Montresor's Revenge

The old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”, illustrates that physical forces may hurt someone, whereas words are harmless. However, Poe’s thrilling piece of work goes against this as Montresor vows to take revenge on Fortunato over a mere insult. Montresor’s insane crave for revenge demonstrates his intense condition of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which is shown through his behavior in The Cask of Amontillado. Montresor’s thoughts indicate his obsession with harming Fortunato. For instance, “My smile was at the thought of his death” reveals how terribly Montresor wants to kill his enemy, demonstrating his madness as people don 't usually kill over an insult, especially when it wasn 't so

The unreliable character speaks in such manner, that if the story was in a different point of view, we wouldn 't have suspected his unstable mind till near the end. When Montresor says “ no one provokes me with impunity”, it shows his seriousness about avenging revenge over an insult, through a well-thought out plan. This also shows his obsession with finishing Fortunato for once and all. It’s ironic when he advises Fortunato to drink considerably as his health is precious when in reality Montresor wants Fortunato to drown in wine to complete his disturbing plan. His ability to control what he says while burning with desire for revenge shows how important it is for Montresor in perfecting his plan, signifying his freakish obsession of harming Fortunato once again. Even after half a century, Montresor shows no remorse for murdering Fortunato. Instead, his obsession with his clever plan leads him to look back only to acquire a satisfying feeling. Although Montresor is a classic example of an unreliable character, Poe reveals the truth about human nature through his compulsive actions. We pretend to not relate to Montresor as he has a severe case of OCD. However, we can 't deny that jealousy and hate have never evoked in our hearts from a simple statement in the form of an insult, although most wouldn 't kill