Deception In The Cask Of Amontillado

Vengeance conquers even the highest of men. In the story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe, a man by the name of Montresor, seeks vengeance on Fortunato, an acquaintance, who insulted him. The story begins by declaring a grudge that Montresor has against Fortunato, and explains that Montresor seeks a very dark vengeance. Montresor lures Fortunato deep into his (Montresor’s) family's catacomb in search of the extravagant cask of amontillado. Montresor deceptively leads Fortunato down the winding labyrinth-like path and soon his heinous plan of burying Fortunato in a recess of the cavern walls and sealing him with plastered bricks quickly becomes a reality. Once ensnared, Montresor leaves Fortunato trapped to die and fulfills his

This mood leads in with the beginning of the description of the catacombs. Montresor describes the path as “walls with piled bones with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recess of the catacombs” (Poe 283). The catacomb being piled with bones describes the eerie and deathly path that creates a feeling of fear due to the common uneasiness when viewing dead human remains. Also the dark recesses in the walls containing old puncheons (wooden support beams) infers that the catacomb is extremely old and fragile which creates a suspenseful mood because of the possibility of the old support beams failing. The narrator also describes the catacombs as “lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris” (284). The constant acknowledgment of human remains being spread through the catacombs continues to keep the fearful and eerie mood and is even more gruesome by the mentioning of actual rotting human remains rather than bones. By comparing the Montresor catacombs to the catacombs of Paris, it shows the extremely extensive collection of human carcasses which creates an even stronger eerie and ghastly feeling. The gloomy and heinous feelings created by the

The description of the “long and winding staircase” (282) creates an image of an enigma-like structure that can relate to Montresor’s clouded and shady mind that sprouted from the evil deeds of revenge. The long and winding, labyrinth-like description of the catacombs shows the Montresor is mentally lost in the long and winding staircase, as well. The descent through the catacombs represents the literal and figurative mental drift from sanity and freedom from guilt. Within the deepest parts of the catacombs, the narrator describes the inside of a wall “exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior recess…seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite”. The large, hidden recess in the wall represents the hidden intention/secret that Montresor holds with his vengeance. The displacing of the bones, ghastly setting, and hidden recess reflects the heinous and deceptive characterization of Montresor from the dark and suspenseful perception of the surroundings. The cloudy, enigmatic, and hidden setting and characterization of Montresor corresponds with the theme that the obsession of revenge collaterally impairs and deceives both the avenger and the