Edgar Allan Poe was an American author. He was known for his poems and short stories, some including “ A Tell-Tale Heart”, “ The Raven” and “ The Cask of Amontillado”. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “ The Cask of Amontillado” the protagonist Montresor wants to seek revenge on an old “ friend” Fortunato. He feels a wrong is not made right if the punishment isn’t fair. The author uses irony to foreshadow the demise Fortunato. The story is narrated from a first person point of view. The details of how Montresor imposed his revenge on Fortunato, which the reason was not made clear.
He wanted to seek revenge for an “ unforgivable insult”, he continues to unfold the demise and the actions he took to succeed. The author continues to set the mood or being dark and horrific. Unfortunately Fortunato isn’t aware of the hurt he caused or inflicted on Montresor. The author also uses symbolism with Fortunato’s name, his name means fortunate one, but in this case he wasn’t so fortunate. The story takes place during carnival, the irony in this is that Fortunato was dressed as a jester. Montresor plays on Fortunato weakness, which being his love for wine.
Fortunato thought of himself as a wine expert and knowing every wine ever made. When Montresor encounters Fortunato he was already drunk from the activities during the carnival. Montresor played it cool and pretended he was delighted to see Fortunato. This is the start of the demise, Montresor mentions that he has a cask of Amontillado and he was on his way to Luchresi for a tasting because he knows so much about wines. “ As I could not find you I was just going to talk to Luchresi. If anyone understands wines it is Luchresi. He will tell me.
” Fortunato thinking of himself as this great wine connoisseur tells Montresor Luchresi knows nothing about wines and wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. This allowed him to be manipulated into falling for the scheme. With pride also being a major theme in the story, it’s evident that Fortunato was determine to prove Montresor wrong about the amontillado. Montresor suggested they do it another time because he is drunk and the catacombs wouldn’t be safe for him. “ No, my friend, no. I can see that you are not well. And the vaults are cold and wet.
” Fortunato ignoring the signs he insist to go anyway, his pride allows him to become foolish. This allowed him to become more vulnerable to Montresor’s plot. As you can see, Fortunato character shows some insensitivity to others feelings, including himself in a way. Also his love and greed for wine caused him not to be fully aware of what is going on around him. Montresor is getting him more drunk, but Fortunato only concern is the Amontillado. Montresor gave him a second chance of redemption but selfishly only thinking of himself they continue further into the vaults.
When they finally reached his “ resting place” Montresor locked chains on him and all he could still think about is the Amontillado. “ Before Fortunato could guess what was happening, I closed the lock and chained him tightly to the wall. ”… “ But…But the Amontillado? ” “ Ah, yes, yes indeed; the Amontillado. ” By the time Fortunato realized what was happening, it was too late. Montresor already started building the wall with the stones he had taking down earlier. When the last stone was put in Fortunato cried out “ Montresor! For the love of God!! ” And a simple reply from Montresor was “ Yes.
For the love of God! ” The irony here lies the atonement for sin. Montresor was making pay for his sins. Another underlying theme that stood out in this short story is freedom. As Montresor is telling his crime that he committed fifty years ago, he is gaining freedom. Montresor was so consumed with hatred, and set on getting revenge and making sure the punishment was suitable for Fortunato, Montresor didn’t actually forgive him for what he did. He carried it around with him and waited for the perfect time to get his revenge. Montresor didn’t apologize for what he did, and had no intentions on doing so.
He showed no remorse in burring Fortunato alive at the time, which makes his character unreliable and unsympathetic. Getting his revenge on Fortunato meant peace of mind for him. The way Montresor tells the tale it is almost as he is confessing his sins. The night he locked Fortunato away no one knew. He sent all his servants away, no one was around to witness the “ crime”. As Montresor continues to tell the story at the end, it becomes clear that he felt a little remorseful. “ Fortunato. ” I heard only a soft, low sound, a half-cry of fear. My heart grew sick; it must have been the cold. ”
