The Role Of Montresor In The Cask Of Amontillado

Edgar Allan Poe uses a lot of unreliable narrators in his short stories, One example being Montresor, in “The Cask of Amontillado”. Throughout the story, Montresor seeks nothing but vengeance on his old friend, turned enemy, Fortunato for insulting his family’s name. The reason Montresor is an unreliable narrator is because the reader knows he cannot be trusted. When Montresor tells Fortunato about his inheritance of Amontillado, Montresor lures him down deep into the catacombs, chains him up, walls up the entrance, and leaves Fortunato for death, the reader now knows that Montresor is unreliable, and is not credible. “Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist.

Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recesses” (Poe 3). Although, Montresor’s insanity makes him unreliable, the fact the reader only knows what Montresor is thinking could also make him unreliable. Since the story is only told from Montresor’s point of view, the reader cannot prove whether or not Fortunato actually insulted Montresor’s name, or if it was just imagined in Montresor’s mind. Further proving why Montresor cannot be trusted, and is not a reliable narrator.