The Cask Of Amontillado And Saboteur

Revenge is a popular theme explored in most facets of literature and other forms of entertainment. The popularity of the use of revenge in stories stems from people’s natural habit of reciprocation and the ordinary person’s lack of power in the real world. This kind of retribution is a main pillar of both Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask Of Amontillado” and Ha Jin’s “Saboteur”. While these stories may contrast from one another in their execution of the revenge, the themes behind said revenge have some pivotal similarities. Both stories are based around a character that has been pushed to his limits and seeks nothing short of death for vengeance. Much of Edgar Allan Poe’s work is very dark and many of his best characters have been far from psychologically

Montresor is the narrator of The Cask of Amontillado and never gives a single piece of evidence of Fortunato’s crimes. He simply states “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne best I could; But when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”. The lack of evidence paired with the fact that the act of retribution occured “half of a century” ago doesn’t paint Montresor’s case in a good light. However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Chiu’s mistreatment. Not only is he abused and neglected with a serious medical condition throughout the story, but his colleague is imprisoned for trying to bail him out. However, one major aspect that both protagonists share is a lack of character development. While it is understandable due to the limited length of each story, neither character evolves much at all. They are both cold and unfeeling in their revenge. Likewise, neither are given a real chance to reflect on their actions after the revenge is achieved so the reader has to assume what lesson was learned. The only kind of closure that comes from either story is the last sentence of “The Cask Of Amontillado” when Montresor says “In pace requiescat!”; which translates to “rest in