Montresor Symbolism

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

Therefore, when Fortunato damages Montresor’s pride, he determines to seek revenge for his sense of reputation, so he doesn’t appear frail and inferior. Throughout the story, he has no sense of guilt, he can only think about killing Fortunato to redeem himself. Also, the wrongdoing of Fortunato was not addressed clearly and properly, which elicits doubt on the credibility of Montresor for the reader. Furthermore, Fortunato seems to be very carefree, which suggests that Fortunato is unaware of his wrongdoing and a biological mechanism such as insanity might be driving Montresor’s moral choices.

I chose this symbol of a black silk mask because Montresor wears his black mask and a cloak throughout the story. The black mask symbolizes darkness. While Fortunato wears a bright cap with bells on it for the carnival. Montresor, on the other hand, wears a black mask and cloak. This gives the reader a mysterious vibe from him. This cloak and mask he is wearing shows that Montresor was onto something more sinister. He was planning to kill Fortunato and doesn’t want to be seen doing so. His vibe is a dark and scary mood while Fortunato is drunk and totally oblivious to what is happening. Montresor had planned to kill Fortunato throughout the whole story but was completely patient with it. An example from the story that shows this is, “Fortunato possessed himself of my arm and, putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a cloak closely about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo” (pg. 2). I chose this example because it shows that while Fortunato is quite tipsy, Montresor patiently waits to lead him down into the catacombs where he would finish his job.

Since we do not have suffice information on how Fortunato insulted him, Montresor may be exaggerating on a few parts and wants to be the hero of his own story. This may have led to the reason why Montresor tells his story years later; Guilt built up because the way he was supposed to kill Fortunato did not end up the way he wanted. He is not satisfied because Fortunato did not suffer when he was supposed to be plastered up without food or water in the catacombs for days before his death, yet he died quicker than Montresor expected (par. 89). When a person seeks revenge, they want to savor every part of it and see the person suffer, but not die…quick. Apart from Fortunato not suffering, Montresor was backing up from his own plan to get his revenge. Montresor was slowed down every time he would ask Fortunato if he wanted to go back. Occasionally, Montresor would command Fortunato, “Come, we will go back; your health is precious (par. 35).” According to his own words, Montresor hesitated whether he wanted to go through with his revenge, and that was against one of the three features that he considered essential for it to be a

  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

Throughout the short story, Montresor appears to be murderous and mentally insane. As Montresor continues to tell his story, the reader learns that Montresor is not only a murder and insane, but he is a narcissist as well. Montresor displays the characteristics for this to be true. When Montresor decided to take revenge on Fortunato, he was persistent in doing it himself for his own satisfaction. As his plan began to go along perfectly, he was very pleased with himself. In addition, the cause for Montresor’s revenge plan was because of an insult. The death of Fortunato was not justifiable by his actions. It was merely a prize for Montresor

In “The Cask of Amontillado” the narrator Montresor claims that Fortunato has hurt him a thousand times before, but

“The force that drives Montresor to commit the horrible murder of Fortunato is his powerful desire for revenge. His first words in the story speak of it: “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” The idea of revenge is repeated several times in the opening paragraph. Montresor will not rush to act, he says, but “at length I would be avenged”; he is determined to “not only punish, but punish with impunity.” In seeking revenge, Montresor is acting out the motto of his people, as it appears on the family coat of arms, Nemo me impune lacessit (“No one wounds me with impunity”).” (Bily)

In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, our protagonist, Montresor, is a man out for revenge. He is also a man who can easily be credited as an unreliable narrator to all readers through his actions and conduct. In the beginning, Montresor reveals the “weak point” of his friend Fortunato, and intends to use this weakness to draw out the light from Fortunato's eyes. This quickly indicates the criminal-like mindset that Montresor made for himself. He even goes as far as to keep his friend drunk all throughout their journey into the catacombs.

Montresor shows vengefulness against his friend Fortunato through his elaborate scheme to lure him into his wine cellar. It is because Fortunato laugh at Montresor’s honored family name, which Montresor pursues to have his revenge. Revenge is embedded in Montresor’s head and he will

Fortunato possesses is his ignorance of his own actions. Throughout the story, Fortunato insults Montresor several times. This is evident at the beginning of the story when Montresor states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I

Montresor has held this grudge against his friend who according to him had given him “thousands of injuries.” This grudge he has makes him vindictive as he seeks revenge against Fortunato for his insult against him. His family’s motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit" meaning “No one attacks me with impunity”. The motto implies that the entire Montresor family history is filled with acts of revenge. Montresor becomes obsessed with his vengeance and when he has Fortunato chained to the wall he mocks at his cries and moaning, “I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength.” Montrosor never mentions what the insulting act was which can tell us that the actual act wasn’t as important as him just getting some sort of revenge.

Along with being unreliable he also has a moral weakness of the desire of vengeance through his cunning ways. The undependable narrator states that Fortunato has put Montresor through a “thousand injuries” which he borne the best he could until ”(Fortunato) ventured upon insult (he) vowed revenge” (page #). With Montresor's deceiving ways and with Fortunato being intoxicated Montresor gets his revenge by essentially burying Fortunato alive. Montresor is essentially psychotic, but in his mind, he is helping himself and others by getting rid of Fortunato. His moral weakness goes away once the killing of Fortunato was completed, but he lives in sorrow along with the wife of Fortunato.

Symbols play a great importance in many of Edgar Allan Poe’s literary works because each symbol adds detail to the story. Although some symbols are obvious others are hidden, like a mystery waiting to be solved. Even though Poe’s literary works weren’t appreciated in his time, they have become wildly popular and read amongst many people today. After reading Edgar Allan Poe’s

The Cask of Amontillado is an eloquent story narrated from the murderer’s point of view. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato for numerous insults the reader can only imagine. In order to