The deranged but brilliant Edgar Allan Poe once said “The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls...” His ideas were found in both “The Cask Of Amontillado” by Poe, and “A Poison Tree” by William Blake. In both pieces the authors write about how revenge can create this insane creature within that will only settle for betrayal and destruction. For example, the speakers in both features are wronged by someone and their way of handling it is deceitful murder. The killers on the outside are characterized as calm people, while on the inside they are characterized truly as people who enjoy watching those who “deserve it” suffer. Poe and Blake use characterization to convey a theme that man takes violent revenge when they are …show more content…
He is characterized as nuts through his enjoyment of death. No man should enjoy another's torture, no matter what they did to them. Montresor not only enjoys it, he is the person torturing Fortunato. He is crazy and Poe shows this through how Montresor carries out his revenge. While he is crazy, he was very good at hiding his true intentions. Montresor hides his hatred for Fortunato, he pretends to care for him, and want him to succeed, but he actually wants to kill him. Up until he started burying Fortunato, Montresor did a good job of hiding his ”needs”. He kept acting like he wanted Fortunato to go home and rest, but under all that he was secretly provoking Fortunato to continue. “...to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.” (pg 372). Fortunato not only murdered a man, but he gained trust before he crushed his opponent. He completely tricked and plotted against Fortunato with no remorse or guilt. He is so inhumane that he felt it necessary to act as a friend, to show kindness to only see him die at his hand in the end. Montresor is so deceitful, we know this through Poe's use of characterization. He hides what he really feels only to make the result that much more enjoyable for him. Montresor puts on a fake, happy persona to hide the flame of revenge that burns within him. He not only doesn’t regret his murder, but he enjoys that way he played it out. Montresor likes how
For instance, Montresor says, “A moment more and I fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it” (Poe, 7). At this point in the story, Montresor’s deceitful personality allows him to chain Fortunato inside the recess. He does not even care that he is fettering a human being inside an underground cemetery. As the story develops, Montresor’s insanity becomes more evident as he barricades Fortunato in the recess with tiers of stones. For example, Montresor says, “I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth” (Poe, 8). Then when Montresor was about to fit and plaster the last stone, he burned Fortunato to death. The narrator says, “I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells” (Poe, 9). Montresor is definitely mentally unstable as he has no feeling of sorrow after burning a human to death. This is evident because Poe says that Montresor’s heart grew sick not because he just killed a person, but because of the dampness of the catacombs. Because the author portrays Montresor as such a vile and deranged human being, the reader is intrigued of how his mind
Montresor seems to be hurt very easily since he says that Fortunato insulted, yet could not remember how. Also the way Montresor thinks helps the reader decide that he is deceitful. Again the quote“I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 3) helps prove this. His smile seems completely friendly and harmless. But little does Fortunato know it is for his end showing Montresor as untrustworthy character. Even the story being told after fifty years should not be trusted. The time between the actual events and the story being told is far apart to be believed as a hundred percent accurate. “ I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them” (Poe 10). This excerpt proves that the story is being told after fifty years and that it cannot be fully accurate. Montresor’s state of mind and intentions show us his true personality as a deceitful and easily offended
Fortunato,” ‘I should like your opinion. But if you are too busy, I will get Luchesi’s advice. If anyone is a good judge, he is’”(Poe 68). The citation shows Montresor's deceitfulness since he is trying to guilt Fortunato to come with him. By saying he would like Fortunato's advice, it’s guilting Fortunato to come into the catacombs; only a brilliant and deceitful man could come up with this proposal. I can deduce that without Montresor's deviance, he would’ve never been able to trick Fortunato into the catacombs and to his death. Montresor's deceitfulness also fooled Fortunato to help him in carrying out his own death. Montresor tricks Fortunato into drinking for his cough, intoxicating him more and more with each sip. “I do not wish to alarm you-but you should take care of yourself. A drink of this Medoc will defend you from the damp”( Poe 69). This cite reveals how Montresor is tricking Fortunato into killing himself practically, and helping Montresor succeed. I can summarize that Montresor planned from the beginning to fool Fortunato into helping him by
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.”
