The Cost of Revenge Revenge is a powerful tool used only in certain situations. A small taste of it can do great damage. In The Cask of Amontillado, the main character, Montresor, became enraged with his so-called friend, Fortunato, after he disgraced Montresor’s family name. To people in the nineteenth century, family name was just as important and held more value than any physical possession they owned. When Fortunato then devalued Montresor’s family name, that is when Montresor felt the urge to completely get rid of Fortunato: killing him. Montresor knew that Fortunato had a problem with drinking and often went too far overboard with the alcohol so Montresor took advantage of that weakness. Sometimes the desires of other’s hearts …show more content…
This is where revenge can take an individual too far. Revenge is very powerful and can make a person perform in a task that normally they would not partake in, but that is the kicker about revenge. Montresor was so enraged with Fortunato that he was willing to go as far as killing him. Fortunato was someone he considered his friend, but once Fortunato crossed the line, there was no stopping Montresor. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Fortunato paid for his wrong doing. Montresor was very sneaky in how he dealt with killing Fortunato. In the story, The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor says, “I gave Fortunato no cause to doubt me. I continued to smile in his face, and he did not understand that I was now smiling at the thought of what I planned for him, the thought of my revenge” (Poe, 2010, p. 68). Montresor gave Fortunato no reason to be suspicious of him. Every time Montresor and Fortunato met, Montresor acted like they were still good friends, but the reader is the only one aware of Montresor’s true motive. This goes to show that revenge can take over a person in an instant and drive them to do things that normally they would not even think of
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
In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor is guilty of the cold-blooded murder of Fortunato and should go to jail for his crime. Montresor speaks of the “thousand injuries” Fortunato caused him and, more recently, the “insult” that Montresor cannot forgive. Vowing to seek retribution, Montresor comments on the importance of ensuring his own innocence throughout the process of revenge. He goes out of his way to be friendly to Fortunato. Other evidence that supports the crime as being preconceived includes Montresor preying on Fortunato’s weakness, his love of wine and his conceited nature. He praises Fortunato on his knowledge of wine and taunts him with the full barrel that he just purchased asking him for his expert opinion. In preparation
Montresor is the narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” who is very educated and a man of stature. The entirety of the story Montresor conveyed his emotions through articulate words which exaggerated his desire to be respected. Montresor expressed how Fortunato injured him thousands of times until eventually Montresor had enough and vowed revenge. From this part of the story Montresor is angry and feeling belittled by Fortunato. Analyzing the feeling that Montresor was injured by Fortunato was really jealousy toward him. Fortunato was rich and powerful and Montresor was a joker. Fortunato must have insulted him one day and Montresor took it upon himself to never be disrespected again. Montresor is the wrong person to say anything offensive
“Revenge is often like biting a dog because the dog bit you.” This quote means that people act in such a devious way as the person who hurt them which does not make them any better. In the short story, The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor wants to seek revenge from Fortunato’s iniquity. Montresor feels that he has been insulted by his acquaintance. In Montresor’s mind, retaliating the same way Fortunato did toward him is the right thing to do. He decided to get Fortunato boozed up on wine since he knew that was his fondness. By this time Fortunato is very gullible and will do anything Montresor insist on him doing. Montresor planned out everything in detail what he cinched to do to Fortunato whether it was right or wrong. He just wanted to seek revenge, but conceal every detail so that it is not obvious. Montresor is a sociopathic character who did everything in his mite and power to show that revenge is a successful ending.
It is often said that revenge is sweet, but that phrase does not hold to be extremely true throughout The Cask of Amontillado. There are various themes and lessons throughout the story, but there is one theme that seems to be shown more than others. The most prevalent theme is that jealousy can lead to vengeance, and ultimately lead to the downfall, or even death, of a person. This theme is clearly evident through the two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato. By looking closer at Montresor’s words and actions toward Fortunato, it is apparent that there is a superfluous amount of jealousy between them. This jealousy that is between them ends up playing a major part in Montresor ultimately killing Fortunato, someone who was thought to be one of his best friends. The author uses the characters and their actions to develop a solid plot line and prove the point that jealousy and revenge can destroy a person, both figuratively and literally.
