Montresor Motive

In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Cask of Amontillado, the story follows a dark and twisted storyline of revenge for the narrator, Montresor. We are forced to only see the story from Montresor’s revengeful point of view. The main character’s attitude towards Fortunato is only revealed to the reader as it is almost impossible to follow the narrator’s actions and dialogue within the story to explain his motive. His motive only becomes clear to the audience and the characters at the end.
In the beginning of The Cask of Amontillado, the narrator begins with his direct feelings towards Fortunato. Explaining how Fortunato insulted his name and he “would make him pay for this.” The reader is only aware of the insults on his name, not the other

A wrong is not made right in that matter.” Thus his motive is now clear, but only to the reader. No one else is involved in Montresor’s elaborate plan for revenge. We also are informed that if Fortunato wasn’t aware of Montresor’s feelings towards him because Montresor completely masked his true feelings about Fortunato. Montresor uses Fortunato’s love for wine to lure him away from the safety of his grasp. As we follow the storyline the usage of dialogue between the two characters is friendly, if the reader wasn’t already aware of the feelings of Montresor and his current motive than it would be impossible to explain why Fortunato is led to his death. After the characters exchange words over the cask of Amontillado, the narrator then leads Fortunato to the catacombs where it is kept. The setting then is switched from a open, free area to a confined, closed space as the move farther and farther away from freedom. We can see as the story progresses Montresor’s façade he has on display as he continuously gives Fortunato more and more wine. The most ironic thing about the dialogue is that many times Fortunato takes a drink for the dead while Montresor drinks to the hopes of Fortunato’s long life. Ironically the narrator and the