The Cask Of Amontillado Literary Analysis

Imagine a slow building mountain with each step only a few inches added to its height. It may be small at first but over time it would become this giant over-arching monolith pervading the land. Now, imagine the thousand injuries afflicted against Montresor by Fortunato. See that with each injury inflicted a mountain slowly built inside the mind of Montresor. That is until, one day, it put him right up to the edge of a cliff, and the next insult taken by Montresor at the hands of Fortunato would be the last step to send Montresor down a perilous slope of deep-seated revenge. Yes that is much the way it is for Montresor in the beginning of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado. Poe saw how humanity took the idea of revenge as something that

Should we assume that Poe’s text, The Cask of Amontillado, is no more than Poe’s own personal repertoire on revenge then near the beginning a thesis should be found. At the end of the introductory first paragraph we find Poe’s own rule to revenge. “It (a wrong) is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.” Now, disregarding the literal implication this has on Fortunato at the end of the story- think about the personal implications this has on any victim of the revenge. In the story Montresor is a prideful fellow, coming from a fairly wealthy family and desired to inflict revenge because of petty insults? Montresor must have something else pushing him to commit such a heinous crime. You see Montresor was all alone, noting how the Montresors “were a great and numerous family (page 6).” It is only stated that he ever only had one friend in the entire story, Fortunato (page 3). Meanwhile, Fortunato had already been married and engaged in happy celebration in the time of Mardi-Gras. Montresor was envious of his friend desiring the one thing that kept them separate, a social life. Due to this and due to such a clear reflection between the two of what inhabited the rest of their lives he could not bear any longer the separation. The needing to feel a whole connection with him that he inflicted the literal version of his pain of

In the second paragraph it is established how they already share their fine tastes for wine with one another both making sure to indulge in all the fine vintages. Fortunato is also noted to be a man that demands respect and fear, implying that he is a man with quite a bit of fortune, the fiscal kind not so much of the fate. Montresor can connect with him on this as well he comes from quite noble stature. “You are rich, respected, admired, beloved, you are happy, as once I was (page 5-6).” The two come from the same economic caste share the same obsession with wines; they are truly alike in a big enough manor to have the ability of being great friends. This draws the question, why did Montresor want to hurt him so? Montresor saw himself in Fortunato; he also saw what he desired the most in him as well. Montresor saw Fortunato slowly becoming more and more refined of the high life that he saw the mirror to himself, his friend, fading away; he could not handle it and chained him up. In preserving his friend he had forever made his own prideful reflection. A once rich and powerful man, chained away in solace behind a brick wall (his castle), and surrounded by the death of his once vast