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Thematic idea of the cask of amontillado
Theme of revenge in the cask of amontillado
Thematic idea of the cask of amontillado
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Usually any object, name, place, or thing symbolizes something else besides its original significance. For example a skull can represent danger or warn anyone that something can harm them or be deadly. Dramatic Irony, an unexpected activity that occurs from the expected outcome, is used in the story. Verbal Irony, a twist in words that shifts the meaning to an opposite direction is also used in “The Cask of Amontillado”. For example watching the downpour rain and stating “Great day for a picnic, right? Being verbally ironic can also be described as being sarcastic towards something or to make fun of anyone. This is used to catch the reader’s attention and add a little suspense to the story. These two combinations of Ironic and Symbolic examples are used in the story.
In the story, Montresor, a young man with pride is offended by his so called best friend Fortunato. It is unknown what Fortunato did to Montresor or in what way montresor was offended, but it upset him so much that he seeked revenge to satisfy himself. It may not have been something so serious because Fortunato was a foolish man who probably joked about everything and didn’t mean to offend him. His intentions might have been to play around and enjoy a joke, but instead Montresor took it very serious. Montresor holds his family motto to be “’Nemo me impune lacessit.’” (Poe22). Which in English translates to “nobody harms me without being punished” Says Lorcher. This motto says a lot from him and his family it shows that he’s vengative and won’t forgive you for your mistakes. This also means if you do something to him he will have to get you back. At the end of the story Montresor does punish Fortunato by chaining
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him up against the wall and build...
... middle of paper ...
...oquelaire a trowel.”(Poe23) because he’s prepared and plans to build the stone wall where Fortunato will die.
A Bright hub editor suggests that the “carnival season lends the story it’s fantastic nature, a nature trumped only by the madness of Montresor’s revenge.”
Montresor’s anger was probably sensed in the carnival by the people surrounding him and even if the carnival was meant to celebrate and enjoy a good time. There was no way Montresor would forgive and forget Fortunato.
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Throughout the story symbolism and Irony are both used to have the readers figure out what each object really represents instead of its original significance. And to see how verbal Irony is used and how its sarcastic towards the situation of Fortunato being punished by Montresor. Its mainly concentrated on Montresors Revenge of killing Fortunato.
Montresor must trick and manipulate Fortunato to accomplish his goal of revenge. He tells Fortunato the reason he is at the ...
Montresor wants to get revenge on people who make him mad, such as Fortunato. How Fortunato may have hurt Montresor is by insulting him and by threatening him somehow. Therefore, Montresor wants to make sure that Fortunato doesn’t expect anything from being his friend. Montresor is putting up a front to Fortunato, but that’s okay. Since it’s carnival season in Italy, that means freedom season for Montresor, so he has impunity.
Yet, Fortunato decides to wear a “tight- fitting parti-striped dress, and his head [is] surmounted by the conical cap and bells” for the carnival season (Baym ). In comparison, Montresor is darkly dressed as a priest giving a funeral mass.
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
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 prided himself in being a connoisseur of fine wines. They were at a carnival and Fortunato approached Montressor at dusk, the madness of the carnival season. Fortunato was very drunk. Fortunato was dressed motley like a jester.
The first example of irony is when the enemies become good friends and welcomed guests. The fallen tree trunk symbolizes their captivation, which forces them to become friends. The imagery of the mountains and forest that Saki describes also adds to the irony, as their friendship is different from the harsh environment. The second example of irony is when wolves show up instead of what they thought were humans. The symbolism of their shouts and the tree trunk show how their friendship was actually meaningless, as their chances of surviving the encounter with the wolves is slim. The imagery of the now gloomy forest help to show irony, as the reader can now anticipate the friendship ending poorly, which is exemplified through the wolves arriving. Thus, the irony, and the symbolism and imagery used to show the irony, are all done as a means to create more suspense to effectively establish a more exciting
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
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.”
Montresor is a man who like to get revenge back to the people that did something to him. Montresor like to get back at the people when they are no longer thinking about what they have done. Because Montresor is that way Fortunato insulted him and he reacted to what was said about him. Yet, Fortunato was saying all these things about Montresor and thought it was okay. The personalities that Montresor have is that he don’t play about what people say to or about him, and don’t take it lightly. He is also that person that like to take care of business and get things done. Fortunato is a man that loves to run his mouth and has these emotion when he wants to say things and later think about what he has said. Fortunato act like it doesn’t matter
1. What can the reader infer about Montresor’s social position and character from hints in the text? What evidence does the text provide that Montresor is an unreliable narrator? We learned from paragraph 23 to 24 that Montresor owns a Palazzo and also has lot of retainers based on that evidence, the reader can infer that Montresor is a very wealthy and successful man. About his character, the reader can imply that Montresor is a heartless, cold blooded, sneaky, manipulative, and untrustworthy man, as well as a man who hold on to grudges. Moreover, Montresor is an unreliable narrator, because he reveals in the first paragraph that he intends to have a revenge on Fortunato, but he did not indicate or clearly prove to the readers how Fortunato
Through the acts, thoughts, and words of the protagonists Montresor, the reader is able to feel the psychological torment that Fortunato is about to endure. The first line in the story Montresor said “The thousand of injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (553). Revenge remains a constant theme through the entire story. Montresor went to great lengths planning the revenge and murder of Fortunato. He knows that during the carnival everyone will be dressed in costume, mask, and drinking. No-one will be able to recognize them. Montresor himself put on a “mask of black silk” (554) and a “roquelaire” (554). He has also made certain that his attendants’ would not be at home, to be sure that there are no witnesses to his horrendous act.
Carefully, cautiously the Montresor plotted precisely how he would exact revenge upon Fortunato. Much time and great energy was devoted to this plan, selecting a time that would be best: during carnival when the town would be celebratory, his servants apt to run off and join the celebration, when the two could silently disappear without notice or question. No detail is forgotten; he allows for no deterrents. He follows through with such a confidence that never does he stumble or hesitate in carrying out his plan. The Montresor indicates that he had never given. To continue with this ploy, he even goes so far as to express false concern for Fortunato as they pass through the catacombs. Blaming the nitre and damp, the Montresor suggests that they turn back as not to compromise Fortunato’s ill health, though he has no intent of doing so. Never once until the very end did Fortunato have cause to suspect that there were any foul plans afoot.
The first indirect factor that could contribute to Montresor’s vengeful act, and thus the story’s theme of revenge, is the character of Montresor. Montresor tends to harbor feelings of resentment and has a hard time not taking things out of context (Womack). He also plans the murder of Fortunato in advance and devises it in such a way that he will not be caught. In killing Fortunato, Montreso...
”We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs”(Poe). Here, Montresor is describing the vaults of the Montresor family where he is leading Fortunato to the mysterious “Amontillado”. At this point is the story Montresor begins to practically drag the drunken Fortunato through the catacombs by the top of his arm. “The surface region, full of celebration and merriment, seems to contrast dramatically with the subterranean one, marked by gloom and horror”(Mustafa). Ultimately, the imagery describing the catacombs is the reverse of what lies directly above it. The carnival going on above the surface is full of happiness and beauty, contrary to the catacombs of the Montresor mansion which is more like being taken deeper and deeper into the underworld. Inside of these eerie vaults is yet another mystery from