Montresor's Point Of View Analysis

Every day of their lives, people make inner decisions and assumptions about the things they experience, based on countless factors, including past experience, current circumstances, age, personal beliefs and values. These decisions and assumptions are then used to justify every action they perform, whether good or bad. This process is unique for every individual, and as a result, it often leads to a disconnect between people with unsimilar perspectives. Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” suggests that even the most far-fetched motives behind an action may seem justified given the correct context.

The aristocrat Montresor reveals his motives behind vengeance in the first paragraph of the short story, with the line: ‘The

Although the line: ‘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 in wine.’ portrays Fortunato as somewhat gullible, it also provides context to the reader concerning the justification for Fortunato’s actions and decisions and ultimately proves that with the correct context, any decision or action, no matter how ridiculous seeming, can be validated. One can gather from the line and the short story as a whole that Fortunato was an aristocrat, and extremely wealthy. His probable birth into nobility, and an assumed life of security and comfort provides background information as to why he is so unsuspecting of Montresor’s motives. His love of wine and the fact that he ‘had been drinking much’ also adds context as to why Fortunato would willingly let a man whom he’d insulted lead him to his

For every person, these unique forms these factors take are used to justify every action they perform. Therefore, even the most far-fetched action may seem completely normal to someone with the correct perspective and justification. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, it is apparent that the assumptions and decisions made by both the readers and Fortunato can be understood with the correct perspectives, but also affect them negatively as a result of failure to see other perspectives and a failure to receive wider context. Throughout the story, Poe conveys the importance that context and perspective has on the decisions and actions that people make. By better understanding what drives other people, and by better understanding of others’ past and current circumstances, perhaps society can make better decisions as a whole—ones that benefit the majority instead of just one individual or