Comparing The Family In The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe

The Cask of Amontillado, Poe tells the story through the eyes and voice of the character Montresor, a seemingly wealthy socialite in nineteenth century Italy. Montresor is the classic example of an unreliable narrator. Montresor begins the story with "You, who know the nature of my soul." This lets the reader know he is telling an unknown entity the story.

Edgar Allen Poe's brings us a twisted tale of vengeance and horror in "The Cask of Amontillado." Poe's character, Montresor, acts as our guide and narrator through this story. He grabs a hold of the reader as he tells the story from his own apathetic and deceptive mind to gain vengeance from the weak and dismal Fortunato. Montresor's mentality is disturbing as he uses his clever, humor, ironic symbolism, and darkness to accomplish this.

The cast of Amontillado was written by Allan Poe at a time when he felt he was being unjustly attacked. Most critics believe that the cask of Amontillado was written by Poe against his critics in the Mirror. I believe the cask of Amontillado is a story of Revenge and Hatred against some friends whom be believed had wrongfully accused him. A review of Allan Poe as a person and his experiences in life is essential a clear understanding of "The Cask of Amontillado". Hence, I will apply a cultural method of interpretation.

In The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, the dark side of human nature is exemplified through the character of Montresor and his victim, Fortunato. Montresor is a manipulative and vengeful person. These characteristics lead to the death of Fortunato, a man who has wronged him. Through the acts, words, and the thoughts of the character, one is able to see him carry out his plan for revenge.

Poe starts out with a man, by the name of Montresor, wanting revenge on another man, named Fortunato. Most of the story takes place deep in the Montresor family catacombs. As Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs, he chains Fortunato up to a small hole in a wall, bricks it over, and leaves Fortunato to die. Even through the traits of anger, hatred, and revenge, as the story progresses on, Montresor, the main character in “The Cask of Amontillado”, starts to show signs of feeling guilty for wanting to murder Fortunato.

Edgar Allen Poe's, "The Cask Of Amontillado," is a between two enemies. It humorously portrays the foil of Fortunato, as he is led through the catacombs. Poe's humour is dark, sarcastic and very ironic, which quickly becomes a signpost of the tale. Poe sets himself apart from other authors in his works, based on how he depicts and encounters death. It accentuates the notion that at times, your worst enemy will appear as your best friend. Pride is the downfall of every man and the same can be said for witty and daring tale fortunato.

One component of  human nature is revenge. In the book “The Cask of Amontillado”, Fortunato insulted Montresor in a way that Montresor wanted him to be hurt like he was hurt. Montresor states “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could”(Poe 3). Montresor was mad at Fortunato for these insults. He later states “At length I would be avenged”(Poe).  Fortunato, however,  wasn’t aware of this plot though. Fortunato, a very prideful man, was tricked into tasting some wine that Montresor said wasn’t what he thought it was.  Fortunato was then dragged down into the catacombs below Montresor’s house to taste the wine, but what Fortunato didn’t know was what Montresor really wanted. He went to a place where there was a door, Fortunato was shackled to the inside and Montresor put bricks to close it up while Fortunato slowly and painfully died of what nobody knows, it could have been dehydration, starvation, it will be forever unknown. Montresor felt that because of what Fortunato did to him, he needed to die. Montresor was driven by revenge to kill Fortunato.

Edgar Allan Poe portrays conflict by creating tension between Montresor and Fortunato. In the story, tension is merely only seen through the eyes of Montressor because of the animosity that he has against Fortunato for the cursing of his family's name which was one of an old and honored one. Montresor states his revenge by saying “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed my revenge.” Montresor is stating that he had been able to bear insults, but once his family's name was insulted, he was driven to seek revenge from this humility. Montresor's evil intentions to murder Fortunato come solely from Fortantos insulting demeanor. The conflict that is shared between Fortunato and Montresor is the main factor which creates the theme of revenge in this story.

In "The Cask of Amontillado" Edgar Allan Poe takes us on a journey into the mind of what many would perceive as a mad man. The story tells of what seems to be a horrible revenge made even more horrible by the fact that the vengeance is being taken when no real offense had been known. This notion sets the mood for true evil. The plot of the story is simple. Montresor takes revenge on his friend Fortunato by luring him into the wine cellar under the family estate. There he leads Fortunato into the depths of the catacombs where he buries him alive by walling him into a tomb in the wall. Was Montresor mad or was it premeditated murder?

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is a story full of irony. Irony is defined as a literary technique in which what appears differs radically from what is actually the case. In addition, irony can be divided into three groups: dramatic, verbal, and situational. Dramatic irony is when the readers notice something before the characters do. Verbal irony is when the characters say something that differs significantly from what they really mean. Situational irony is when the actual result is different from what was initially expected. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe combines all of these ironies to tell the story and to construct the personalities of the characters in an entertaining way.

     Revenge can be sweet, but in this case it is just down right grotesque! In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” it talks about a gentlemen named Montressor and how he is angry at Fortunato for insulting him in the past. Montressor will not let this go unpunished, so he thinks up a clever scheme to get back at him. This plan is in a way, ingenious but most definitely insane and crazy.

Edgar Allen Poe is known for the various literary devices he uses in his works. One of the most famous devices he uses is symbolism. In many of his stories, including “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses symbolism to further develop each story by the messages he writes between the lines. Symbolism is an important aspect of Poe’s many works, seeing as how it allows the readers to make connections within the stories. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe represents symbolism through the title of the short story, the outfit Fortunato wears, and the Montresor family motto and coat of arms.

Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado” (1846) is narrated by Montressor. He is a gothic narrator, as his motives are associated with revenge and mental instability. In fact, the story opens with Montressor’s description of revenge of his friend Fortunato, who supposedly “insulted” him, and he lures Fortunato to his family’s catacombs for his death. However, Montressor is unwilling to reveal Fortunato’s insult and he is uncertain of why he wants to commit the horrendous act. Montressor’s narration is unreliable, and as the story unfolds we deduce his mental state. By carefully analyzing the tale, Montressor’s psychological dilemma encourages us to find the missing pieces of the puzzle and interpret the events in a metaphorical sense suggesting that the events are far less associated with revenge but more with Montressor’s guilt.

The rest of the story takes place in the catacomb. In the basement of the catacomb is a graveyard. The passageway is claustrophobic, dripping with nitre from its proximity to a water source, and always leads downward. Fortunato doesn't know this, but he is descending a stairway to Hell rather than to sample a rare wine. They walk through the graveyard in the middle of the night. Not to forget that they are drunk and are getting more drunk. The room gets smaller and smaller and the cold keeps on increasing. It is gloomy and they only have 2 torches. This is a setting that has all the elements, a perfect gothic story would have. Next lets look at the atmosphere. In the story the purpose of Montresor is very clear and Fortunato is completely unaware of it. This creates an atmosphere of suspense, mystery and horror. It is dark, oppressiveness, and full of strange sounds. Another element that Poe uses in his stories is the Psychology of the people. Montresor's motive for murder is vague. He refers to thousand injuries but never gives a specific reason for doing so. It can be concluded that Montresor is insane but even this is questionable because of intricate details of the plot. In this story the intentions of Montresor hurting Fortunato is very clear. Though this is not directly implied in the story but with every passing minute it becomes even more clear. But what will be Fortunato's punishment is still not clear. And that makes the plot

The story begins with Montresor explaining to the reader as a narrator that a man named Fortunato has insulted and hurt him for a great deal of time. Montresor never explains what exactly Fortunato did to him, but considering how they interact with one another at the start of the story, it is very possible Poe knew about how real killers through history have been mentally disturbed in a way that warps how they view reality, such as taking great