Symbolism In The Cask Of Amontoriado And The Cask Of Amontillado

The narrator, Montresor, in "The Cask of Amontillado" is so evil in his heart that he must gain revenge over his adversary at all costs. His family motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit [No one assails me with impunity]," and he feels his friend Fortunato has somehow insulted this honor, and so he seeks the ultimate revenge. He walls his friend up inside a cellar and leaves him there to die. Clearly, the narrator is insane, and that is a commonality between these two stories. Both the protagonists are insane or mad, for whatever reason. Goodman Brown goes mad in the forest when he believes he has encountered the devil, and the reader never knows what sets Montresor off, except it is some kind of insult. The authors are very skillful in making both these men quite unsympathetic characters, and that heightens the sense of evil surrounding them both.

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a story about revenge, but the reader is never truly told exactly what Fortunato did to warrant such vengeance. In fact, throughout the story, the reader gradually realizes that Montresor is an unreliable narrator, and that Fortunato is a friend of Montresor who is unaware that Montresor is plotting to kill him. He is a connoisseur of wine who is enticed by Montresor to sample some rare Amontillado and lured into his trap down into the catacombs. While Luchesi is another wine connoisseur and an acquaintance of Montresor and Fortunato; Montresor urges Fortunato to sample his wine by threatening to allow Luchesi to try it first if Fortunato does not comply. that whatever insult Montresor believes Fortunato committed is probably imagined or exaggerated.

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” is told through the eyes of a wine enthusiast, called Montresor. The author chooses to write the story through Montresor’s point of view, because it makes the reader really think, and shows them how a murderer thinks. It also adds suspense, leading up to the immolation of Fortunato. In the story Montresor talks about how he is in a toxic friendship, with a man named Fortunato. Montresor apparently suffered many injuries due to Fortunato, but when Fortunato insults him, Montresor can not tolerate it any more. He swears revenge; however, he takes it to the next level. Throughout the story, information is exposed about Montresor's personality. He paints Fortunato out to be a terrible

To begin with, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a story of revenge in which Montresor, the protagonist, retaliates to the “1000 injuries of Fortunato” (Poe 1) that he had bore; by meticulously planning the murder of his foe. Montresor seeks to avenge the insults made to his ancestral family name by Fortunato.

The Cask of Amontillado is the story of and envious man by the name of Montresor who has devised a plan to kill one of his long term friends Fortunato. Montresor devised this plan in the beginning of the story after Fortunato had pulled one joke to many while at a party surrounded by many of their close friends. Montresor while at the party remained calm however while still laughing and cheering with Fortunato he started to develop his plot to get his revenge on Fortunato. In the story Montresor while plotting his crime says, “I had to keep my true feelings to myself for not only must I punish but punish with impunity” (Poe). While Montresor plans the murder of Fortunato, Fortunato is simply enjoying life and his wealth. During carnival Montresor sees a drunk Fortunato and ceases his opportunity. A drunk Fortunato walks over to Montresor and gives him a friendly greeting. Montresor sees this as an opportunity to take Fortunato away from the festivities by using both his weakness for wine and his pride against him. Montresor does this by tricking Fortunato into thinking that he had recently brought a cask of Amontillado and he needed Luchesi to distinguish if it was actually Amontillado. Fortunato, who feels that he is the best wine tester in all of Italy quickly replies, “Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry” (Poe) . Montresor knowing the pride and arrogance of Fortunato then says, “"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own." (Poe) . That

It is Edgar Allan Poe's intense use of symbolism and irony throughout the Cask of Amontillado that establishes the short story as an indeed interesting candidate worthy of thorough analysis. The skillful use of these devices are utilized by the author to create this horrific and suspenseful masterpiece.

It’s merely a costume that he chooses to wear during “the supreme madness of the carnival season.” (Poe 101) The costume shows that the joke was essentially played on Fortunado in exacting Montressor’s revenge. “Amontillado! You have been imposed upon.” (Poe 102) The Amontillado or the wine mentioned in the title and throughout the story is a symbol for Fortunado’s death. “The Amontillado!” (Poe 104) The Amontillado never existed and was the means by which Montressor lured Fortunado to his less fortunate demise. The “Cask” mentioned in the title is a euphemism for the final resting place or coffin for Fortunado. Montressor even jokes with Fortunado about being a member of the freemasons by “producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaire a trowel.” (Poe 103) Montressor is using the word mason to describe a craftsman who uses brick and mortar and is a precursor to the methods by which he would kill Fortunado. Ultimately, irony is a useful tool used by Poe to help convey Montressor’s intentions of revenge.

