The Cask Of Amontillado Research Paper

The United States had just gained victory from World War I and was thriving. The period known as the roaring 20s was a time of success and materialism. Consumers were buying more and more products and spending money on credit. People were frivolously spending money and buying stock in the stock market. Although things may have appeared to be a time of success and prosperity, a storm was brewing and there were underlying weaknesses in the economy.

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

Even though the main argument against Montresor’s insanity is his compliance to his family’s requirement for a perfect revenge, he fails to fulfill it in several ways, and acts with behaviors that hint to his insanity. One way Montresor fails in his main prerequisite for retaliation against Fortunato is his failure to let Fortunato know the reason for his revenge, one of his family’s main requirements. Montresor must not only let the target know who killed them, but also let them know the reason why. Even though he succeeded in a perfect murder, Montresor destroyed the main purpose of revenge when he did not tell Fortunato why he suffered (Stepp 58). Because of this happening, Montresor’s claim of revenge for honor seems less plausible. Professor

The first –person narration style of “The Cask of Amontillado” is vital in creating the quality of the story. The story allows one of the main characters in the story Montresor, to tell the story from his point of view which gives the reader intimate yet disturbing look into the mind story teller thinks and feels which the reader doesn’t normally get from other narrative styles. The narrative style of this story is important because it sets the tone of the story. The reader become more familiar with the thoughts and intentions of the main character and this allows the reader to slightly figure out the outcome of the story and further understand the ironies throughout the story. If this story was told from a different angle I don’t believe it would be as powerful. Narration in first-person “can evoke a stronger emotional attachment with readers; from the first instance, the reader connects with the main protagonist. It is his/her voice, thoughts and feelings being portrayed; therefore, this is the person the reader is most likely to bond with” (Wright). The first-person narrative style establishes a more personal connection between the reader and the narrator, who in this case is also the main character. In “The Cask of Amontillado” the narrator uses a very familiar tone to connect with the audience as if he knew his reader: “You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat” (Poe, 739). This line is one of the

I can gather Montresor’s insane act of homicide brought physical and emotional pain to Fortunato, making him scream out in agony.

The opening two paragraphs of The Cask of Amontillado early on allow the reader to comprehend two of Montresor's character traits; he is very deceptive and vengeful. Consequently, Montresor is able to hide his true intentions of vengeance through a persona of someone who is calm and benevolent. Montresor makes it clear that his revenge against Fortunato is based on him being offended or insulted by something that was done by Fortunato. Nevertheless, Montresor’s motivation is true because the text continues to say that Montresor is not the type of person to get offended easily; but he is smart and patient when it comes to seeking vengeance. Moreover, one is able to understand this from the very first sentence when he says, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge,” which leads us to conclude that Fortunato must have done something extremely grave to deserve death as revenge (Poe, 1). Furthermore, Montresor justifies his revenge by reasoning that he needs to defend his pride/status after being “insulted” by Fortunato. When Montresor continues to say, “a wrong is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong,” it is important to understand that Montresor wanted to feel as satisfied as the person who had insulted him, who in this case happened to be Fortunato (Poe, 1).

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

Instead of restricting the production of hemp, the United States government should legalize the planting of hemp due for its beneficial value to society.

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.

Throughout analysis of Edger Alan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” the readers are able to infer the intentions of the characters through Poe's use of irony. The character Montresor has been insulted by another character, Fortunato. As a result of Fortunato’s insult, Montresor vows to seek revenge on Fortunato by punishing him with impunity during the carnival season. To carry out his plot of revenge, Montresor creates a plan to sneakily rope Fortunato into examining a pipe of Amontillado because Montresor knows Fortunato prides himself on being a wine connoisseur. The Amontillado is supposedly located deep in Montresor's family vault which is where Montresor plans to bury Fortunato alive. Poe implements various examples of verbal irony throughout his story in order for the readers to see Montresor’s devious plan be carried out in a unique way.

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is thought to be one of his most popular vengeful short novels. The two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato are re-acquainted friends who meet each other at The Carnival. Montresor has intentionally planned to lure Fortunato to his own death by deceiving him to believe that Fortunato is coming to Montresor's family catacombs to taste a fine wine “Amontillado”. After Montresor leads Fortunato into the crypts, Montresor eventually chains Fortunato up in a secluded section and mortars him behind a brick wall while he is still alive. The story ends with Montresor throwing a flaming torch into the small opening while he continues to put the last brick in place, essentially burning Fortunato alive. Edgar Allan Poe creates conflict between characters Montresor and Fortunato which primarily creates the major theme of revenge in this story. Edgar Allan Poe depicts setting in this novel by portraying death by illustrating human bones, within a cold and damp crypt to contribute to the eerie theme of revenge. Montresor's characterization is expressed through the betrayal of his friend, which adds another element to the theme of revenge in this story. In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe utilizes conflict, setting, and characterization to create a theme of revenge.

I believe that Montresor is telling his story fifty years after committing murder probably because he is on his deathbed. In the lines “You who so well know the nature of my soul” possibly indicates that he decided to confess his perfect crime with a priest trying to purify his soul. In fact, when he is telling his story, he does not show any signal of guilt. Demonstrating that he was okay with what he did to Fortunato. Moreover, Montresor maybe was not satisfied with his revenge.

First, the theme of revenge is shown exceptionally clear by the very first line of the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato, I had borne the best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (Poe 236). This line clearly shows that Montresor takes significant pride in not only himself but his family as well. Due to this great pride, he refuses for his family name to be belittled in any way, shape, or form. As mentioned by Elena Baraban, “Montresor elaborates a sophisticated philosophy of revenge.” (Baraban 164). This

As for Montresor, he acts calmly from beginning to end. First, he wants to take revenge on Fortunato and plots it carefully in order to avoid the punishment. He knows his “enemy” very well, from Fortunato’s interests to his weakness, so he can easily kill Fortunato. During the process of murder, he is really calm and controlled. Step by step, he lures Fortunato to his gloomy cellar and kills Fortunato. He works in a place filled with bones and feels no terror. He even stops his “labour” just to hear Fortunato’s cry with “more satisfaction”. Though “for a brief moment [he] hesitated, [he] trembled”, he does not tremble for guilt but for the worry that Fortunato may escape. After Montresor take the revenge successfully, he feels satisfied and pleasant. The differences on their psychological changes create a terrified atmosphere which makes readers suffocate.

It is easy to question the Montresor’s sanity early in the story as the character smiles at the thought of the Fortunato’s immolation. He has joyful bliss with ideas and thoughts of Fortunato’s demise. In his mind, he is truly mistreated by the Fortunato and the act of slow execution offers a satisfaction too fulfil his desire of vengeance. The character has no moral conflict, he feels he was correcting a wrongful event that occurred in his life. Though a wine cellar would be cool and dark catacomb like, I don’t think there is any appropriate time that is normal to be that comfortable surrounded in human remains. The Fortunato had no reason to suspect the ill will of things to come, in actuality he did nothing wrong. The eeriness of the catacomb setting in hindsight should have alarmed the Fortunato.