Betrayal In The Cask Of Amontillado

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a story about revenge, but the reader is never truly told exactly what Fortunato did to warrant such vengeance. In fact, throughout the story, the reader gradually realizes that Montresor is an unreliable narrator, and that Fortunato is a friend of Montresor who is unaware that Montresor is plotting to kill him. He is a connoisseur of wine who is enticed by Montresor to sample some rare Amontillado and lured into his trap down into the catacombs. While Luchesi is another wine connoisseur and an acquaintance of Montresor and Fortunato; Montresor urges Fortunato to sample his wine by threatening to allow Luchesi to try it first if Fortunato does not comply. that whatever insult Montresor believes Fortunato committed is probably imagined or exaggerated.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, the theme of betrayal is evident through the use of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism. The reader is never told any of Fortunato’s slights against the narrator, but depending on their magnitude his innocence throughout this story may be foolish, just reasonable or utterly expected. Regardless of the reason, Fortunato is completely unaware in these instances of the hatred directed towards him. Montresor, the madman he believes to be his friend, holding only goodwill towards him, has only been cultivating this attitude in order to better trap him.

Edgar Allen Poe tells his macabre story “The Cask of Amontillado” through the eyes of a man so obsessed with family pride that he turns his back on acceptable society and gets swept away by his thoughts of revenge and murder. The reader watches as Montresor leads his victim, Fortunato, deeper into the catacombs of his family home to exact his murderous vengeance. However, it is not madness that led Montresor, a noble aristocrat, to murder, nor is it passionate love or hate. It is pride that led to Montresor’s murder of Fortunato, but not just Montresor’s pride in his family. A combination of Fortunato’s foolish self-pride and Montresor’s deadly pride in his family lead to Fortunato’s untimely death. The central theme of Poe’s story is deadly pride, as represented through Fortunato’s actions, Montresor’s actions, and how, eventually, it leads to their downfall.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a horror story about revenge and murder that occurred half a century ago. Through the haunting confession of the narrator, Montresor, the reader is able to feel what Fortunato had endured half a century ago. In this tale of revenge and murder the dark, damp, and bone-filled catacombs provide a contrast to life during the “madness of the carnival” (553).

How do we define evil? Is measured in the volume of chaos produced by the deed (or deeds)? Or by the morality (or lack thereof) of the deed itself? What about the intent of the person behind the action? Does that play a part in how we perceive the malevolence of a task? Depends. In the story “the Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, we live through the eyes of Sanger Rainsford as he survives three days of being hunted by ex-german general and master hunter Zaroff, who hunts his fellow human beings for sport. On the other hand, in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, we watch through the eyes of Montresor, a rich man by heritage who murders his once friend, Fortunato, as revenge for being insulting by him. In the first, the antagonist’s morals were so twisted that he believed he had done nothing wrong, while in the second, the “villain” of the story, Montresor, gave in to the pull of anger and hatred so deeply, he forgot the morals which lay pawing at him just beneath the surface. So who is the most evil, the one who gave up his morals for revenge, or the one who had all the wrong morals in the in the first place?

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind (Gandhi)”, is the perfect analogy for Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado”. Montresor seeks revenge after Fortunato insulted his pride. Fortunato foolish pride led him to his demise at the hands of his opponent Montresor. A man’s pride can leave him blinded.

During the Story the Cask of Amontillado there was a lot of interesting mood swings and the story progressed. In the beginning the story was cheerful and it was a carnival and everyone was happy. When Montresor finally told Fortunato what was going on it changed to scary and messed up. The Suspense in this story was built around Montresor talking at the beginning about what his plan was and how he wasn't caught doing it. “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today!” is a quote that displays the beginning of the story as Montresor deceives Fortunato into thinking he is his friend(Poe 58).

Like many things, pride can be a source of joy in small amounts but can harm in excess. In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor plans to kill Fortunato, who once insulted him, by burying him alive in the catacombs. To achieve this, Montresor uses Fortunato’s pride to his advantage when leading him to his death. In the story, Poe reveals that too much pride can lead to one’s downfall.

The short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” written by Edgar Alan Poe is about two friends, Montresor and Fortunato. The story is morally all about revenge and murder. Poe uses a deception to make the story a mystery towards the end. Poe also in the story explains why Montresor has so much hatred toward Fortunato which then created a lot more suspense while reading. One question that can be asked is, “Why does Montresor carry so much hatred toward Fortunato?” The story begins with a day of celebration which then is very ironic because it starts off as a day of celebration and then to a celebration of murder. I believe the key point of the story is suspense which indicated a sense of something is about to happen. Edgar Alan Poe did an amazing

The central character in “Cask of Amontillado” is Montresor, a mischievous, sly, man trying to overcome the feeling of humiliation. First, Fortunato insults Montresor, defacing him. Montresor says, “but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.. at length I would be avenged” (Poe 3). Montresor pledges to retaliate at Fortunato as an act of relieving his humiliation. As revenge is taking over Montresor’s mind, it pushes him to do terrible activities.

In literature, authors use common themes such as the value of human life in order to show readers what it means to demean or value a life. A common theme among these stories is revenge. In “The Most Dangerous Game” Rainsford gets revenge on Zaroff for hunting him like an animal. In the story it states “One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed...

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe describes a dark action committed by a character. In the story, Montresor describes how he got revenge for what Fortunato did to him. He says he built a brick wall to trap Fortunato in the Catacombs. He declares why he did this when he says, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 636). Montresor wanted to get revenge on Fortunato, but he did not want to be punished for it. He then says, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unrepressed when retribution overtakes its redresser” (Poe 636). Therefore, he came up with the idea to seal Fortunato in the catacombs, where will never be found. Montresor

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Well, Montresor didn’t get the memo. Instead, in “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor decides to develop a grand plan to kill Fortunato just for making him into a fool one too many times. This lack of forgiveness makes Montresor the antagonist, or villain, in the story.

In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor is strong-minded to seek vengeance on his so called “friend”, Fortunato, which builds much tension and surprise in the story. This story is

In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado “, Edgar Allen Poe uses irony to reveal the misfortune of Fortunato. In short story, Fortunato is described by Montresor as being rich, respected, admired, and beloved. A person with these attributes would not believe that his life was about to change in a dramatic way. The first irony is that Fortunato’s name means fortunate, which is ironic because in the story he is murdered by someone he thought was his friend. Fortunato is most definitely not fortunate. The narrator says: “The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells,” (Poe 1). The narrator describes Fortunato in a jester costume. The irony is that Fortunato is playing