The Motive For Murder In Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

The motive for Murder in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is an interesting story that revolves around the confession of a man, Montresor, to an unknown person. Montresor confesses how he murdered Fortunato. Like most of his works, Poe has used the first person narrative to address the readers directly. He has also addressed the theme of death. This notable subject is evident in most of his works such as “The Tale-A-Tell” and “The Black Cat.” While Montresor has revealed to the readers how he murdered Fortunato, the motive behind the murder has remained a mystery. He does not mention the reason that propelled him to develop the inhuman plot to murder his friend. The paper seeks to develop meaningful assumptions that might have influenced Monstresor to commit the murder. At the beginning of the novel, Montresor says,

For example, in “The Tell-A-Tale,” the murderer seemed to be mentally disturbed. This also seems to be the case in “The Cask of Amontillado.” It is unlikely that Montresor was mentally unstable. He developed a sophisticated plot to murder his offender. Only an intelligent person, and not a mediocre, can create such a complicated plot. While it is clear that Montresor was not insane, it is possible that he was in an emotional turmoil. This emotional disorder propelled the urge for revenge. In fact, the entire story is proof of his troubled conscience. He confesses to an individual how he committed the murder even when he was not caught for over 50 years. At the end of the story, he says, “for the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them (Poe 10).” It is the emotional torture that influences him to commit the inhuman act. In fact, he seems proud of the confession. He shows no sign of remorse or regret for the inhuman act. He enjoys revealing the entire murder plot without a trace of