Compare And Contrast Montresor And Cask Of Amontillado

At the beginning of the story, Montresor tells us that he has vowed vengeance on Fortunato. Montresor also states "I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when

Edgar Allan Poe was an American short-story writer and a poet. He wrote “The Cask Of Amontillado” in 1846. The story is a mysterious tale. The tale was first published in the magazine Godey’s Lady Book. “Poe’s masterful use of irony and first person narrative combined to evoke a sense of horror in the reader”(Riggs, 22). The tale is about revenge, murder and torture.

Cask of amontillado is on of Edgar Allan Poe’s best works it tells of deception and murder. In the cask of amontillado Edgar Allan Poe uses gothic literature to describe murder. Poe’s use of an unreliable narrator in his short story successfully creates a eerie effect for his reader.

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

‘And the motto?’ ‘Nemo me impune lacessit’” (Poe 1). Simply translated, this means “no one provokes me with impunity.” The family motto indicates that pride of family honor has been a long-standing and well-guarded trait. Montresor’s ancestry and history of pride elevates his grievance against Fortunato, and evokes an attack because he dared to belittle Montresor’s honorable name. In fact, Montresor’s pride is still so great, and his remorse so little, that he continues to gasconade about his revenge fifty years after the event. The pride of his family name forces Montresor to murder Fortunato, conclusively and irreversibly directing his decisions throughout the short story.

We soon see foreshadowing of Fortunato's impending doom when the issue of Montresor's shield of arms is brought into the conversation as "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.". Even more appropriate is Montresor's family motto, translated as, "No one wounds me with impunity". Such a visual depiction and mental conviction due to family honor and history creates all the more impetus in Montresor to carry out the punishment that Fortunato deserves for wronging him, and more likely the family honor. When Montresor finally captures Fortunato in the catacombs, the climax of his precisely calculated deed, he revels in the sound of Fortunato's chains rattling, and "that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones". However, his satisfaction soon turns to apprehension when suddenly "a succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back". He hesitates at this moment, when his revenge is sweetest, when he should bask in the suffering of his "enemy", and finds himself contemplating the shrill screams of his captive! He does eventually compose

"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.

Montresor wanted to inflict harm on Fortunato for the embarrassment he felt. The narrator of the story believes that Fortunato has insulted him many times. Poe states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe, 238). This reveals that because of these insults, Montresor plans to execute his plan for revenge. Moreover, Montresor’s build up hatred towards Fortunato forced him to take this step. The text states, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.” (Poe, 238). Poe uses this quote to clarify that Montresor takes this matter pretty seriously. This seriousness causes him to not forgive Fortunato. Instead of letting his anger go, he nourished it, so his wrath grew. The significant clash in the story is in between Montresor and Fortunato.

To further explain, one cannot do wrong and expect to receive no punishments. Montresor is lashing out after quietly sitting back while contemplating his revenge. His motives are provoking his manipulation to “vow revenge” on Fortunato (Poe 3).

Any reader can gather from the story that he is proud of his family’s name, and Montresor even tells Fortunato, “The Montresors were a great and numerous family" (Poe). Montresor also gloats about his extensive knowledge of wine, “I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could” (Poe). It is Montresor’s pride in his family and name that when Fortunato insults his name, he is angered and he sets out to seek revenge upon him. Montresor’s family motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit,” which means that no one can assail his family with impunity (Poe). He uses his family motto as a sort of inspiration for revenge against Fortunato, “Montresor intends to seek vengeance in support of his family motto” (Womack). In the narration, Montresor states, “I must not only punish but punish with impunity,” meaning he will make Fortunato pay for all the wrong he has done him. Although the narrator intends to portray to readers that his murderous intentions are honorable, readers can only perceive the sinister and vengeful motives of narrator Montresor. As Montresor plots the murder of Fortunato, he does so with cruelty and mercilessness. He betrays his old friend, and he desires the termination of

Phaethon set the world on fire by driving his father’s chariot, while Montresor buried his friend, Fortunato, alive in a wall in the catacombs. Two completely different stories but both can be compared through mood and characterization and a common theme. The mood of the story is based off of when and where the story takes place, the setting and the certain vibe that the setting gives off.

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.

Symbols play a great importance in many of Edgar Allan Poe’s literary works because each symbol adds detail to the story. Although some symbols are obvious others are hidden, like a mystery waiting to be solved. Even though Poe’s literary works weren’t appreciated in his time, they have become wildly popular and read amongst many people today. After reading Edgar Allan Poe’s

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” is very creepy, much like Poe’s other stories. It is about Montresor and his friend Fortunato. Fortunato plays a lot of pranks on Montresor and he reaches his breaking point. He does not think that he should have to let Fortunato play his pranks and Montresor feels like Fortunato is insulting to him, so he plots his revenge.

In The Cask of Amontillado, it is discovered that Montresor’s family has a coat of arms and a family motto, both of which fit the situation perfectly. Old royal families have these in order to make an association between the symbol and motto with their name. His family coat of arms is a “foot [that] crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel” and their motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit,” which translates to “No one insults me with impunity” (DiYanni 146). This is ironic since Montresor wants revenge with impunity. Both the coat of arms and motto are a perfect representation of the revenge being sought by Montresor since the reason for his revenge is that Fortunato has insulted him and therefore must pay the price and be punished. This choice of seeking revenge because of an insult can be seen as being influenced by cultural values since the coat of arms and motto are part of the family values that Montresor has grown up with.