The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe Comp. Questions “The Cask of Amontillado” is a chilling story, but Poe also uses humorous elements as the narrator recounts his experience with Fortunato. One part in the story that I found to be humorous was the part how Fortunato and Montresor’s friendship was still existing, even though Fortunato had hurt him so many times. Another humorous element in the story was when Montresor continued to smile in Fortunato’s face, and he had not understood that Montresor was smiling at the thought of what he had planned for him, which was his revenge. Also, Fortunato has no idea what he is going into and keeps drinking the Medoc. The humor adds entertainment to the story. When the story is entertaining it convinces the …show more content…
reader from reading further and further. Although I have read many short stories in the past, at the moment, I am unable to think of any horrendous and humorous stories. 2. “The Cask of Amontillado” uses a first-person narrator, and sometimes, first person narrators can be unreliable. I think that the narrator is unreliable because he does not know what Fortunato was thinking and how he was feeling at the same time Montresor experienced the moment. I think that if he was able to convince Fortunato into the vault, then he may be lying and he cannot be trusted if he didn’t kill Fortunato. I think that there may be a possibility that the narrator may be manipulating the truth, because there might be a possibility that Fortunato hadn’t died yet, and maybe the narrator wanted to get the story over with to end it immediately with such a sudden and horrendous ending. I would describe the narrator’s attitude toward himself and his actions as evil. I think that he and his actions are evil because he tried to murder Fortunato by making him drink the Medco. When Montresor and Fortunato went into the innermost vault, Montresor chained Fortunato to the stone wall. 3. Although the narrator seems to assume that his actions are justified, he certainly can be interpreted as a villain. The narrator makes him an effective villain because of the way he thinks and his murderous and deadly strategic plans. One villain that I thought of was Robbie from the television show, “Lazy Town.” One aspect of the narrator that I found “likeable” was his humor and his sneakiness when he said he continued smiling at Fortunato but Fortunato didn’t understand that he was smiling at the thought Montresor had planned for his revenge.
4. The narrator never specifies why he hates Fortunato. Instead, he states only that Fortunato caused “a thousand injuries” to the narrator and eventually “ventured upon insult.” My general impression of Fortunato is gullibility. He believes in Montresor because of his addiction to alcohol and wine. Although he hates Montresor, his love for wine convinces him to go to the vault with Montresor. When Montresor first states that he bought a full cask of a find wine called Amontillado, Fortunato says, “‘Amontillado! Quite impossible.’” When he first says this, I first felt that he was worthy of hatred because if he was unsure if Montresor actually had the Amontillado, then he shouldn’t have said anything. I do not think that any of Fortunato’s words and actions refute the narrator’s belief that Fortunato is worthy of hatred. However, Montresor’s strategy of revenge for all the injuries he had caused by Fortunato was evil, and he never explains what the “injuries”
were. 5. Every story must exist in a certain time and place, and we refer to the time and place of a story as the “setting.” The setting of “The Cask Of Amontillado” changes as the story progresses when Montresor leads Fortunato deeper and deeper into the vaults. I think that Poe chose to bring together this type of setting of the story to make is feel more intense and attracting for the reader. Also, the setting makes the story more entertaining and horrendous. The elements of the setting in this story that I would consider typical of a horror story is the darkness and the echoing of the characters’ voices when the speak. It is unusual how Fortunato allowed Montresor to lock him up in the stone wall and leaving him there along until he passed out. Also, if Fortunato had hated on Montresor, maybe he should’ve thought about it before listening to a person he hates and following them into a dark vault that he’s never been to before. 6. “Theme” can be defined as “a comment about the human condition that a writer makes through his or her work,” and a theme or themes are often what make a work of literature relevant to all of our lives. One theme from TCOA is that you should never listen to a person that you’ve never learned to get along with. If the person who hate acknowledges the fact that you hate them, they might do something in return for their hatred. Second, always think carefully before you take action. Sometimes you might do something that you haven’t thought about carefully and you might regret it. At the moment, I am unable to think of another story that has a similar theme with this story.
