The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe ?The Cask of Amontillado? by Edgar Allan Poe is a story about two men at a carnival, the narrator Montresor, who is being eaten by jealousy, and Fortunato, a rich drunk man that has a weakness for wine. It is through deception that Montresor achieves his revenge against Fortunato. He did not believe that killing Fortunato is wrong because of the insults and injures Fortunato brought against him. ?The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne.? (Poe, 75) says Montresor. Montresor brought Fortunato down into the catacomb. This was his chance for revenge. In the opening lines Montresor explains what Fortunato has done to him: ?he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge?(75. The next line Montresor explains that he did not threaten him back and he did not reply to the threats. It was not in Montresor?s nature to do return the threat, ?You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat?(75). Montresor went out of his way to be nice to Fortunato; meanwhile inside of him the jealousy burned. ?Neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will?(75), he did things for Fortunato and continued on making everything seem normal so that Fortunato would not expect Montresor to do anything to him. ?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?(75,76), Montresor continued to smile as he has been doing all the time, but now he smiled when he saw him because he was thinking of his demise. Montresor tricked Fortunato into believing that he has Amontillado because if Fortunato was drunk it would be easier to kill him. ?My dear F... ... middle of paper ... ...racter is displayed like he cares for Fortunato but he is just doing these things to get him to go to he catacombs with him. Montresor in the end when Fortunato was dead, Montresor walks away saying ?In pace requiescat?(75), may he rest in peace. Montresor does not really care if he is at peace now. He just does not want to get caught. With Fortunado dead and buried, Montresor has won. Thanks to his deception he has the revenge he wanted for so long. There are no more insults or injuries for Montresor to tolerate. Fortunato is dead, never to be seen again. Because Montresor believes what he has done is not wrong he does not have to worry about the guilt or shame afterwards. Works Cited: Poe, Edgar Allan. "A Cask of Amontillado." Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Orlando: Harcourt, 1997. 209-14.
Montresor must trick and manipulate Fortunato to accomplish his goal of revenge. He tells Fortunato the reason he is at the ...
Meanwhile as Fortunato was concocting his plan beneath the earth, Montressor was heading back to his house feeling slightly guilty about what he had done. “He insulted me, he made me to be less that I am, he had it coming.”, Montressor told himself reassuringly. But that did not erase the ominous tone he now felt in the vaults. Something was not quite right since he pushed that last brick into place in Fortunato’s tomb. Shaking the feeling off as best as he could he reached the top of the catacombs and entered his home with a taste for the barrel of wine that he knew was Amontillado all along. After his drink he returned to his bedroom for the night and before he fell asleep he heard a small voice in his head saying that Fortunato was still alive and that he was coming for him.
Fortunato’s immolation was not spontaneous as Montresor had been planning his revenge. This tells us that he is cunning as he strategically sets up Fortunato for his death. He had designed every detail so that he would be alone with Fo...
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.
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
The author writes how in the beginning of the story, Montresor had reacted from all the hurt he had gone through. It states, “A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (174). This shows how Montresor is stating how he will create a plan that will make up for the actions that Fortunato himself had done. This would make them even, as Montresor’s plan wouldn't fail. Not to mention, Montresor clearly states that he is seeking revenge in the beginning of the story when he states, “but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge… At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk” (173). This explains the thought in Montresor’s head of why he wanted to kill Fortunato for Fortunato had hurt him. As a cause of the insults, Montresor would leave Fortunato in the catacombs to die. Last but not least, Montresor has very unusual statements. For example, the last sentence of the story states what Montresor said as he placed the last stone in the wall. He said, “In pace requiescat!” (179). This translates to In peace he rests. Someone looking to hurt another would probably not wish that they would live happily after death, so it is unusual that Montresor wishes that Fortunato rests in
The Cask of Amontillado is centered entirely upon revenge and vengeance. This conflict between the narrator and Fortunato explores his past decision to kill a man based on perceived injustices. Poe uses this conflict to explore the difference between Fortunato and Montresor’s character flaws which led to the major conflict, while simultaneously studying how obsession can control the mind. By studying these downfalls , the story darkly shifts from the carnival celebration to death in the catacombs. The story descends to madness much like how the mind does when it deals with strong fixations.
Montresor begins to be overtaken by his retribution almost immediately. His fascination with deception is his weak point. Montresor plans a revenge that would satisfy him for the insults that have been committed against him. While doing so he wants to be stealthy and states “it must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will” (141) He continues to deceive Fortunato by lying to him about the pipe of Amontillado and playing on his nature of a wine connoisseurship. Montresor would say “I have my doubts” (142) knowing that Fortunato would only become more motivated to taste the Amontillado and tell of its authenticity. It is this deception that he becomes carried away with. This becomes a game for Montresor. He uses Fortunato as a pawn, and plays each move very carefully.
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.
Montresor does have some disconnect or mental problem. He wishes to kill Fortunato for insulting him, but he never specifies what insult it was. He also states he has borne a thousand injuries. This is an exaggeration- Montresor only says this because he needs a reason to kill Fortunato. If Fortunato has done anything to deserve a painful death, he would certainly know, but Montresor does not let fortunato know what he has done and states "neither by word nor deed had [Montresor] given Fortunato cause to doubt [his] goodwill." Montresor's madness is also made clear by his method of killing Fortunato; he suffocates him in a wall built in f...
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." Reading and Writing about Literature. Phillip Sipiora. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2002. 240-244.
Montresor, fifty years after it happened, is confessing to the murder of his foe, Fortunato. He justifies his actions by saying that Fortunato caused him a thous...
Montresor meets his fake friend Fortunato and tells him about amontillado. Montresor had probably been humiliated or embarrassed by this jest, because he is angered once he lays eyes on him from a distance. Fortunato was wearing a jester outfit which makes him seem that he is not meant to be taken seriously. Once met he then manipulate Fortunato into following him into the catacombs of the montresor’s. Once in the catacomb, Montresor then precedes to tell Fortunato about his cough. Trying to lead Fortunato into thinking that he deeply cares about his health, but Fortunato not wanting Luchresi to come along he keep moving forward. While walking
You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain (Poe 332)”. This revels Montresor notices that Fortunato is not able to tell Amontillado from Sherry as he is a great wine-lover. When Montresor is coughing, Fortunato is trying to convince him to leave: “Come,” I said with decision, “ we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was”. This shows jealousy and kindness of Montresor against Fortunato at the same time that is quite sarcastic. From this perspective, Montresor envious all of the things that Fortunato has and who is not reconciled to someone surpass him in the status. He mistakenly feels that this is the injury created by Fortunato resulting in his revenge. Therefore, he blame on Fortunato for all fault that he should eradicate him as soon as possible before he become a threatening when it is too late to take any action. Additionally, he does not even regret his choice and believes everything he does is right. This is because he tries so hard to makes an effort to draw Fortunato to his trap and put down his vigilance simultaneously by
Poe, Edgar Allan. “That Cask of Amontillado.” Ibiblio. U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.d.