Our world deals with many elements that make our time on Earth more interesting. Every single day each person has the opportunity to make their own decisions. Each person chooses their own path to go down, which can lead to a superior and confident path or the diatribe and stingy trail (Hook). Every person in the world, reputable or execrable, have their own flaws. There is an inadequacy in each person that can make it hard to decipher if a character is a true protagonist. In the short story’s “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, it can be hard for the readers to tell who the true protagonist is in each of the plots (Transition). Imperfections and eccentric …show more content…
Her moral weakness is that she cares more about her popularity status than loyal friends. “What girl at Lansing High would not want to be in her place now? Millicent thought, amused. What girl would not want to be one of the elect… Even Tracy had been wistful when she heard that Millicent had been one of the five girls to receive an invitation” (Page number). The infirmity of Millicent is that she is blinded by the popularity road that she is headed down and not even caring about her true friends. The fact that the main character is leaving her devoted friends behind for selfish reasons can make it difficult to see that she is the true protagonist of her story. Protagonist due what is in the best interest for themselves and everyone around them trying to cause the least amount of damage as possible. On the other hand good guys are flawed like everyone else which can lead to poorly made decisions which they later fix. Millicent thought that Tracy was fine with her decision which made her think it was the right one. She was abandoning Tracy, but once she figured out she needed her friend more than popularity Millicent fixed her mistakes. This made her the protagonist of her own adventurous story. The protagonist from this story is similar to the “Scarlet Ibis,” because both of their moral weaknesses come from …show more content…
When Montresor finishes his task he has heartbroken not only the wife of Montresor but himself. He says “(his) heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so… For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!” (page #). This story is narrated by Montresor who is unreliable, which makes the decision of whether he is a protagonist harder. Along with being unreliable he also has a moral weakness of the desire of vengeance through his cunning ways. The undependable narrator states that Fortunato has put Montresor through a “thousand injuries” which he borne the best he could until ”(Fortunato) ventured upon insult (he) vowed revenge” (page #). With Montresor's deceiving ways and with Fortunato being intoxicated Montresor gets his revenge by essentially burying Fortunato alive. Montresor is essentially psychotic, but in his mind, he is helping himself and others by getting rid of Fortunato. His moral weakness goes away once the killing of Fortunato was completed, but he lives in sorrow along with the wife of Fortunato. He is the “hero” and “villain” of this story in his mind. Montresor is not a sound person so in his mind, he helped everyone by killing him and also hurting them at the same time. He is the overall protagonist because without looking at the final emotions Montresor still feels
Montresor is an evil person because he killed a man. In the story Montresor says ¨There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house.¨ (Poe, 210) Montresor did not decide to kill Fortunato in the moment. He knew that he would kill him before he did it. This is revealed in the story, when Montresor orders his servants to leave his home, so there would be no witnesses to his plan. Another example to prove this is that Montresor brought a trowel with him into catacombs so that he could seal Fortunato into the wall with bricks and the trowel is used to spread mortar onto the bricks. People
The major characteristics of the narrator and main character, Montresor, are anger, hatred, and revenge. In the story, he is angry with Fortunato because he believes that Fortunato has wronged and insulted him many
As the story plot progresses, Montresor’s own mental disconnection within himself becomes more apparent. Even after the death of Fortunato, Montresor “[still has] no answer” for
From the very beginning of the story, one can obviously see that Montresor thinks that he has been wronged by Fortunato. His plan for vengeance is easily seen through his actions and his thoughts. "He had a weak
Montresor is admirable because throughout the story, he is very patient. In the beginning of the story,
The third characteristic we see in Montresor is pride. He isn’t modest and boasts even after fifty years about his perfect crime. His pride is what leads him to seek revenge against Fortunato because he doesn’t want him to think he can go with impunity after insulting him. The murder may have not been just out of anger for the insult but more of because he didn’t want to be seen as weak. Montresor takes pride in his extensively planned out scheme and how he plans out all the details.
Montresor is a cold and calculating killer, he knows exactly what he is doing the whole time he is leading Fortunato in the catacombs. This character is dark, disturbed and pretty much a sociopath. He feels no empathy, he despises injustice, and he holds no qualms about killing to right the injustices done against him.
Montresor’s apparent pride in his having gotten away with the murder of Fortunato and the subtle lies he implants into the story only adds to the cold-hearted man who is Montresor.
He narrates with such passionate anger, the fact that he wanted to kill Fortunato so much he acts as if he’s beneath him and takes the time to play all the mind games just to hear him scream out for help in the ending. The depths of darkness in this story is very interesting even at Fortunato’s death bed he laughs at the sheer irony, for he is wearing a jester’s uniform and he is the one who has been fooled. In exact words Montresor would admit the gruesome surroundings to the catacomb like structure, ‘’its walls had been lined with human remains piled to the vault overhead’’ – Montresor act
In order to know who the protagonist of a story is, it is essential to know what a protagonist is. According to Literary Devices, “A protagonist is the central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel, or any other story”. This means that the protagonist is the main character of the story. The story revolves around this character and the conflict affects them. A protagonist is usually an honorable and sincere person who looks out for others. For a character to be the protagonist, the audience must be able to relate to that character. They also have to have a flaw that the audience can personally connect to.
Montresor’s actions lend to his vengeful and manipulative nature. He lures Fortunato into the catacombs of his home to carry out his plans to kill Fortunato. In the first step of his plan, he boosts Fortunato’s ego by saying that Luchesi was almost as worthy a judge of wine as he. Then Montresor tricks Fortunato into believing that there is an
In the text montresor says”my heart grew sick on account of the dampness of the catacombs”(poe 67). Montresor is saying he feels bad for what he is doing and he feels sick in his heart To where he doesn't want to go through with it. But he thinks to the fact that he has made fun of him. In that case he continued down the catacombs and on with the murder. He thinks he is going to bring justice to himself but he loves the fact that he is taking Fortunato to his death. James F. Cooney says “ He seems to be unaware but the reader is not ,of the gleeful tone of his confession”(Cooney 15 ). At first Montresor acts as though he does not know what he is doing wrong. Suddenly he feels sick and knows he is wrong but thinks to when fortunato mad fun of him and feels no longer
In this story the character of Montresor is revealed through his own words. When he reveals he is going to punish Fortunato for merely insulting him, that he has planned the whole act of vengeance, and that he has been playing as being Fortunato’s friend, we know we are dealing with a deranged personality. His character is also revealed with references to his family. It is almost as if Poe has Montresor’s ancestors tell the reader how nicely he fits into the family tree. His legacy from his family motto “No one attacks me with impunity” and a coat of arms that depicts a serpent whose last wish before death is to poison the foot that crushed it. Does the fruit of ever fall far from the tree? Montresor is as evil as his forebears were. He shows no remorse about what he has done, even in old age. When he says, “May he rest in peace” at the end of the story, the reader gets the feeling he means, “ I hope you stay there and rot” rather than, “I hope you found joy and peace in heaven.”
In the beginning of the story Montresor shows that he is planning revenge on Fortunato and that is the only thing on Montresor mind. “ I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.”(1) This supports the theme because Montresor holds in a grudge and takes it
Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories always attract our attention by the images of murders, terrors, madmen, and mysteries. “The Cast of Amontillado” is Poe’s famous short story, which presents us a cold-blooded murder and two persons with personality flaws. This essay will make a contrast between the two characters by analyzing their characteristics and their psychological changes as the plot develops in order to understand the theme of this story.