“I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.” (1). This quote comes from “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe. In the story, Montressor (the narrator of the story) talks about how he murdered his once good friend Fortunato. He tells all about how he tricked the previously mentioned Fortunato into his vaults and finally how he walled him in and left him to die. Yet he had managed to keep Fortunato trusting in him so much that he didn’t even comprehend what Montressor was doing until it was too late. Not only had he essentially brainwashed Fortunato into believing he was a good friend, but he had it all planned out, so it seemed. Montressor knew from …show more content…
the start what he was doing and how he was going to do it. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best i could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” (1). Montressor murdered Fortunato because he had made fun of his name, understandably he would be a bit angry, but the punishment doesn’t really fit the crime here. Montressor, along with a brilliant (and more than a little bit unstable) mind, accomplished his mission because he was so calculating, manipulative, and vengeful. As brilliant as he was, Montressor’s calculating nature played a big part in his murderous plans.
“There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.”(2). Throughout the story you see many very calculated actions on Montressor’s part, such as this quote. He knew from the start that he was likely to run into Fortunato at the carnival and knew that if he convinced him to return home with him he couldn’t afford to have any witnesses. He knew the nature of his servants and how they acted when he turned away so what better way to get them out of the house than to allow them to believe he was gone for the night. He also had a story planned out to get Fortunato (who was a wine connoisseur) back to his cellar, should he run into him, “‘My dear fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts…’”(1). Not only did he hook him with the idea of Amontillado and finding out if it was fake or not, but he continued on with little baits to keep Fortunato interested such as referencing another, possibly lesser, connoisseur who he can ask to verify the Amontillado, “‘As you are engaged, I am on my way to …show more content…
Luchresi. If anyone has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell me-” “Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from sherry.’”(1). However these are not only calculating actions, but they’re also very manipulative, which is another very important trait of Montressor. He has many baits that are very manipulative, not just the previously mentioned Luchresi, or even bringing up Amontillado in the first place. Another hook he used was continually talking about Fortunato’s health, “‘we will go back; your health is precious’…”(2), “‘My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold which I perceive you are afflicted.’”(2). For a man who obviously has much pride, it is understandable that every time Montressor brings up the idea of going back it fuels Fortunato on even further. He didn’t want to abandon the cask of Amontillado just because of a simple cough. Montressor also continues to feed Fortunato wine to keep him drunk. Likely to keep him from getting suspicious, considering people who drink usually have a completely different mindset, Fortunato’s may be a calmer mindset. Not only that, it also made it easier for Montressor to tie Fortunato up because he was too out of it to realize what was even happening. Another extremely manipulative action is just the way Montressor acts towards Fortunato. Montressor even says on the first page, It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.”(1). This already says that although he hated Fortunato, he still manipulated him and allowed him to believe they were friends. He didn’t just ruin Fortunato, he made him believe Montressor was someone who he was close to, someone who cared about him, and then shattered him when it was too late to leave. It’s easy enough to see how manipulative Montressor is, but his reasoning behind killing Fortunato shows just how vengeful he is. The entire reason Montressor killed Fortunato was because he had insulted him.
“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed my revenge.” (1). Now, it doesn’t say in the story how bad the insult was, but even still murder doesn’t quite fit the crime. Montressor planned step by step the murder of a once close friend just because he insulted him. Not only did he kill Fortunato though, it was a very violent death he had planned. He led him away from the carnival (while he was sick) and took him down to the damp, moldy cellar (again, he was sick) where he chained him up and built a wall sealing him in. This means that if he didn’t suffocate, he would have likely died of dehydration, and the illness would have made it so much more painful. If that doesn’t spell out vengeful then think about this, Fortunato still thought of Montressor as a friend up until this point. As painful as it is to be harmed by someone you dislike or don’t know, to be taken advantage of and harmed by a close, trusted friend is one of the worst
feelings. So Montressor is not only a bad person, he is calculated, manipulative, and vengeful. But then, someone would probably have to be to pull something like this. From kicking the servants out without telling them to leave, to acting worried about his health, to walling him up, it was definitely a brilliant plan, as evil as it was.
