Who Is Montresor Seeking Revenge

The Cask of Amontillado Assignment “The Cask of Amontillado” is a story of revenge written by author Edgar Allan Poe. After having read this story I believe that Poe was not condoning revenge but instead satirizing why people seek it. There are a few reasons that prove this to be the case. The reasons being that the audience is never told what exactly Fortunato did to cause Montresor to seek revenge, the story is told from Montresor’s point of view, and Poe makes Fortunato defenseless from intoxication. These reasons all lead to Montresor being an unreliable character in the story. To begin with, the story starts off with Montresor saying that the thousand injuries of Fortunato he had borne as best as he could but, when he ventured upon insult he vowed revenge (Poe). In the story Montresor never specifically mentioned what this insult was. Although later on he says to Fortunato that,” You are rich, respected, admired,beloved; you are happy, as once I was (Poe).” Again, Montresor gives no specific details at to what Fortunato did but it provides some sort of hint. Even though the audience does not know what Fortunato did, Montresor makes it seem as if it is enough to justify his revenge. In his mind Montresor believes that he has

Since he is telling the story from his perspective the audience gets a sense of what his thought process is and how he justifies it. In the beginning he states, “You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however that I gave utterance to a threat; at length I would be avenged (Poe).” He draws the reader in by saying that he will not let what Fortunato did slide, he will get his revenge. It makes you almost want to take his side but then again you are only getting one perspective and not even a reason as to why. The only thing that Montresor lets the reader know is that he was wronged by Fortunato and that he will not be injured with