It is often said that revenge is sweet, but that phrase does not hold to be extremely true throughout The Cask of Amontillado. There are various themes and lessons throughout the story, but there is one theme that seems to be shown more than others. The most prevalent theme is that jealousy can lead to vengeance, and ultimately lead to the downfall, or even death, of a person. This theme is clearly evident through the two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato. By looking closer at Montresor’s words and actions toward Fortunato, it is apparent that there is a superfluous amount of jealousy between them. This jealousy that is between them ends up playing a major part in Montresor ultimately killing Fortunato, someone who was thought to be one of his best friends. The author uses the characters and their actions to develop a solid plot line and prove the point that jealousy and revenge can destroy a person, both figuratively and literally.

“Give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot to punish an offender. But more than 2,000 years later, Martin Luther King Jr. responded, "The old law of 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind." (American Psychological Association) This is a story dedicated to revenge. Where the power of revenge makes the Montresor go do insane things in order to achieve his family motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit.” Which means no one insults me with impunity. Although the story may seem like it only talks about amontillado, vaults and Fortunato’s insult to Montresor this story has a deeper message. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Poe, he sends a message that revenge may blind the eye towards happiness.

The symbolism of this story describes what this story is about, Montresor killing Fortunato. One of the most noticeable symbols mentioned in “The Cask of Amontillado” is the alcoholic beverage amontillado; it is red and red usually symbolizes blood. In the story, Montresor kills Fortunato and it is a murder. In a murder most of the time, one would mostly think of blood. When Montresor tries to call Fortunato for the last time after hearing Fortunato’s last words, he thrusts a torch in the hole but “in return

Many times, the word pride has a negative connotation attached to it. The reason being, is that too much pride skews the perception of reality. This concept is underlined in Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” through the character Fortunato. Montresor allows Fortunato opportunities to escape from his deceitful plan, but Fortunato’s pride gets in the way. Although the emphasis in “The Cask of Amontillado” seems to be focused around Montresor’s revengeful murder of Fortunato, a closer look at the tone, structure, and setting of the story, reveals that Fortunato’s pride and unhealthy lifestyle is what ultimately leads to his demise. Through this we begin to understand that too much pride in one’s life blinds him or her from reality.

Vengeance and murder infects the minds of Montresor and Fortunato upon an exchange of insult in Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Cask of Amontillado”. This is the story of pure revenge after Forturano disrespects Montresor. The story follows the characters meeting up at a carnival and eventually the disguised Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs of his home by convincing him that he acquired something that could pass for Amontillado, a light Spanish sherry. Fortunato grows eager to taste this wine and to determine for Montresor whether or not it is truly Amontillado. He leads him back to the catacombs of his home and carries out his plot to bury him alive. Edgar Allan Poe writes from a mysterious first person perspective, uses colorful symbolism and situational irony to present the man's inner self, in turn revealing that revenge is fundamentally infeasible.

"The Cask of Amontillado" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresor's friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living with regret for the rest of his life. Poe uses mystery, irony, and imagery to create a horrifying, deceptive, and perverse story.

Pride is one of mankind’s greatest sin. Sin has been the demise of numerous individuals, including Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Edgar Allan Poe is among the world’s most famous of short story authors, known for writing dramatic, dark, and thrilling plots. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” pride is the sin that both the protagonist and antagonist, Montresor and Fortunato, commit. The plot of “The Cask of Amontillado is a relatively straightforward one. In the short story, narrator Montresor intends to seek out revenge against a long-time foe named Fortunato, “THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe). Montresor states that Fortunato

Many would not look to a title of a piece of literature for symbolism. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses the key word cask as a huge symbol. The word cask refers to, “a sturdy cylindrical container for storing liquids,” such as Amontillado, a fine wine, in this case (Lorcher). Montresor introduces the topic of the wine to his former friend Fortunato by saying, “‘My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts’” (Poe). Fortunato is extremely intoxicated from carnival festivities prior to his conversation with Montresor, so it is probable that his decision to go into the catacombs with Montresor is not for the benefit of anyone but himself. He sees this journey with Montresor as a way to acquire one of two possible outcomes—free wine or a chance to further humiliate Montresor, especially after Montresor suggests that Fortunato is not capable of distinguishing the Amontillado and mentions the name of a rival, Luchresi (Lorcher). The symbolism in the key word of cask is that it has the same root as the word casket. Poe’s use of symbolism in this regard is often overlooked and written off as mere coincidence, yet that is far from the truth. Fortunato’s love of wine, and the ignorant and easily influenced state the wine puts him in, leads him to make some of his most destructive decisions to not only others, but also to himself. The Amontillado is a symbol of Fortunato’s downfall, or in other words, the love he has for the cask