It is constantly seen that people take revenge on each other in the real world so it comes to no surprise that Montresor is taking revenge on Fortunato. Specifically in this story Montresor will feel better if he “not only punish but punish with impunity” (108 Poe). But further on what I found to even more realistic was that this wasn’t normal revenge, this was pure mastermind torture. Montresor knew that Fortunato was sick with Montresor saying “…but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted”(109 Poe) regarding that he didn’t want Fortunato to come down to his vaults, but Montresor true intentions were wanting Fortunato to fight Montresor request of not coming, and it worked. Montresor also knew how well Fortunato was at differencing wine “I was silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter” (109 Poe). By Montresor exploiting Fortunato’s sickness and skill of wines, Montresor knew that he could get Fortunato in the vaults where he could execute his revenge. At a first glance this may not seem lifelike because there’s an assumption to be made that people aren’t this immoral. But the truth is that the revenge that Montresor conducted is seen constantly in our culture. It’s undeniably real of the monstrosity that was made by Montresor when comparing it to the wicked
I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned." Montresor must have been planning this for months, he has put everything into place to ensure he gets his revenge with no consequences. He waited until carnival so the whole city would be loud, knowing that it is carnival he knew Fortunato would be fairly intoxicated making him easily persuadable. Also because he knew it would be carnival he knew everyone would be dressed up and incognito so no one could ever identify him to keep himself innocent. But before all of that he went down through the catacombs and laid out a special area for what would be
Montresor is a man who feels pride in himself and in his family, so when Fortunato—an acquaintance of Montresor— “venture[s] upon insult,” Montresor “vow[s] revenge” against him (1). Montresor hastily decides that he must kill Fortunato, even though his use of the word “venture” implies that Fortunato had not yet insulted him, but nearly did. Montresor’s impulsive need for revenge causes him to formulate a plan to murder his acquaintance. He keeps Fortunato intoxicated by “presenting him…[with] wine,” he “fetter[s] him to the granite,” and he “plaster[s] up… [a wall of] new masonry” to trap Fortunato in the catacombs (39, 71, 89). All of these acts are signs that the need for revenge has made Fortunato insane. A person who has any sense of morals would not commit crimes such as Montresor’s. His impetuous decision to exact revenge caused him to lose his
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
This man, Montresor is cunning and manipulative, as he'll get what he wants through trickery or deception. Montresor is sly because he notes that Fortunato is proud for being such a renowned wine connoisseur; therefore he utilizes this exploit to lure him into his trap. And so, Montresor appealed to his confidence of wine expertise by saying, “'As you're engaged I am on the way to Luchesi.' ”(133) This stirs up Fortunato's pride and makes him offer to check Montresor's amontillado instead of Luchesi, his supposed rival in wine expertise. Additionally, he plans the date of his murder on the carnival so Fortunato would be drunk as well as being inconspicuous to wear a mask and a costume so nobody would be able to identify the person that went off with Fortunato. When Fortunato arrives at the vault he makes a scene where he seems genuinely caring and toasts him, “'And I to your long life.' ”(135) The irony is that Fortunato won't have to wait long before his demise and that Montresor only said it to advert suspicion from Fortunato. He managed to trick Fortunato until the very end which proves how clever he is.
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.
Edger Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” talks about how Montressor feels like he was insulted by his friend Fortunato. Also Montressor’s family motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit.”(Allan Poe 362), which means “No one insults me with impunity.”, and Montressor doesn’t want to let his family motto down so he uses it as a reason and make his revenge on Fortunato as a goal that has to be accomplished. Montressor tricks his friend Fortunato which was drunk at the moment, by asking him to follow him to his house and to check an expensive wine that he just purchased to be sure that he didn’t get tricked. Fortunato follows Montressor to his house and went down to the down stairs of Montressor’s house. When they get to the catacombs, Montressor chains up Fortunato and places him in a niche in the wall, and started to build a brick wall leaving him sealed inside to die in the catacombs.
By vowing revenge, methodically planning and following through with such a meticulous plan, and the feelings of guilt and remorse fifty years after the fact, Montressor shows that he planned the murder step by step, and proves that he is sane. Montressor premeditates the murder from vowing revenge to having the tools in the catacombs ready and waiting. Montressor vows revenge, but not just revenge, he vows that at length he will be avenged. Montressor states, "That neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good-will (Poe 563). " Montressor shows with this statement that he has the capability of knowing what he has premeditated is wrong.
Montresor proves not to mess with someone's feeling. He explains, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (Poe 372). Fortunato does not know that he is going to die, yet Montresor and the reader do know, making the situation dramatic irony. By punishing him with impunity he is going to get revenge that he has wanted now for years ever since he did wrong to Montresor and now that he finally gets the chance of course he will seek revenge on Fortunato. And it is dramatic irony because Fortunato is oblivious to the situation. Montresor proves that one should be careful on what they say. He speaks, “I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 372). Montresor is saying
Hoping to obtain revenge, Montresor, the narrator, lures Fortunato, one of his friends, into the depths of his catacombs to be murdered. Montresor says, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge"(149). This is the first line in the story, and this is why Montresor seeks revenge. There is no explanation of the insults that Montresor received, so the reader may infer that Montresor is just lying. The insults that were received could possibly be just outdoing in the business arena. Montresor might be using that excuse for his desire to kill Fortunato, because he may be killing Fortunato out of jealousy. Montresor is likely telling this story to a family member, friend, or his doctor while lying on his deathbed. Montresor says, "…your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter."(150). Montresor just admitted that he knows Fortunato is better than he. Montresor may have been under the influence of jealousy. Redd 4 There are different theories to ...
History shows us that people have always struggled with emotions. In Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado", the reader is told that Montresor has been wronged by Fortunato. In the story , Fortuanto is tricked by Montresor to go into the catacombs below his house. Once in the catacombs Montresor kills Fortuanto in a slow painful death. The fact that Fortuanto is foolish foolish, a jester, and oblivious, he is an easy target for Montresor.
It was only an instant before he felt okay with the horrible act of murdering Fortunato. “For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat” (Poe 240). Rest in peace is what he says to Fortunato, which is ironic because it is not a peaceful way to die being buried alive and drunk. Montresor kills Fortunato, and he satisfied with what he has
The incentives that the narrator named Montresor had to plot revenge against Fortunato were not justified. Montresor only insinuated through a vague description that Fortunato had “hurt him a thousand times and he suffered quietly, until he laughed at the Montresor name”. This was stated in the first few paragraphs of the story. Montresor was able to stay vague of the pain Fortunato had caused him and not provided detail due to the fact that he played the first-person narrator. This can provide heavy bias and can be seen as an unreliable source.
From the very beginning, the narrator, Montresor, clears up the reason for his grudge against “Fortunato,” whom he wants to murder in a cruel way, which ‘punishes with impunity’. According to the narrator, it does not make sense to make up for a wrong if the enemy is given the possibility to defend himself. Montresor must show no mercy when committing this evil deed. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” one evening, during a Carnival party, Montresor persuades the drunken Fortunato to go to the vault of the Palace to check if he has really bought the Spanish wine, “Amontillado.”