Is murder necessary when seeking revenge on someone? Montresor thinks so in Edgar Allan Poe's dark, twisted 1846 tale "The Cask of Amontillado." Written from the murderous perspective of the protagonist Montresor is a short story about revenge, betrayal, and death. The narrator begins the story by telling the reader that a conflict has ensued between the Montresor and the antagonist Fortunato. Although he is unaware, Fortunato has insulted Montresor. Due to this grave insult, Montresor has vowed to seek revenge on Fortunato. On a night of celebration, Montresor promises Fortunato a taste of the wine Amontillado which lies in his family’s catacombs. He guides a drunk and gullible Fortunato through a series of chambers beneath the palazzo. When reaching to the final chamber, Fortunato awaits his fate, which is being buried alive in the catacombs. Due to his intense desire to seek …show more content…
For example, on their way to the catacombs, Fortunato asks about Montresor's family motto and crest. "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel." Poe is simply trying to say that Fortunato is the serpent biting on Montresor's heel which stands for the grave insult that was caused by Fortunato. The heel crushing the serpents head is Montresor seeking revenge on Fortunato. Montresor's family motto "Nemo me impune lacessit" means no one provokes me with impunity. Montresor is saying that no one will act against him without worry or punishment. Both the family crest and motto have elements of revenge in the story. Another example is at the end of the story when Montresor finishes the deed and feels no remorse of burying Fortunato alive. "For the half of a century no one has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!" This simply tells the reader that Montresor was content that he got his revenge and got away with murder. He did not tell his story until over a century
One of the most horrifying lines in the story is given by Montresor after Fortunato says, “I will not die of a cough” (Baym ). Montresor says, “True— true....” (Baym ). It seems that Montresor 's murder plot became subconsciously manifest in those two words. Dramatic irony is irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the story (“dramatic-irony”) and Poe uses this effectively in this story. For example, Montresor expresses concern about Fortunato and says, "Come, I said, with decision, we will go back; your health is
In conclusion, Montresor is a very unique and demented character. This story strongly represents three characteristics that Montresor possesses. Montresor’s cleverness is the reason he can irony and detail to the situation. His determination is the driving force for all of his actions in the story. Finally, Montresor’s cruelty is what makes him a one-of-a-kind character with a unique course of action. All of these traits are what answer the question of who is
Montressor had said “In pace requiescat!”, but rest in peace Fortunato did not. As Fortunato took his last breath he heard Montressor yell his name and then leave. A strange sensation then came over Fortunato and he could sense the energy flowing out of him, a rising feeling held him above the ground as he became a restless spirit. He thought to himself “Why am I not allowed to go? What must be keeping me here?”, and then recalled that it was Montressor that had done this to him, Montressor that had led him into the vaults and then sealed him up to die of pneumonia. Revenge, that was what had drove Montressor to murder, and what was keeping Fortunato in the mortal world. Fortunato realized that he must find Montressor, and exact his revenge before he would be able to pass over. And down there, in the deepest, darkest vault, he planned his revenge.
No matter how well executed, a crime of this magnitude will leave scars on the conscience, thus marring it’s perfection. Conflicting psychological emotions and actions plague the journey causing inner conflict ranging between pity and revulsion by the time the narrator concludes. Notwithstanding the shortage of information on Montresor’s life in the ensuing fifty years since Fortunato’s death; it can be surmised from the events leading to the murder that Montresor does, in fact, have a conscience and that it builds upon itself as the action
In "Cask of Amontillado", Montresor is the narrator. "The thousand of injuries of Fortunato he has borne as he best could; but when he ventures upon insult, Montresor vows revenge" (Poe 528). As the story unfolds, "Montresor's idea of perfect revenge" is "characteristically precise and logical in detail" as to how he commits his crime (Delaney 1).
In The Cask of Amontillado, the theme of revenge is established at the start of the story, when the narrator states that he suffered irreversible insult by his associate, Fortunato, thus he vowed to avenge this action. This is evident in the following statement in the opening paragraph of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 7). Therefore, it is apparent to the reader from the onset of the story that revenge is a major driving force for Montresor for him to dreadfully murder his acquaintance,...
