Fortunato Short Story Summary

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

This is the part that is shocking and morbid, even sadistic, to the average person. What strikes the reader the most is that Montressor, as he narrates his actions, still has the gall to call Fortunato his "friend," even as he builds the walls within which he is to trap Fortunato alive. The last time Montressor calls Fortunato his "friend" is the moment when he leads Fortunato straight to the "bait," which was the wine.

The story initially starts off telling us the situation where Fortunato had wounded Montresor a “thousand” times. One day, Fortunato goes too far and insults Montresor ultimately resulting in Montresor vowing revenge. Montresor has to craft a perfect plan, for if Fortunato is able to revenge him in return then Montresor’s efforts will have been in vain.

     The plot of the story is a simple one. Montresor tales revenge on his friend Fortunato by luring him into the tunnels under the family estate. There he leads Fortunato into the depths of the catacombs where he buries him alive by walling him into a niche. The story is told in first person from the point of view of Montresor

The story deals with Montresor's means of deceiving Fortunato and carrying out his revenge upon him. Montresor has never let Fortunato how much he truly despised him. Montresor knows that Fortunato considers himself a connoisseur of fine wines, and especially of one known as Amontillado, so he asked him for his opinion on a newly acquired cask of Amontillado. Montresor enticed Fortunato with the rare wine. Fortunato was determined to taste the wine and insisted on being taken to Montresor's home.

<br>The way the narrator treats his enemy is one of the clearest examples for ironic elements. When the characters meet, Montresor realises that Fortunato is afflicted with a severe cold, nevertheless he makes a point of him looking "remarkably well". Montresor acts in the most natural and friendly way towards the man object of his revenge, and even praises his "friend's" knowledge in the subject of wines. Also upon their meeting, Montresor begins a psychological manipulation of Fortunato. He claims that he needs his knowledge to ascertain that the wine he has purchased is indeed Amontillado. Furthermore, he acknowledges that Fortunato is engaged in another business (i.e.: the celebration of carnival), so he would go to Luchresi, who, one is made to believe, is a competitor of Fortunato's. To these words, Fortunato is forced by his pride to accompany Montresor to the vaults (where the Amontillado is kept), dissipate his doubts and also to prove his higher status than Luchresi as a connoisseur of wine. In fact, during their way down under in the catacombs, the twisted mind of Montresor, dares to give Fortunato the chance to go back, due to the almost unbearable dampness and foulness rampant in the vaults and Fortunato's state of health. The narrator clearly knows about the stubborn nature of Fortunato, and is

It seems like every passing day there is a shadow that is after me. I’m left with parts of me eaten away and left my mind corrupted from its everyday thoughts. The darkness steadily dissolves me away from the eyes that are known to be inquisitive. The burden that was left on me has more pressure than I expected for what i have completed. I discovered that revenge is made to be short lived. What i did was completely horrifying. The inferior thing is that I was able to acquire with my crime. It doesn’t matter what time it is, everyday there will always be a small voice in my head reminding me of the defenseless cries performed by fortunato. The man that I caused to perish, immersed in the catacombs. A month has passed since fortunato's disappearance, and the town still wonders where he has disappeared to. Examining the difficulty of mourning families caused me to really think, specifically today. The events leading up to fortunato's death played in my mind like a movie. It sends me back to the time when I was young and no one loved me, including my mother. When fortunato entered my life he made a big mistake which ended him in misery.

Montresor was seconded guessing himself, instead of feeling about the murder him and having relief, he would instead feel guilt. Montresor set his plan by sending his servants away to the carnival. He did this to make sure he had an alibi. While two of his men stay behind as they explore the deep vaults that are full of dead bodies of the Montresor family. He wants to bring Fortunato back to his house, but he refuses. Fortunato is accepting wine even though he is starting to get a cough. “The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled” (Page. 175, Line 51) Fortunato make this hand movement, that is apart of the masons. This is a secret handshake with the masons, but Montresor swears up and down that he knows mason. Montresor doesn't even know the handshake, but Fortunato wanted proof. Montresor shows him the handshake, but Fortunato doesn't buy it. So both of them went on there way.

