Montresor: The Greater Villain

Evil is a concept introduced to even our youngest generations. It is a common theme and archetype in many movies, especially in those targeted towards the younger crowds. Villains are universally understood and disliked. Montresor from “The Cask of Amontillado” and General Zaroff from “The Most Dangerous Game” are both malicious, evil villains in their own respects, though I believe that one is the greater villain, the more evil. Montresor is the more evil villain because of the type of people he kills, his deceitful personality, and his style of killing. Montresor is the more evil villain for the type of people he kills. He regarded Fortunato, his victim, in a friendly manner, even saying that at the carnival, he “encountered [his] friend.

Being an unreliable narrator makes the reader wonder how much he had to include deceit in his story simply to justify his actions to himself. It is very possible that Fortunato was not, in fact, deserving of his death in this manner, and Montresor took a few of his innocent gestures or deeds the wrong way. His personality is full of deceit in the way that he manipulates people into giving him what he wants, too. In hindsight of the murder, Montresor recalls that “he had a weak point--this Fortunato--although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship of wine” (Poe 87). He used this knowledge to lead Fortunato to his demise by falsely claiming he had just purchased a barrel of Amontillado, knowing he would want to check it out. Murder by means of manipulation and pretending to be his friend made for a very evil one, more evil than any of Zaroff’s killings. Zaroff develops a personality much like someone who is outwardly bad, but actually somewhat good on the inside. This is due to his polar opposite view on killing--that killing is for

The murder of Fortunato was closely planned out with great attention to detail, using manipulative strategies to deceive him. Montresor recalled the fateful events of the murder with excitement. “A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of there depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped pack from the recess” (Poe 91). He was cheerful during this time, seeing all of his careful planning come together. A truly evil man is one who gets excited over the killing of his friend. Considering the fact that Montresor manipulated Fortunato to get him here, this makes Montresor a truly evil villain, much more evil than Zaroff or the way he kills his victims. Zaroff’s game is a game of paintball. Millions of people around the world are experience and enjoy extreme sports, like paintball. Such people like the adrenaline associated with the game, even if it means getting a little hurt in the process. Zaroff finds a lot of enjoyment in his own game, even if there is some sacrifice involved. Zaroff’s style of killing stems from his desire to get a rush, like in a paintball game, though he raised the stakes in his own way