He gives very little information about Fortunato, past that he is a wine connoisseur. There is no mention of what Fortunato does for leisure, his family, or even his job. In fact, the only details the reader receives on Fortunato paint him as a fool, with his costume, his drunken attitude, and obliviousness Montresor is focuses on the facts that make Fortunato look bad; he not only wants Fortunato dead but he also wants Fortunato’s name discredited. Montresor tells the reader even less about himself because there is no background to who Montresor is, what he does, or even what kind of contact he has with Fortunato. The only true details of Montresor that are given must be implied and give a sense of intelligence. In addition, he gives little to no details about the carnival, such as where it was, why the carnival was happening, or even why he chose this particular day to enact his plan. From these details, or lack of details, it seems Montresor doesn’t want his audience to know this information. The audience is supposed to simply look at Fortunato a fool and Montresor a genius, the harbinger of death. The facts such as who these people were, the time, or the setting are not important to Montresor’s focus in the
In the Cask of Amontillado, our narrator’s situation is one he is quite happy being in. Our narrator is Montresor, an Italian man rich with pride, and you quickly learn through his narration that he is intelligent, conniving, and extremely sinister. Throughout the story, everything Montresor does is motivated by one thing, his own thirst for vengeance. Montresor explains his actions are a result of Fortunato constantly abusing him and finally going too far, but he never explains anything Fortunato has done to insult him. When we meet Fortunato, he is extremely friendly towards Montresor, albeit a little intoxicated, so much that he makes Montresor’s story of “a thousand injuries” seem unbelievable (Cask 1). Compared to Gilman’s narrator whose spiral out of control was triggered by her forced seclusion from the outside world, it seems that Montresor’s insanity come from inside his own head. There is no evidence that suggest any attempts by Fortunato to belittle or insult Montresor in any way. I believe that Montresor may have been jealous of Fortunato’s success in life, and that is what drove him to vengeance. For example, on their way to the catacombs Fortunato makes a hand gesture of the Masons, a secret brotherhood, which Montresor doesn’t understand. Fortunato ask if Montresor is a Mason and for him to prove it, and Montresor lies and shows his trowel (Cask 5). This proves that
Throughout the story, Montresor does not justify his reasons for committing murder. He does not disclose anything about the “thousand injuries” (250) done to him by Fortunato, nor does he even reveal the details of the supposed injuries that drove him to vow revenge. Montresor’s family motto, “nemo me impune lacessit” which means “no one insults me with impunity” (252), indicate that Montresor only killed Fortunato to protect his family’s
According to Montresor, Fortunato committed “a thousand injuries” against him, but it was Fortunado’s insult against Montresor that fueled Montresor’s hatred enough to commit what is the ultimate crime against another person; the crime of death. The opening paragraph of The Cask of Amontillado says,
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.
Fortunato’s immolation was not spontaneous as Montresor had been planning his revenge. This tells us that he is cunning as he strategically sets up Fortunato for his death. He had designed every detail so that he would be alone with Fo...
Poe's, The Cask of Amontillado is a story about fear and revenge. The story begins with Montressor's vow of revenge, foreshadowing future actions. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult vowed revenge..." Montressor had to be sure not to raise suspicion of what he was going to do Fortunato. Montressor knew that Fortunato had a weakness that he could use towards his advantage.
Montresor takes full advantage of the fact that Fortunato has a soft spot for fine wines. Montresor seeing that the only opportunity that he would have to exert revenge would be when wine is to be drunk in surplus decides to wait until the Carnival Season. We are told of one evening during the season when Montresor invites Fortunato over to his place. The major reason for the invite is to have Fortunato taste a sample of sherry that he had acquired to ascertain if the s...
The major theme in the story is the deep hatred buried within the outwardly congenial Montresor. This makes it vital that the story be told with Montresor's thoughts known to the reader. The tale simply would not work if it were told from Fortunato's point of view, or from a dramatic/objective angle. An omniscient view would function, but by knowing only Montresor's thoughts the reader develops a trust in him, and this causes the story's theme to have a more personal effect on the reader.
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a dark piece, much like other works of Edgar Allan Poe, and features the classic unreliable narrator, identified by himself only as Montresor. This sinister central character is a cold ruthless killer that is particularly fearsome because he views murder as a necessity and kills without remorse. Montresor is a character who personifies wickedness. Poe uses this character and his morally wrong thoughts and actions to help the reader identify with aspects of the extreme personage, allowing them to examine the less savory aspects of their own. The character of Montresor detailing the glorious murder he committed is a means of communicating to the reader that vengeance and pride are moral motivators that lead to treacherous deeds and dark thoughts.
and his family, Montresor retaliated by plotting to kill him. Montresor thought of Fortunato as a
In the opening lines Montresor explains what Fortunato has done to him: ?he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge?(75. The next line Montresor explains that he did not threaten him back and he did not reply to the threats. It was not in Montresor?s nature to do return the threat, ?You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat?(75).
Edgar Allan Poe is one of greatest American authors and poets. He is well-known as a master of using irony in his story. “The Cask of Amontillado” is a horror story about revenge of Montresor upon Fortunato. Fortunato believes Montresor is his good friend, but he ends up with being chained and walled in to the catacombs. There are three types of irony used in this short story: verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Using these ironies, Poe wants the readers to understand about Montresor’s “friendship” with Fortunato.
Fortunato is depicted from the outset of the tale as arrogant and egotistical. Montressor begins his narration by saying, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge" (240). Though the exact nature of the insult is not made known, there are numerous examples of subtle slights by Fortunato throughout the narrative. Perhaps Fortunato is unaware that his comments are frequently demeaning but his remarks make him seem arrogant and uncaring. Early in the story, he indicates his belief that Montressor is not a true connoiss...
The story begins with, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” Montresor cites what must have been in his mind, the ultimate betrayal imaginable, at least in his mind. A betrayal that