Montresor And The Most Dangerous Game Analysis

In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and the poem “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning, the authors use characterization and imagery to convey that the desire for power can drive man to psychotic actions.

From what kind of story he is telling the reader, to how he describes other characters, and from his actions, Montresor is an extremely unreliable source of information. Vengeance and pride both play a large role in “The Cask of Amontillado” and because of that Montresor loses credibility. Telling the story through the eyes of the one acting on revenge makes it so we are to believe he

In Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game”, the protagonist character, Sander Rainsford is an adventurous and fearless big game hunter. Rainsford has no remorse for his prey. Over the course of the story Rainsford experiences a sudden change of heart when he finds himself where “The world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees.”

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 an evil person because he killed a man. In the story Montresor says ¨There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house.¨ (Poe, 210) Montresor did not decide to kill Fortunato in the moment. He knew that he would kill him before he did it. This is revealed in the story, when Montresor orders his servants to leave his home, so there would be no witnesses to his plan. Another example to prove this is that Montresor brought a trowel with him into catacombs so that he could seal Fortunato into the wall with bricks and the trowel is used to spread mortar onto the bricks. People

The harsh truth of island life reveals that Zaroff’s idea of civilization includes personal pleasure derived from murder .Zaroff explains his “game.” Zaroff has become bored with hunting because the animals do not provide a challenge for him, so hunts the only animal that can think and reason—man (Connell 74).He believes that he deserves the challenge, so it is morally right to hunt men. This is not civilized behavior. It is murder. He tries explains why it is right. “‘If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth—[…]’”(Connell 75).Zaroff believes that his social status and wealth give him the right to kill those in lower classes. This

Resourcefulness is being able to overcome difficulties quickly and in a clever way. Resourcefulness can also be using one’s surroundings for his/her benefit with prior knowledge and experience. In Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game” the main character Rainsford shows these skills of resourcefulness as he tries to survive the hunt. Rainsford is an experienced big game hunter that is trapped on a tropical jungle covered island with another big game hunter, General Zaroff. Zaroff has gained so much experience in hunting, due to this he has lost interest in hunting animals and now enjoys the hunt of humans. Rainsford is put in the position to be torched or participate in a game of hunting. When Rainsford is challenged to this game of hunting he is forced to try and survive. Rainsford is able to survive the hunt because he uses his resources and prior knowledge to weaken Zaroff helping him win the hunt.

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

He even feels satisfied for what he is doing. “The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction.”(4) He was enjoying every second of his revenge, even if he was not doing something that he should be pleased about. Likewise Montresor also says “ I began to grope with it about the recess; but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied.” (4) Montresor was feeling remorse after what he done but then he felt satisfied and did not care what he did. Montresor also said “ You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was.” (2) When he started his revenge he has not felt happy in a long time because all he does is think about his revenge and nothing more. Therefore he can no longer enjoy anything without thinking about his

When attempting to commit a murder, many things are impactful towards the execution. If the wrong place or time is chosen to commit the murder, then they risk being caught. In “The Cask of Amontillado” Montresor chooses the perfect setting to conduct his crime. “When he (Fortunato) ventured upon insult I (Montresor) vowed revenge,” and, after all, the insults tossed his way he has plotted out his path to revenge. With all the time that he had to plan the crime out, he chooses the flawless setting to guarantee him getting away with his dirty deed.

Edgar Allan Poe is acknowledged today as one of the most brilliant writers and masters of horrors in American literature. This can be seen in his two short stories “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale-Heart”. Both of these stories are written in first person and ends with their victim 's death. These stories contain many similarities and differences in term of the characters, theme, mood, irony, setting, confession, and the reason for committing murder.

You may think that Zaroff and Montresor do the unthinkable to innocent people. In reality, it happens everyday in the real world, just in a different format. Rape, starvation, torture, murder, homicide. There are many different reasons that prove why Zaroff is more malevolent than Montresor, he is more dedicated to what he does, and he is far more twisted and

Although Montresor isn't as wealthy and powerful as his target, Fortunato, Montresor has a better aristocratic lineage than him. This is evident that catacombs of the Montresors were vast, which makes Fortunato realize how powerful Montresor's family used to be. The first statement that is presented in “The Cask of Amontillado” is “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (p.4). This quote relates to the fact that Montresor had many reasons of getting back at Fortunato and that he dealt with all of the injuries that Fortunato caused him, but this insult wasn’t one that he could let him get away

The third characteristic we see in Montresor is pride. He isn’t modest and boasts even after fifty years about his perfect crime. His pride is what leads him to seek revenge against Fortunato because he doesn’t want him to think he can go with impunity after insulting him. The murder may have not been just out of anger for the insult but more of because he didn’t want to be seen as weak. Montresor takes pride in his extensively planned out scheme and how he plans out all the details.

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