With a premeditated motive to commit such an act, the culprit, Montressor, thinks, constructs and orchestrates a presumed murder against his insulter, Fortunado. “Poe begins by describing, in characteristically precise and logical detail, Montresor’s (and Poe’s) idea of perfect revenge. At the same time, he needed to end his story by telling how his revenge had affected him. When Fortunatosays, “For the love of god, Montresor!” and Montresor repeats, “Yes, for the love of God,” Poe is indicating that Montresor is already experiencing the closure he sought”(Delaney 39) Unbeknownst why he wants retribution, or what it is that his victim has done to compel Montressor to kill him. What is given is a recount of the night under discussion.
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.”
The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe describes how Montresor confesses the sequence of his well-designed or nearly flawless murder or revenge against Fortunato due to he is a threat to him. In his confession of a perfect crime, Montresor, who “vowed revenge” because of Fortunato’s “thousand injuries,” first say that his “heart grew sick” and then immediately add, “ it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so because he believes Fortunato insults him many times that his hatred against him become bigger and bigger. This makes him cannot stand for Fortunato’s behavior anymore as well as the setting completely makes everything prefect as he believes Fortunato deserves the punishment. The nature and family hold a significant role
Eyewitness testimony is defined as, “an area of research that investigates the accuracy of memory following an accident, crime, or other significant event, and the types of errors that are commonly made in such situations.” Much emphasis is placed on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony as often-inaccurate eyewitness testimony can have serious consequences leading to wrong convictions. Eyewitness testimony is a powerful tool within any field, particularly that of justice, as it is a readily accepted form of evidence that allows for convictions. However, Tests conducted by Loftus have shown an enormous swing from a non-guilty verdict, to guilty within the same case, simply through the introduction of an eyewitness. This alone displays the importance of eyewitness testimony, and accentuates the theory that jurors tend to over believe, or at least rely heavily on such accounts.
She states that “the reader is perplexed by a seeming absence of the motive for this crime” (Baraban 47). Therefore, she poses two arguments, the first one is that Montresor was getting revenge against Fortunato for insulting him. The problem is that the audience does not know what extent the insults were, which leads the audience to wonder if the insults were either said jokingly or actually addressed towards Montresor and his family. The second argument that Baraban poses is when she states “instead, Montresor maliciously subverts his role as a repentant sinner when he says “In pace requiescat!” (Baraban 57). The second argument that Baraban is raising is that he was insane by depriving Fortunato of his last confession and using the phrase “In pace requiescat!” against Fortunato. Rather than being on his death bed, he was actually gleaming and boosting his crime to someone because he felt proud of the crime that he committed. However, according to Hirsch “Montresor must make the crime public, not to confess his guilt, but to finish what was began so many years before” (Hirsch 4). This means that Montresor was never boosting his crime to someone, but what he was doing was simply trying to finish the last criteria that he needed to do in order to complete the act of
“The thousand injuries of Fortunato” (Poe) cut Montresor deeply and to the extension of capital punishment. “The reader has no way of knowing what these ‘thousand injuries’ and the mysterious insults are thus can make no judgment whether Montresor’s revenge is justifiable” (50 Baraban). All the reader knows is that Montresor vowed revenge upon Fortunato because he could take
Montresor drops frequent hints and insults to Fortunato as if he is giving him a chance to comprehend his plan. At the climax, Fortunato never considers turning back until it is too late. Montresor chains Fortunato inside an upright casket the depts of the catacomb. Montresor builds a wall of
Edgar allen poe does not portray remorse until the very end of fortunato’s life when he says “May he rest in peace.” (p. 238 ) “Nemo me impune lacessit.” means no one attacks me with impunity.(p.238) The meaning is a severe sign that fortunato is in danger but the reader does not know what the family motto actually means. The motto is a symbol of control. Without this motto fortunato would not have been killed and montresor would not feel obligated to kill him. Montresor being controlled by the family motto is a sign of control like the control montresor has over fortunato Fortunato thinks practically nothing of montresor he talks bad about his “friend” and imitates his intelligence Without fortunato being rude to him he would not have been killed.
The major characteristics of the narrator and main character, Montresor, are anger, hatred, and revenge. In the story, he is angry with Fortunato because he believes that Fortunato has wronged and insulted him many times by saying, “thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could…he ventured upon insult…” (Poe). In addition, Montresor’s hatred for Fortunato goes so far that he believes he must kill Fortunato. He mentions this in the story as, “[y]ou, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe). He seems to say that his soul is made of hatred and goes on to say he must give Fortunato the utmost punishment: death. Montresor even shows traits of revenge when he says, “…but when [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” and “...I would be avenged…” (Poe). He is saying that he will get revenge on Fortunato, whom he is angry with and hates for being insulted by.