s mind” which is an absolute portrayal of retribution that occurs due to arrogance and jealousy. Author sees himself as a superior individual and was victimized by a superiority complex which is quite visible through the phrases which he wrote in the story that Montressor expresses superiority as showed his victim as a foolish person by attributing weird physical appearance and dress appearance in which he described his dress code of “tight fitting parti striped dress and head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.”