"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. "(Montressor; Cask of Amontillado) As the saying goes, hatred and grudges can lead to fatal circumstances. Edgar Allen Poe illustrates the concept of revenge through Montressors' demented thoughts and creates a sense that Montressor feels revenge should be considered okay because of the reasoning behind it.
In the story ¨The Cask of Amontillado¨ by Edgar Allan Poe is a powerful story about revenge that takes readers into the mind of a murderer. Montresor is a perfect example of an unreliable narrator because he was capable of burying Fortunato into a vault. He vows revenge on Fortunato for an insult. He can’t be trusted, even if he’d be lying about Fortunato’s death. Fortunato´s name means ¨fortunate¨ which in reality, he didn 't really turn out that way.
Due to the use of first person in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” Montresor’s syntax and diction are the only mechanisms used to characterize Fortuno in the story. This subjects the perception of both Fortuno and Montresor to a great deal of bias. Although Montresor claims that Fortuno has committed “a thousand injuries” (127) there are never any specific instances of his treachery cited within the text.
In “The Cast of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe and in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Conner, there are some similarities within the characterization and within the plot of these two short stories. Let us begin with “The Cast of Amontillado”. Edgar Allan Poe used characterization to show us the narrator’s personality. In his story, the narrator is the unreliable, egotistical protagonist. At the carnival where Montresor found Fortunato dressed in a jester outfit, Montresor says, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met (Poe 165).”
Pg 83 Poe. This shows the manipulation and secrecy of Montressor to deceive Fortunato for insulting him. If
Luring an unsuspecting rival into the deep catacombs of the Montresor family and eventually resulting in an inhuman death, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” stands out from contemporary “mystery” in that instead of leaving the reader asking “who” and “how,” The Cask of Amontillado spurs the relevant question “why” (Baraban 47). Composed in 1846 shortly after Poe rose to fame due to a complexly written poem,: “Poe envied the success of lesser writers and entangled himself in bitter battles with these rivals, which lead to his banishment from the New York and New England literary circles” (Poe 390). Throughout the narrative discussion between Montresor and Fortunato indicate the wealthy aristocratic lineage of Montresor’s family, however
We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo over our wine!" (Poe 5). Montresor got his revenge on Fortunato, for making fun of his families name. Revenge is another way humans can illuminate the dark side of human nature. Although humans can be kind and selfless people, sacrificing loved ones, hurting innocent bystanders, and plotting revenge can show the less innocent and malicious behavior of humans.
Everybody will eventually want revenge on an old friend or just someone they know. Montressor, similar to many people in the world, wants revenge on one of his old friends, Fortunato. The story opens with, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 212). In this statement, Montressor tells the reader what the cause of his revenge against Fortunato is. “The Cask of Amontillado”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, tells the story of how Montressor brings Fortunato into the catacombs to bury him alive.
As the story progresses it becomes exceptionally evident the role external conflict plays in creating Montresor’s character. To begin, Montresor mentions “the thousand injuries of Fortunato” and the revenge he is determined to get from the most recent injury, an insult (Poe 543). By Montresor choosing to open the story with remarks about Fortunato’s wrong doings towards him, it’s clear that he holds a grudge. These conflicts between the two men throughout their friendship have had such an impression on Montresor that it’s over taken him – it’s all he can think about; thus, he immediately mentions these conflicts at the beginning of the story. In result, Montresor as a character appears quite hostile and as a narrator appears unreliable.
The author's choice of words helps create the mood of shock because he describes Montresor’s actions after Fortunato gets a sense of what is being done to him. The author’s description keeps readers in shock because they can’t believe how cold Montresor was. Even though he never showed the side of him, he had it all along. The author’s use of words in the description makes the readers feel like they are in the story wondering what will happen next. Poe wanted the reader to understand what was going on in the “Cask of Amontillado”, so he wrote a detailed story choosing words that connected with his readers.
The Cask of Amontillado Argumentative Essay Edgar Allen Poe is a famous writer who is well-known for his short stories. The Cask of Amontillado is one of Poe’s short stories which is about two men, Montresor and Fortunato. Fortunato did something to Montresor, the act is unknown, but it angered Montresor badly enough to make him feel the need to seek revenge. The story portrays Montresor’s long, drawn out plan to kill Fortunato. In the story, it is clear that he was set on killing Fortunato, because of his actions and emotions shown toward Fortunato.
When people fail to resolve their conflicts and differences, murder often crosses their minds to solve any problems they may have. Murders around the world ruin families and friendships, and leave victims and witnesses irreparably broken. In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor murders the man who insulted him because he premeditates the crime and expresses remorse for his truculent actions. First, Montresor premeditates the crime of first-degree murder prior to the actual day of the crime. Montresor speaks of getting “…avenged…” after Fortunato insults him, indicating that murdering his friend would give himself revenge (Poe 61).
Anger leads to revenge, but sometimes revenge can lead to death. The reason for this anger is because Fortunato insulted Montresor, so he decided to kill him for revenge. Several events unfolds his plan like venom that slowly leads to death. In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allan Poe, he builds suspense which slowly develops the theme of revenge and reveals the mood of creepiness.
But every action has a cause and effect. Poe focuses mainly on the concept of, is it worth taking revenge for, how far you are willing to go for it, and will you end up regretting your choice. In Montresor’s case, he might’ve ended up with regret in either scenario of him taking or not taking revenge on Fortunato. Either way, I believe Poe’s theme of revenge relates to a much bigger theme in life, choice. The ability to choose is everything we do, decide, and without it, we wouldn’t be anything.
In this essay I will explain how Montresor’s execution of Fortunato was carried out like an expert. I will list examples of how Montresor manipulated Fortunato, and how he enjoys his revenge. In this story Montresor, the murderer, used reverse psychology, and utilized cunning precondition to fulfill his scheme. He also used clever paronomasia to deceive Fortunato. Montresor first manipulated Fortunato when he met him at the carnival.
