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The Cask Of Amontillado Literary Analysis

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Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado tells a tale of revenge, maliciousness and horror. We are informed early on that Montresor, whom we can consider the “unreliable narrator,” feels he has been profoundly insulted by a character named Fortunato and conspires to seek revenge, by whatever means necessary. We quickly learn that Montresor is willing to go to extreme lengths to satisfy his desire for revenge when he states that “at length I will be avenged; this was a point definitively settled- but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk,” (pg. 166) also allowing us to understand that accomplishing his plan of revenge outweighed any risk of consequences he may suffer from his actions. Montresor makes …show more content…

While everyone, including Montresor’s attendants at home, is busy enjoying the festivities, Fortunato, a wine connoisseur, is lured back to Montresor’s vaults with the deliberate lie that he has recently acquired a cask of Amontillado, which Montresor seduces his friend to taste. Fortunato, astounded by the idea and none the wiser about Montresor’s intended plans, excitedly goes forth, anxious to get a taste of this wine. In the walk through the vaults, in learning that the walls are filled with the dead bodies of Montresor’s family, and also covered with Nitre, Fortunato begins to cough. Montresor asks if he would like to turn around, but Fortunato declines and accepts wine as a suppressant to his cough. Fortunato assures Montresor that a cough will not kill him, and Montresor quickly replies “True-true,” (pg. 168) which proves significant because he already knows that Fortunato will die, but not from a simple cough, but through his own act of cruelty. They continue on, both consuming the wine, which seems to be getting Fortunato drunk and making Montresor more alert, and it’s indicated when Montresor states that “the wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc” (pg. 168) As they continue further, Fortunato makes a hand gesture of a Mason and when Montresor does not appear to recognize this …show more content…

“Montresor has not been so blessed, or as he asserts, he once was, but has lost his status and/or his contentment. To someone who is unfortunate, like Montresor, Fortunato’s happiness is a daily injury. Thus, Montresor conceives and executes an ingenious plan, which appears to succeed, for revenging himself on fortune’s friend.” (Gruesser, 1998) In this story, revenge was a powerful motivation and the cause of the brutal acts that occurred due to one individuals feeling of being so intensely insulted. The horror, or terror, of this story comes into play when we comprehend that perhaps Fortunato never realized that he had even insulted Montresor in the first place. Perhaps, this plot of revenge came about due to Montresor forming something in his mind, that wasn’t what had even occurred between the two men. It becomes terrifying when we think about the fact that we may have innocently done something that offended somebody else and that perhaps, someone, somewhere, may be holding a grudge against us for an incident we are not even aware offended them. Instead of Montresor trying to discuss with Fortunato what he did that insulted him, we see that, in the moment that he felt insulted, he made up his mind that he would

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