Characters guide stories along; they are the ones that help the reader figure out what the characters are thinking. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, the character Montresor illustrates and describes the evil of what he did to Fortunato. Without the thoughts from Montresor the reader would have been surprised by Fortunato’s death. Recognizing the characters actions helps readers know who the characters actually are. The short story “The Cask of Amontillado” portrays Montresor as a disingenuous, cruel, and pitiless character.
Montresor is a disingenuous friend to Fortunato. Montresor wants revenge because his supposedly friend hurt him. Fortunato had issues; he did not think before he spoke, and he focused on his dignity and not others feelings.
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Whenever Montresor is around Fortunato, Montresor feels inferior toward him. Fortunato had the tendency to making himself look the best and letting others believe that they are nothing compared to him. Montresor is finished with feeling diminished and lessoned by Fortunato. Montresor desired, “Montresor wanted the gratification of seeing his victim realize that he was in control. In addition to witnessing the final result of his plot, he needed to be there to experience it's unfolding firsthand” (Meyer). Montresor transforms into a monster, which ironically corresponds to his name. He wants to feel powerful and in control. He does not think of the feelings of Fortunato’s wife; he only thinks for himself. Montresor removes any feelings of remorse or guilt to murder Fortunato. Killing people actually gave Montresor joy. During Fortunato’s walk to death, Montresor is satisfied with the outcome of how his plan is going. Ultimately, he is excited about Fortunato’s death. Montresor cannot wait to see Fortunato’s face and hear his screams when Fortunato figures out he is going to die. Montresor plans, “I would make him pay, yes; but I would act only with the greatest of care…and also the wrong would not be made right unless Fortunato knew that he was paying and knew who was forcing him to pay” (Poe 68). Montresor thinks the only way to feel authoritative is to abolish Fortunato for good. Montresor determines that Fortunato’s rude comments are enough for Fortunato to die. Montresor is a cruel and evil person who wants his victim to realize he is about to die. Montresor wished for a slow death for Fortunato; he wanted Fortunato to suffer. Montresor’s horrid desires portrays him as a ruthless
Cameron Jerrell Newton was born on May 11, 1989 in Savannah, Georgia. He was the younger of two sons born to Cecil and Jackie Newton. Cecil was so eager to prepare his sons for a shot at the NFL, he put Cecil Jr. and Cameron through college-type drills before they reached their teens. Cam grew up in College Park, a suburb south of Atlanta. Cam began playing organized football as soon as he was allowed, and by age 8, he was a star. Since it was a weight-based football league, he often skipped meals in order to remain eligible. Cam was a so-so student at Seaborn Lee Elementary School and at Camp Creek Elementary School, but his parents refused to let him slip through the cracks. Cam was bright enough, and the teachers liked him, but his abundant energy, often made him hard to handle in the classroom. (jockbio.com)
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
To begin with, Montresor taking revenge on Fortunato is quite evil. When Montresor trick Fortunato down to the cellar by using Fortunato’s ego and taste in wine it is very cool and calculating. In the text Montresor says, “ As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If anyone has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell me--.” (Montresor 58) This plays off of Fortunato ego saying somebody else had a better taste in wine then he did. In like manner, Montresor was very happy and excited to see Fortunato during carnival. Which is just an act to lure Fortunato to the catacombs. Montresor says in his head, “ 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.” (Montresor57) Furthermore, Montresor offers many times for Fortunato to turn back because of the cold or of his health. The short story states, “ Come sais Montresor, we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was.” This is cruel because once Fortunato gets to the bottom of the catacombs he will never get to turn back.
However, Montresor has a characteristic that, not shown prominently, but given through little hints until the end. That secret characteristic is guilt, guilt for wanting to kill Fortunato. Some of those hints show at the carnival, down in Montresor’s catacombs, and even as Montresor is building in the wall to keep Fortunato in to die. At the carnival, Montresor calls Fortunato his ‘friend’. “It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend.” (Poe). In addition, Montresor is talking about Fortunato, with the term friend being used. Another is, “I was so pleased to see [Fortunato]...” (Poe). In this part of the story, Montresor even says himself that he was happy to see his friend, Fortunato. He shows signs of actually liking Fortunato, but for strongly believing in his family motto and arms of revenge, he feels the need to get revenge on Fortunato for what he did to Montresor. Montresor greets Fortunato kindly and with warmth, “[m]y dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day!” (Poe). Montresor
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
Hoping to obtain revenge, Montresor, the narrator, lures Fortunato, one of his friends, into the depths of his
Conflict: For Montresor to revenge himself for Fortunato’s insult, he has to get away with it – if Fortunato can revenge him back,
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
Later on the story Montresor is offended by Fortunato when the fortuned one tells him that he
Montresor has held this grudge against his friend who according to him had given him “thousands of injuries.” This grudge he has makes him vindictive as he seeks revenge against Fortunato for his insult against him. His family’s motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit" meaning “No one attacks me with impunity”. The motto implies that the entire Montresor family history is filled with acts of revenge. Montresor becomes obsessed with his vengeance and when he has Fortunato chained to the wall he mocks at his cries and moaning, “I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength.” Montrosor never mentions what the insulting act was which can tell us that the actual act wasn’t as important as him just getting some sort of revenge.
Montresor tells the story in detail of how he leads a man, Fortunato, to his death. Montresor repeatedly expresses the need to kill Fortunato because he has done something to insult him and he must pay for it with his life. Montresor tells readers early in the story that he is going to be lying to Fortunato’s face by acting one way, but thinking about killing him the whole time. He says "I continued, as was my wont, to smile in
In “The Cask of Amontillado” the main protagonist Montresor is an interesting character. He is much like a small child when the child gets victimized. The child will throw fits and do whatever he or she can to hurt or get revenge on the person inflicting wrong on them. Montresor does the same to Fortunato, for some kind of family affair, in which Montresor lost his social status. Montresor is no fool about killing Fortunato, and he takes his time to make sure that everything will go right. Montresor is clever in ways of getting away with Fortunato’s murder. However, the thought that baffles readers the most is that Montresor feels no remorse, sympathy, or regrets about killing Fortunato. All of these traits make Montresor the compelling
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
First, the theme of revenge is shown exceptionally clear by the very first line of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato, I had borne the best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe 236). This line clearly shows that Montresor takes significant pride in not only himself but his family as well. Due to this great pride, he refuses for his family name to be belittled in any way, shape, or form. As mentioned by Elena Baraban, “Montresor elaborates a sophisticated philosophy of revenge.” (Baraban 164). This
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