Edgar Allen Poe's The Cask of Amontillado Essay

Montresor tells the story in detail of how he leads a man, Fortunato, to his death. Montresor repeatedly expresses the need to kill Fortunato because he has done something to insult him and he must pay for it with his life. Montresor tells readers early in the story that he is going to be lying to Fortunato’s face by acting one way, but thinking about killing him the whole time. He says "I continued, as was my wont, to smile in

Some people believe that Fortunato should have seen Montresor’s evil plan coming, and that he deserved this fate. At the very beginning of the story, Montresor “The thousand

Fortunato,” ‘I should like your opinion. But if you are too busy, I will get Luchesi’s advice. If anyone is a good judge, he is’”(Poe 68). The citation shows Montresor's deceitfulness since he is trying to guilt Fortunato to come with him. By saying he would like Fortunato's advice, it’s guilting Fortunato to come into the catacombs; only a brilliant and deceitful man could come up with this proposal. I can deduce that without Montresor's deviance, he would’ve never been able to trick Fortunato into the catacombs and to his death. Montresor's deceitfulness also fooled Fortunato to help him in carrying out his own death. Montresor tricks Fortunato into drinking for his cough, intoxicating him more and more with each sip. “I do not wish to alarm you-but you should take care of yourself. A drink of this Medoc will defend you from the damp”( Poe 69). This cite reveals how Montresor is tricking Fortunato into killing himself practically, and helping Montresor succeed. I can summarize that Montresor planned from the beginning to fool Fortunato into helping him by

To begin with, Montresor taking revenge on Fortunato is quite evil. When Montresor trick Fortunato down to the cellar by using Fortunato’s ego and taste in wine it is very cool and calculating. In the text Montresor says, “ As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If anyone has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell me--.” (Montresor 58) This plays off of Fortunato ego saying somebody else had a better taste in wine then he did. In like manner, Montresor was very happy and excited to see Fortunato during carnival. Which is just an act to lure Fortunato to the catacombs. Montresor says in his head, “ 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.” (Montresor57) Furthermore, Montresor offers many times for Fortunato to turn back because of the cold or of his health. The short story states, “ Come sais Montresor, we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was.” This is cruel because once Fortunato gets to the bottom of the catacombs he will never get to turn back.

From the very beginning of the story, one can obviously see that Montresor thinks that he has been wronged by Fortunato. His plan for vengeance is easily seen through his actions and his thoughts. "He had a weak

It is indicated that in the past that Fortunato has hurt Montresor many times, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” However, there were never any insults or unkind acts actually mentioned in the story. It is exactly the opposite. Fortunato was friendly and helpful towards Montresor. From the very beginning of the story, one can obviously see that Montresor thinks that Fortunato has wronged him. “He had a weak point-this Fortunato-although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared.” This line shows that Montresor’s plan was well thought out. There is not any indication of what Fortunato thinks about Montresor. It can only be assumed that he trusts him do to the fact that he follows Montresor into the catacombs. It is up until the last moment, before the last brick is laid, that Fortunato believes this is all a joke. “Ha! Ha! Ha! – He! He! He! – a very good joke, indeed-an excellent jest.” Montresor is successful in his plan for vengeance. He succeeds in having Fortunato follow him into the catacombs and with great ease, had him up against the wall and shackled. Then tier-by-tier, Montresor constructed Fortunato’s tomb of bricks around him. When Montresor called out to him, he heard nothing and thus his plan was a success. “In pace requiescat!”

In “Cask Of Amontillado” Montresor seems to have Fortunato's best interests in mind until his true intentions are revealed through his thoughts, not his actions. This is showing how Montresor is careful in his revenge; Fortunato disrespected Montresor, being the wicked and revengeful person he is must make him pay for his mistake. Therefore, Montresor carefully planned out his attack, he had every detail carefully outlined in his head. He made no mistakes; while Fortunato unknowingly made the biggest mistake of his life. Montresor felt satisfied and happy with the horrible crime he committed. While he was burying Fortunato alive, he enjoyed the screams of his foe, relishing in the fact that he won. “...felt

Poe starts out with a man, by the name of Montresor, wanting revenge on another man, named Fortunato. Most of the story takes place deep in the Montresor family catacombs. As Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs, he chains Fortunato up to a small hole in a wall, bricks it over, and leaves Fortunato to die. Even through the traits of anger, hatred, and revenge, as the story progresses on, Montresor, the main character in “The Cask of Amontillado”, starts to show signs of feeling guilty for wanting to murder Fortunato.

