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A theme that is evident in the cask of amontillado
A theme that is evident in the cask of amontillado
A theme that is evident in the cask of amontillado
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Montressor reveals that he never did anything to cause Fortunato doubt of his good-will. He smiled in Fortunato's face because he was thinking of Fortunato's immolation or fate. "I must not only punish, but punish with impunity." (Montressor; Cask of Amontillado) Montressor says that quote
This attitude of Montresor showcases how little remorse he feels for Fortunato. He takes pleasure in the deception, knowing Fortunato remains oblivious to his sinister motives. This showcases the little guilt Montresor feels for taking advantage of Fortunato. He feels that everything he does is justified based on the actions of Fortunato earlier. Montresor also defends his actions by emphasizing that Fortunato seems to be a fool.
It was damp, dark, and intimidating down there with the walls covered in human remains. It also says, “We had passed through walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow” (52). Once again, Montresor is trying to be nice and welcoming in the scary setting to trick Fortunado into trusting him until he can make his move. With the combination of Montresor’s fake friendliness and the suspicious surrounding, the reader could infer Montresor’s intensions in the catacombs.
Montresor tortures Fortunato, both physiologically and physically. Montresor clearly gives Fortunato “multiple chances to escape his fate” (Delany 34), as he gives Fortunato obvious clues to his true intensions. These include leading Fortunato into a place for the dead, telling Fortunato not to go due to his severe cough that made it “impossible to reply” (Poe 5) at times, reminding Fortunato of his family arms, mentioning Luchesi, and showing Fortunato a trowel. Montresor seems to receive morbid joy out of the fact that Fortunato is so intoxicated that, just like the foot on Montresor’s coat of arms, he is unintentionally “stepping into his own destruction” (Cervo
The author, Edgar Allan Poe, uses the catacombs settings to build suspense in The Cask of Amontillado. As the main character and Fortunato proceed through the catacombs, the narrator tells the reader, “We had passed through walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs” (6). The author uses the creepy setting of many dead bodies all over the catacombs in order to keep the reader interested on the story. Because the cavern is so dark, it adds a mysterious component to the story. The reader does not know what will happen because the characters can not see very much due to the low light of the torches.
I shall not die of a cough. ”(4) Montresor pretended to care about Fortunato’s health, insisting they go back. The narrator states, “ I placed my
Maria Semple once said, “There’s something uniquely exhilarating about puzzling together the truth at the hands of an unreliable narrator.” This - as most readers of Edgar Allan Poe’s many works know - is true. The narrators in “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe are unreliable because they have emotional instability, are mentally unstable, and frequently alter the truth. The narrators in Poe’s stories are unreliable because they experience sudden extreme emotions, making them emotionally unstable.
Montressor used a couple different aspects to keep his plan away from Fortunato’s eyes. Fortunato’s pride, and the setting of the catacombs are two ways Montresor masked his plans for revenge from Fortunato. The first aspect of how Montresor masked his plans was by using Fortunato’s pride. In the story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor states “As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi If any one has a critical turn, It is he. He
Too much pride can lead to one’s downfall. The short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is riddled with the underlying theme of pride that the narrator, Montresor, and his victim, Fortunato, experiences throughout the narrator’s deliberate plan of revenge. The theme of pride plays a role in Fortunato’s affection with his wine and in Montresor’s emotions leading up to killing Fortunato. During the events leading up to Fortunato's death, pride plays a role in Montresor’s emotions.
However, when he made a slight noise, the old man quickly woke up. Showing that the old man had a good sense of hearing and it also showed that the narrator didn't take concern about this before approaching him. If the narrator knew that the old man was barely sleeping and that he had a good sense of hearing, he wouldn't make that kind of careless mistake. In the "Cask of Amontillado," Montresor knew all of the weaknesses of Fortunato and knew every single thing in the vaults before even approaching Fortunato. It showed how much Montresor was serious about the plan and how much work he put into
Do you think you could ever get away with murder? For Montresor, he thought he could. But he will soon realize the past can not be easily forgotten. Following the events after “The Cask of Amontillado”, you will see a man spiral into an abyss of fear as he comes to terms with killing(?) Fortunato, and the people close to him.
When Montresor first encounters Fortunato, Fortunato is wearing a jester's costume and appears to be drunk. Montresor notes that "the man wore motley" and "was too astounded to resist" when Fortunato proposes that they leave to the catacombs (Poe 14). Later, when Montresor starts to bury Fortunato alive, he teases him by stating, "Your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was," (Poe 18). In both of these instances Fortunato's pride is exacerbated, as he is too foolish to comprehend the danger he is in and too proud to back down even when opposing a definite threat.
In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator is unreliable because he is immoral through his enjoyment of cruelty to carry out his revenge and his actions are inconsistent with his words through the contrast of his eloquent style of story-telling and impulsive actions. Montresor recalls that he stopped his revenge of stacking bricks, encapsulating Fortunado, to listen to his screams, so “That I might hearken to it with more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones” (Poe 67). In addition to mercilessly killing a man, Montresor rests on the pile of bones, disrespecting the dead. This contributes to his inhumane and cruel habits of treating both the living and the dead. His unreliability is
He states that Fortunato is a respected man, and that he will be greatly missed, and that he is happy as he once had been. He insists on turning around, and Fortunato refuses. Fortunato says that a cold shall not kill him, and he insists on moving forward. Montresor, I believe, enjoys the irony and agrees that a cold shall not kill him, because he knows that he will be the cause of Fortunato’s death. Fortunato’s lack of knowledge allows his to easily fall for Montresor’s 3rd step in his
Montresor told Fortunato that he is a “rich, respected, admired, beloved” (86) man. He does not actually think that. When he says he “must not only punish” (83) Fortunato, but he must “punish [him] with impunity” (83), which he does. The first step in Montresor's plan is to get Fortunato to go in the catacombs. He says to Fortunato, “Come, we will go back, your health is precious” (86).