Montresor is untrustworthy from the very beginning. By montresor vowing revenge early on ,the readers cannot trust his unreliable story. The text states , “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had born as long I could”(poe 59). The reader cannot trust montresor because montresor wants to kill fortunato.The reader cannot trust someone who has vengeance on others. There are always two sides to a story there side your side and the truth. And in this story we only got one side. James F. Cooney says “In the course of the narrative we learn how montresor used the cutting edge of irony to give a surgeon’s neatness to his work and to secure the greatest possible delight of himself” (Cooney 15 ). Montresor is trying to kill fortunato. He finds delight in the the act of killing fortunato. His murder
In “Cask Of Amontillado” Montresor seems to have Fortunato's best interests in mind until his true intentions are revealed through his thoughts, not his actions. This is showing how Montresor is careful in his revenge; Fortunato disrespected Montresor, being the wicked and revengeful person he is must make him pay for his mistake. Therefore, Montresor carefully planned out his attack, he had every detail carefully outlined in his head. He made no mistakes; while Fortunato unknowingly made the biggest mistake of his life. Montresor felt satisfied and happy with the horrible crime he committed. While he was burying Fortunato alive, he enjoyed the screams of his foe, relishing in the fact that he won. “...felt
In the story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato because he made fun of his family name. For years Montresor claims that Fortunato had, “hurt him”, so Montresor gets Fortunato drunk and tricks him into going to his house. When Fortunato arrives, they both go into Montresor’s basement and Montresor locks Fortunato up in addition to leaving him there to die. Montresor commits a crime by killing Fortunato in his own basement. Some people may argue that Montresor was a madman who only wanted to kill Fortunato because he made fun of Montresor’s family name; nevertheless, it is easy to see why one would believe that Montresor wasn’t a madman and that he had more motives rather than just that one reason to have killed Fortunato. What motivated Montresor to seek revenge on Fortunato was that he had made fun of Montresor’s Family name, had a drinking problem which causes him to lash out and say mean things to Montresor, and because Fortunato thought he knew more about fine wines than Montresor did. Theses motivations were also Fortunato’s weaknesses.
The Cask of Amontillado, a story by Edgar Allen Poe, and A Poison Tree, a poem by William Blake, both focus on a character who wishes vengeance on another who has wronged them in some way. They tell of how two people have been said to have been wronged one too many times and felt the need to do something about it. In order to express their wrath felt towards these people, they both go as far as to successfully murder them. These two pieces of writing portray a similar message about those who seek revenge on others, showing the effects it can have on people. Blake and Poe use the literary device of conflict and figurative language to convey the theme that after a betrayal, a desire for revenge can bring out the worst in people and negatively impact the lives of themselves and others.
In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe a guy named Montresor is seeking revenge on Fortunato because he insulted him. In my opinion Montresor is taking this way to far when he says he wants to kill him just because he said something bad about him. When he says this I can easily see that the narrator is very violent and has a sick mind.
A wise man once said, “ Destroy what destroys you.” destroying what destroys you is a common theme of revenge. When it comes to revenge, The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe is the story to go to. The whole story and plot itself revolve around one word. Revenge. The story is based on Montresor wanting revenge for the one who wronged him, Fortunato. Therefore, the theme of The Cask of Amontillado is revenge. The author Edgar Allen Poe uses different literary elements to create this theme. The literary elements Poe uses include: foreshadowing, suspense, and irony.
In the beginning of the story”The cask of Amontillado”, Allan Poe, pictures Montresor as an evil or a villain monster who does not value someone else life by taking away Fortunato’s life. In paragraph one, he was bragging about the killing with any guilt or remorse; it seems that Montresor was very proud about his accomplishment for killing Fortunato. The only motif that Montresor had to kill Fornunado just for the fact he had insulted him over the years. As an illustration in paragraph one when he said “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.... At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled....
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.
In “The Cask”, the perspective we are given on the story is limited; which allows for an open interpretation of what his true motives for revenge are. As Baraban states “Montresor elaborates a sophisticated philosophy of revenge: "I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (48) presenting the reader with a vibrant view of what he intends to do. The question one begs is, for what reason? Most readers would finish this story and assert that mentally, Montresor is insane. As Baraban states, “Poe's intriguing silence about the nature of the insult that made Montresor murder Fortunato has given rise to explanations of Montresor's deed through insanity. Richard M. Fletcher, for example, maintains that Montresor's actions are irrational and that therefore he is mad.” (50) Montresor states at the opening of the story, “you,who so well know the nature of my soul”( are words likely said on his death bed to his confessor; being that he committed this deed fifty years prior, it would make sense that he is finally coming clean. Moreover, since he is commenting on the nature of his soul, it is plausible to assume that Montresor has been deemed crazy
Are you safe? You may never know. In the texts “The Cask Of Amantiatio” by Edgar Allen Poe and “A Poison Tree” by William Blake, They show that revenge can come as a shock because sometimes appearance hides reality. There are two literary devices in these passages that strongly represent the texts, they are conflict and setting because they are actively expressed throughout both the texts many times. In the texts Poe and Blake use conflict and setting to show that revenge can come as a shock because sometimes appearance hides reality.
Every man is different on the outside than inside. That was especially true for two psychotic, murderous men, in The Poison Tree and The Cask Of Amontillado. These two men do not like to be insulted by anyone. They also bundle up a lot of anger and unfortunately when that happened to these two specific men they didn’t handle it very well. A poison tree is about a man who was very angry with his enemy and it just kept growing and growing and it didn’t stop. After all of this anger was built up it eventually lead to murder.The cask of Amontillado is once again about a man who is wrongly insulted and he does not like it, so he gets very angry, that wrath just keeps growing. He plans to get revenge to this man by luring him into the catacombs beneath his house and bury him alive. My first developmental paragraph will be about how Blake and Poe excellent use of characterization throughout the poem and the story reveals true anger in men. Another great device both authors use to convey themes of evil is there use of very specific details. William Blake and Edgar Allen Poe use characterization and details to convey the idea that when a man holds on to his anger, he can become evil.