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.
In the text “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe Montresor’s commitment to getting revenge on Fortunato is like a bounty hunter not giving up to apprehend a fugitive. In the text, Montresor main mission is to get rid of Fortunato a wine taster like himself who did “a thousand wrongs” (Poe, 67). Or did something so bad that it equals a thousand wrongs .The two characters set off into Montresor’s vaults, to taste the Amontillado that Montresor so called “bought”. The real question is what did Fortunato do to have this cruel revenge meet upon him. What makes Montresor able to wreak revenge upon Fortunato is his commitment, his preparation, and his persuasive skills.
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.
“The Cask of Amontillado” is told from the point of view of Montresor, am man during for revenge against the injustice caused by Fortunato to his family. Eveidnet from the use of Montresor’s thought
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a frightening and entertaining short story about the severe consequences that result from persistent mockery and an unforgiving heart. Poe’s excellent use of Gothicism within the story sets the perfect tone for a dark and sinister plot of murder to unfold. “The Cask of Amontillado” simply overflows with various themes and other literary elements that result from Poe’s Gothic style of writing. Of these various themes, one that tends to dominant the story as a whole is the theme of revenge, which Poe supports with his sophisticated use of direct and indirect factors, irony, and symbolism.
The act of revenge means to avenge oneself or another by retaliating in kind or degree. Many people seek revenge for a variety of different reasons. While some situations warrant vengeance, other times it is unnecessary or goes too far. Every person is not the same, so it varies from person to person what initiates the want for revenge. In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, Fortunato wrongs his friend Montresor, the protagonist. Although what Fortunato does is unknown, Montresor seeks extreme revenge. Montresor completely blindsides Fortunato by doing this as he did not know he was in the wrong. A character analysis of Montresor reveals the theme of desire for revenge through exploitation of Fortunato.
To begin with, the static characterization of Montresor in “The Cask of Amontillado” shows the theme of working towards a goal, even if the goal is something most people don’t work towards. Throughout the story, Montresor thoroughly plans everything to get Fortunato's trust. He wanted to do something to after Fortunato has done something to him, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge”, even if the thing Fortunato did was insult him (61). Montresor felt obligated to get his revenge. He wanted to do something worse to Fortunato. Montresor couldn’t do something right away. He needed to gain his trust, “Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm; and putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a roquelaire closely about my person. I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo”, He acted like his friend to convince he wasn’t up to anything (63). Montresor knew that no one was going to be at home, he planned for the workers to leave after he left so no one could see him get his revenge. After leading Fortunato to his home, he dragged him into the catacombs with the bait of a very fancy wine being there. He locked him up and started walling him up and almost finished it, “ I had completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier. I had finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; There remained but a single stone left to be plastered in” (67). He left the spot unfilled for a
Revenge is a dangerous tool. To seek vengeance against someone only causes more destruction. “Two wrongs never make a right.” In the ‘Cask of Amontillado’, the narrator, Montresor, had killed Fortunato for revenge. In that case, Fortunato had done something extremely brutal and vile to Montresor for him to commit homicide. In my perception, I believe that Fortunato and Montresor had past problems. The very first sentence of the short story gives away Montresor's justification for revenge. However, we are not told what Fortunato had done. Altogether, revenge can never be accounted for, especially in this scenario. Every time someone considers revenge as an option, an indirect message stating ‘I do not care about you’ will be conveyed to another.
I bet that you have never heard of someone who killed their own friend because he insulted him (bet that caught your attention didn’t it, and right now you’re thinking “yes, it did catch my attention” Ha, funny, right? Anyways back to the real business)? Since you’re this far into reading let me tell you the reason of revenge in The Cask of Amontillado.
Revenge is it worth it? It can lead to several different outcomes. It is shown in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. When one insult told by Fortunato, it triggers Montresor to get revenge. So while he finds Fortunato out in a carnival, he lowers him into his family’s catacombs. There he surprises him by tying him up, and burying him alive! He achieved his goal by his intelligent choices, ability to manipulate, and his warm attitude.