Is Montresor Insane

For instance, Montresor says, “A moment more and I fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it” (Poe, 7). At this point in the story, Montresor’s deceitful personality allows him to chain Fortunato inside the recess. He does not even care that he is fettering a human being inside an underground cemetery. As the story develops, Montresor’s insanity becomes more evident as he barricades Fortunato in the recess with tiers of stones. For example, Montresor says, “I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth” (Poe, 8). Then when Montresor was about to fit and plaster the last stone, he burned Fortunato to death. The narrator says, “I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells” (Poe, 9). Montresor is definitely mentally unstable as he has no feeling of sorrow after burning a human to death. This is evident because Poe says that Montresor’s heart grew sick not because he just killed a person, but because of the dampness of the catacombs. Because the author portrays Montresor as such a vile and deranged human being, the reader is intrigued of how his mind

In the article “Confession within a confession: Poe’s brave new world in “the cask of amontillado”, the author places his opinion the subject of what happens in the story. The author points out that both the characters in the story are indeed friends. The author points this out to the reader by stating that Fortunato fallows his friend, Montresor, deep into the catacombs under his house. Another argument that the author states, is that Montresor’s’ reason in killing his friend is anger at his friends new wealth with his old wealth that he has. The author as well states that Fortunato is a fool in the story. Fortunato is dressed as a fool for carnival, adding to Montresor’s’ view of his own friend. Another point is that Montresor in his confession

While confessing his crime, Montresor seems as not having any feeling of guilty due to the peaceful way that he started to narrate at the beginning of the story. But, as soon Montresor started to talk about his feelings of jealousy and hate towards Fortunato, the reader can change the way its reading the story and the point of view towards Montresor. The “Cask of Amontillado” gives an open clue in the beginning of the story of why Montresor killed Fortunato and the motive of madness that he got along the story while confessing his crime. Montresor didn’t start to narrate the story angry or tense but calmly, accepting what he did and how he planned. The “Cask of Amontillado” took place

  In "The Cask of Amontillado", Montresor is the narrator. He begins by describing very cryptically how he was wronged, "The thousands of injuries of Fortunato he has borne as he best could; but when he ventures upon insult, Montresor vows revenge" (Poe 528). As the story

Montresor is untrustworthy from the very beginning. By montresor vowing revenge early on ,the readers cannot trust his unreliable story. The text states , “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had born as long I could”(poe 59). The reader cannot trust montresor because montresor wants to kill fortunato.The reader cannot trust someone who has vengeance on others. There are always two sides to a story there side your side and the truth. And in this story we only got one side. James F. Cooney says “In the course of the narrative we learn how montresor used the cutting edge of irony to give a surgeon’s neatness to his work and to secure the greatest possible delight of himself” (Cooney 15 ). Montresor is trying to kill fortunato. He finds delight in the the act of killing fortunato. His murder

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor tells the story of how he got revenge on Fortunato. There are differing opinions on why Montresor is telling the story: is it a confession or is it so he can relive the perfect crime he committed? After close examination of the story, it becomes evident that Montresor is bragging about committing the perfect crime. The story is not a confession because Montresor boasts about his cleverness at luring Fortunato down to the catacombs and taunts Fortunato multiple times without remorse.

Is there really a perfect crime? This is the main point in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” The story is a dark tale of a presumably insane man who suffers from, according to him, “the thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could” (Poe 75). One of the major factors in telling this story is the setting. The story is set primarily in the Montresor family catacombs, which provides the dark setting, filled with human remains, and this reflects where Montresor commits his crime, where no one will expect. Furthermore, the narration also helps in telling the story. It is first person point of view, so the story is heard entirely from him. Readers will go into Montresor’s

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.

t Montresor is insane.Such interpretation, however, seems to make certain details in the elaborate structure of the story unnecessary and this, in turn, goes against Poe's approach to composition."¹ rightly states Baraban.In addition,the dialogues including foxy implications help reader making guesses about Montresor's inner man.For instance,when Fortunado asks The Montressors' motto Montresor replies him,"Nemo me impune lacessit" or in translation, "Nobody provokes me without punishment" and with using that expression he reflects his intention in an almost friendly manner.These signals indicates about his insane and untrustworthy nature.It's nearly clear that the protagonist is insane.Besides,psychological occurances have many types and the Montresor's mental illness has the characteristics of obsession.This obsession's degree is so high that it drives him killing the one who insults upon him with a quite extreme method and without hesitation - except from the session in the end that he feels worried for a moment when he becomes aware of the thing he has done.Obsession has the same kinds of motivation argued by criminals in any terrene crime (envy,revenge,prejudice,sadism).In the highest degree of obsession,the person does some actions unconciously to his/her victim during the crisis of mind.After the job is done,he/she doesn't remember anything or remembers it with great regret².The readers watch the portrait of old Montresor confessing his action after half of a

            One of the most critically-acclaimed short stories, “The Cask of Amontillado,” is well-known ­for covering one of the you used "one of the" twice in one sentence most intriguing topics: retaliation.  The author, Edgar Allan Poe, lived an interesting life full of alcoholism and drug-addiction, but still managed to write many unforgettable pieces.  like what? In this short story, Edgar Allan Poe focuses on Montresor and his determination to exact revenge on Fortunato, the man who had continuously insulted him in the past.  Although no one has ever been able to fully comprehend the reasoning behind Poe’s choices in creating the characters, it has popularly been assumed that anger drove Montresor

In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe a guy named Montresor is seeking revenge on Fortunato because he insulted him. In my opinion Montresor is taking this way to far when he says he wants to kill him just because he said something bad about him. When he says this I can easily see that the narrator is very violent and has a sick mind.

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?

Another indirect factor that could contribute to Montresor’s vengeful act, and thus the story’s theme of revenge, is his state of mind. Some critics have analyzed the opening line of this short story and have determined that it could contribute to an insane state of mind. When the opening line states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge,” it does not describe what the insult is. The fact that Montresor does not give a specific description of the insult leads many critics to believe that Montresor has acted irrationally in murdering Fortunato and that he is insane. Another example of Montresor’s insanity is found when he replies to Fortunato’s screams (Baraban). In the story, Montresor states, “I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength” (Poe 1616). Critics view this statement as contributing to Montresor’s unstable state of mind, and thus contributing to his act of revenge (Baraban).

In “The Cask”, the perspective we are given on the story is limited; which allows for an open interpretation of what his true motives for revenge are. As Baraban states “Montresor elaborates a sophisticated philosophy of revenge: "I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (48) presenting the reader with a vibrant view of what he intends to do. The question one begs is, for what reason? Most readers would finish this story and assert that mentally, Montresor is insane. As Baraban states, “Poe's intriguing silence about the nature of the insult that made Montresor murder Fortunato has given rise to explanations of Montresor's deed through insanity. Richard M. Fletcher, for example, maintains that Montresor's actions are irrational and that therefore he is mad.” (50) Montresor states at the opening of the story, “you,who so well know the nature of my soul”( are words likely said on his death bed to his confessor; being that he committed this deed fifty years prior, it would make sense that he is finally coming clean. Moreover, since he is commenting on the nature of his soul, it is plausible to assume that Montresor has been deemed crazy

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.