Narrative Essay On Fortunato

Conflict: For Montresor to revenge himself for Fortunato’s insult, he has to get away with it – if Fortunato can revenge him back,

Some people believe that Fortunato should have seen Montresor’s evil plan coming, and that he deserved this fate. At the very beginning of the story, Montresor “The thousand

     We don’t really know much about Fortunato: just enough to know that he must not have really known the true heart of his friend. He must not have

Montresor’s actions lend to his vengeful and manipulative nature. He lures Fortunato into the catacombs of his home to carry out his plans to kill Fortunato. In the first step of his plan, he boosts Fortunato’s ego by saying that Luchesi was almost as worthy a judge of wine as he. Then Montresor tricks Fortunato into believing that there is an

However, Montresor has a characteristic that, not shown prominently, but given through little hints until the end. That secret characteristic is guilt, guilt for wanting to kill Fortunato. Some of those hints show at the carnival, down in Montresor’s catacombs, and even as Montresor is building in the wall to keep Fortunato in to die. At the carnival, Montresor calls Fortunato his ‘friend’. “It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend.” (Poe). In addition, Montresor is talking about Fortunato, with the term friend being used. Another is, “I was so pleased to see [Fortunato]...” (Poe). In this part of the story, Montresor even says himself that he was happy to see his friend, Fortunato. He shows signs of actually liking Fortunato, but for strongly believing in his family motto and arms of revenge, he feels the need to get revenge on Fortunato for what he did to Montresor. Montresor greets Fortunato kindly and with warmth, “[m]y dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day!” (Poe). Montresor

‘And the motto?’ ‘Nemo me impune lacessit’” (Poe 1). Simply translated, this means “no one provokes me with impunity.” The family motto indicates that pride of family honor has been a long-standing and well-guarded trait. Montresor’s ancestry and history of pride elevates his grievance against Fortunato, and evokes an attack because he dared to belittle Montresor’s honorable name. In fact, Montresor’s pride is still so great, and his remorse so little, that he continues to gasconade about his revenge fifty years after the event. The pride of his family name forces Montresor to murder Fortunato, conclusively and irreversibly directing his decisions throughout the short story.

We soon see foreshadowing of Fortunato's impending doom when the issue of Montresor's shield of arms is brought into the conversation as "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.". Even more appropriate is Montresor's family motto, translated as, "No one wounds me with impunity". Such a visual depiction and mental conviction due to family honor and history creates all the more impetus in Montresor to carry out the punishment that Fortunato deserves for wronging him, and more likely the family honor. When Montresor finally captures Fortunato in the catacombs, the climax of his precisely calculated deed, he revels in the sound of Fortunato's chains rattling, and "that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones". However, his satisfaction soon turns to apprehension when suddenly "a succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back". He hesitates at this moment, when his revenge is sweetest, when he should bask in the suffering of his "enemy", and finds himself contemplating the shrill screams of his captive! He does eventually compose

“Where is everyone?!” shouted Fortunato. “And where’s all the drinks?! Ahhh, there they are!” Fortunato exclaimed.

Later on the story Montresor is offended by Fortunato when the fortuned one tells him that he

Although he finally confessed after 50 years of keeping his secret, he does know the horrible mistake he made. “For half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat.” (89) He tells us that no one has known that he killed him and he himself hasn’t gone down to where he buried Fortunato so long ago. The phrase, In pace requiescat, translates to, “May he rest in peace.” He did hear, “...loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly

Fortunato was a rich, nice man who has been living in Rome for the past twenty seven years. He was loved by his family and friends who thought of him at the “light of the party”. He was always a very curious and adventurous man who wanted to explore the world.

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.

The story has subtle clues of how the grotesque conclusion will end. The name Fortunato has an indication of luck, a word association that his success is from being lucky. A fortune possessed that was not earned infuriating our narrator. The Fortunato has a rising social status, a status that used to be associated with the Montresor family name. This is stated by the remark, “You are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed” illustrates the Montresor who has a social status in decline and the

“Fortunato, I will be leaving for this day to venture to my Fathers, as it is my wont to do so every couple months. Shall you so kindly, perhaps be able to take care of my dog for the day, I won’t impose you having any difficult!” Said, Fortunato, as I walked closer to him.

Fortunato and I were never the most “compatible”, but I never imagined we'd end up the way we did. Fortunato was rich, but insanely idiotic in any subject besides wine. He and I shared immense connoisseurship of wine, the only thing we really had in common other than our wealth. Being competitive experts, we had our petty arguments. However, he had betrayed me and ruined my name. Unfortunately for him, he had not realized that I possess an intense passion for the ideals of avenging yourself when you've been wronged.