    In the short story the characters do not have a massive change during the story and the plan of revenge was not that confident. Montresor wanted Fortunato to think he cared about his health

The first person narration happens in an untrustworthy viewpoint on the focal conflict of the story, man against man, because the reader perceives scarce information about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato, and concludes in a very skewed outlook on the conflict of the main characters. The dispute essences around the pride and honor of two men, and the measures that one of the men will go to in order to protect his honor to the other. Fortunato is described as a vain and arrogant man whose weaknesses are magnified by the fact that he has had too much to drink. The dispute between the two men is somewhat one-sided because it is likely that Fortunato was ignorant of the fact that a serious disagreement existed between himself and Montresor until the very end of his life. What one

Montresor sat alone feeling isolated and lonely in his empty house, and just thought about his life. He lost the love of his life, his career, success, and his wealth. Sitting on the floor in his dark, gloomy, disheveled living room, he then decided to make a change. He pounced up, ran to the kitchen and got rid of all the alcohol in his home and he declared he would never drink another day in his life! Alcohol was the one thing that ruined everything for him and he hated it and himself for giving it that power. Montresor began to withdraw from his friendship with Fortunato slightly because of his use of alcohol. It had been a while since they hung out and Fortunato wanted to introduce Montresor to the new girl he’d fallen in love with. Montresor heard a knock on his door, when he opened it he was shocked at what he had

For example, when Fortunato says he will not die of a cough, Montresor knowingly replies, “True, true.” When Fortunato drinks a toast to the dead lying in the catacombs around them, Montresor ironically drinks to Fortunato's long life. When Fortunato makes a gesture indicating that he is a member of the secret society of Masons, Montresor claims that he is also and proves it by revealing a trowel, the sign of his plot to wall up Fortunato.”(May) Montresor offers De Grave, a wine, to Fortunato; at one point, Fortunato makes an elaborate and —to the narrator's eyes —grotesque gesture with an upraised wine bottle. When Montresor appears not to recognize the gesture, Fortunato asks, "You are not of the masons?" Montresor says he is, and when Fortunato, disbelieving, requests a sign, Montresor displays a trowel he had been hiding.

Montresor is the narrator who openly starts the story by stating that he has been insulted by his associate, Fortunato, and that he’s seeking for revenge. He wants to perfectly plan this revenge, however, in a measured way, without placing himself at risk. He decides to use Fortunato’s affection for wine against him. During the carnival season, while wearing a black mask, Montresor approaches Fortunato. He then tells Fortunato that he has gained something that can pass for Amontillado. Fortunato (Italian for “fortunate”) is wearing the costume of the jester, including a cone cap with bells. Montresor tells Fortunato that if he is unavailable then he will ask someone else (his name was Luchesi) to taste it. Fortunato realizes that Luchesi is supposedly a contender and so he claims that this man (Luchesi) could not possibly tell Amontillado from other types of sherry. Fortunato is anxious and curious to taste the fine wine and also to figure out for Montresor whether or not it is truly

As the story progresses, Montresor devises a careful plan to lure Fortunato to his death trap, but he is careful enough not to place himself at risk. He approaches him at a carnival, and plays on his victim’s weakness for wine by offering to show him a brand of wine akin to the light Spanish sherry, Amontillado (8). The narrator presents an interesting description of his encounter with Fortunato at the carnival; at first expressing dislike for his friend’s behavior by claiming that he approached him with too much warmth since he was drunk, but then he adds that he was extremely delighted to see Fortunato at that particular moment. This illustrates the depth of Montresor’s desire to exert revenge on his friend, since the sole reason of his pleasure at seeing Fortunato is that he knew his plans had taken off, and he anticipated the satisfaction of the act of brutal revenge.

narrator Montresor uses revenge as a motive to trick and murder and old friend, Fortunato, in the