Montresor does this by flattering and acting concerned about the health of Fortunato when really his only concern is killing Fortunato. While in the wine cellar, Montresor says to Fortunato, “Come, we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi-.” Montresor does an excellent job of being Fortunatos’ friend and at the same time convinces him to continue drinking and telling him, “A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.” Montresor was not trying to defend either one of them, his only purpose was to place Fortunato into a higher state of drunkenness. Montresor causes Fortunato to become so drunk that while he was being chained to the wall by Montresor, “He was too much astounded to resist.” “The Cask of Amontillado” is filled with many ironies and also life lessons; such as know who your real friends are. Fortunato thought his real friend was Montresor when, in reality, Montresor was anything but his friend. Not only did Montresor fake his sincerity towards Fortunato, he was also vengeful and very intelligent in his actions to kill Fortunato.

"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.

Montresor has held this grudge against his friend who according to him had given him “thousands of injuries.” This grudge he has makes him vindictive as he seeks revenge against Fortunato for his insult against him. His family’s motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit" meaning “No one attacks me with impunity”. The motto implies that the entire Montresor family history is filled with acts of revenge. Montresor becomes obsessed with his vengeance and when he has Fortunato chained to the wall he mocks at his cries and moaning, “I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength.” Montrosor never mentions what the insulting act was which can tell us that the actual act wasn’t as important as him just getting some sort of revenge.

Ending Fortunato’s life over mockery seems a little insane, despite his family’s motto: “Nobody provokes me with impunity.” (211) Further, Montresor carefully plans his arrangement to make sure Fortunato has no reason for suspicion. He seems to know exactly how to isolate himself and Fortunato, as if he carries out procedures like this on a regular basis. The reader can see Montresor seems to know precisely how to play his cards when he expresses, “It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good-will. 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.”

     In a way, Montressor was very clever. He got everyone to do what he wanted without telling them, and everyone being totally oblivious. Reverse phsycology played and important role in this perfect murder. It helped everything run smoothly with getting the servants out of the house and get Fortunato into the catacombs. Yes, this murder was the perfect consequence for what Fortunato had done. It got him down there and made him die, like Montessor’s reputation and fortune. The slow death would have made him think long and hard about what he had done and how he had hurt Montressor.

Montresor uses his wit to set up his revenge plan. Montresor finds something that Fortunato really is interested in to lure him in. Montresor knows that Fortunato is a wine connoisseur and is very proud of it. He tells Fortunato that he has some Amontillado that he wants to know if it’s authentic or not. Amontillado being a very good and expensive wine, this sparks interest in Fortunato. Planning this deed out and putting this much thought into scheme show determination, and proves that he would do anything for revenge. The second way he uses his intelligence is when he keeps getting Fortunato more and more drunk, and what he says to him while they go into the catacombs. As he leads Fortunato into the catacombs he encourages him to continue drinking, and keeps telling him that it’s too dangerous for him to be in there, as this would spark interest in Fortunato. In the story Montresor said this to Fortunato as a use of reverse phycology, “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. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi” “Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.”(117-118). This use of intelligence to make Fortunato more unaware and the use of reverse phycology helped Montresor accomplish revenge.

While Montresor is the villain in this story he carries out his wicked deed with sharp and cunning ability. Montresor shows us that he wants revenge and will get it in the almost perfect crime.The reader sees this in the way he waits until the city wide celebration of carnival where everybody is very intoxicated. Knowing Fortunato is there partying and thus making him an easy target. He also knows that Fortunato fancies himself as a wine connoisseur and that Fortunato has a rival viner named Luchresi. He lures Fortunato into his catacombs by telling Fortunato “I have my doubts I replied and I was silly enough to pay full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter”(1). He grabs Fortunato’s attention with the Amontillado and then he goads Fortunato with “As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If anyone has a