Kenneth Conner
Mr. Edwards
English 112
5 May 2023
Pride and Vengeance
The Cask of Amontillado is a gothic short story by Edgar Allan Poe during the early nineteenth century. The twisted and vindictive Montresor narrates the tale as he explains how he buried a man by the name of Fortunato alive in his catacombs. Like many of Poe's short stories, The Cask of Amontillado has several underlying themes exposing the evils of the human psyche. The concept that pride and vengeance lead to man's downfall is present in several aspects of The Cask of Amontillado, such as the setting and the characterization of Montresor and Fortunato. Edgar Allan Poe gives few details regarding the story's setting. Montresor reveals that the story takes place somewhere in Italy during the Carnival festival. The significance of the story taking place during Carnival is that the holiday is a time of overindulgence and disregard for one's safety. Poe gives the story's location; however, he does not share precisely when the story takes place. While walking through the crypt, Montresor claims that "Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris" (Poe 176). This reference to the Paris Catacombs, established during the late 18th century, suggests
…show more content…
Montresor's pride and thirst for vengeance led to his dissent into burying a person alive over a discretion that most likely did not happen. On the other hand, Fortunato is blinded by his pride and allows himself to be manipulated into getting drunk and chained to the wall, where he would die of either thirst or asphyxiation. Poe uses this horrifying story to show how a person's pride and vengeance can turn someone to homicide or cloud the judgment of their