Who Does Fortunato Blame

The first thing Montresor does like an expert is finding his victim’s weak point. As Montresor describes, “He had a weak point-Fortunato...He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine” (Poe 84). Because Montresor found out to Fortunato’s weakness, he was able to follow his plan more smoothly. Throughout the night, Montresor acts counterfeit towards Fortunato, tricking him into thinking they were friends. “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today”(Poe 84). After this, Fortunato believes that they are friends and feels more comfortable around Montresor. ( add transition)

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe skillfully integrates dramatic irony and portrays Fortunato’s ignorance as a way to engage the reader. He utilizes the power of human emotions and compassion to capture the audience’s attention. In the story, Montresor uses reverse psychology to coax Fortunato deeper into the catacombs and towards his own death. An example of dramatic irony occurs when Montresor says, “‘Come, (...) we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as I once was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchresi-’” (Poe 868). Only the reader and Montresor know of his plan to end Fortunato’s life. Through Fortunato’s point of view, it would seem that Montresor is trustworthy and worried about his health. However, Montresor could care less about Fortunato’s well being and is using this mask to hide his true intentions to complete his master scheme. At the end of this quote, Montresor sneakily mentions getting help from Fortunato’s rival Luchresi instead, knowing that Fortunato is extremely egotistic and greedy. Fortunato is the kind of man who thinks he is the finest and most sought after wine connoisseur in the area. He believes that Luchresi should not be trusted in the wine tasting business, especially with something as precious as Amontillado. This undesirable quality leads Fortunato to his death while the reader could do nothing to help. Unlike Fortunato, the reader can see Montresor’s tactics and can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the victim. This emotional attachment intrigues the reader since they want to find out the result of the story and Fortunato’s fate. After taking another drink of Medoc, Fortunato performed a movement that symbolizes the Mason Brotherhood. Montresor did not understand what he meant by this unpredictable action. Fortunato got a little suspicious and said “‘A sign, (...) a sign.’ ‘It is this,’ I answered producing from beneath the fold of my roquelaire, a trowel. ‘You jest,’ he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. ‘But let us proceed to the Amontillado’” (868). At this point in the story, the audience knows

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

In The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, the dark side of human nature is exemplified through the character of Montresor and his victim, Fortunato. Montresor is a manipulative and vengeful person. These characteristics lead to the death of Fortunato, a man who has wronged him. Through the acts, words, and the thoughts of the character, one is able to see him carry out his plan for revenge.

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

Montresor teases Fortunato quite a few times while leading him deep into the catacombs. In the beginning of the story, Montresor tells Fortunato that he has purchased a wine called Amontillado but cannot be sure that it

Montresor does this by flattering and acting concerned about the health of Fortunato when really his only concern is killing Fortunato. While in the wine cellar, Montresor says to Fortunato, “Come, we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi-.” Montresor does an excellent job of being Fortunatos’ friend and at the same time convinces him to continue drinking and telling him, “A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.” Montresor was not trying to defend either one of them, his only purpose was to place Fortunato into a higher state of drunkenness. Montresor causes Fortunato to become so drunk that while he was being chained to the wall by Montresor, “He was too much astounded to resist.” “The Cask of Amontillado” is filled with many ironies and also life lessons; such as know who your real friends are. Fortunato thought his real friend was Montresor when, in reality, Montresor was anything but his friend. Not only did Montresor fake his sincerity towards Fortunato, he was also vengeful and very intelligent in his actions to kill Fortunato.

In the story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato because he made fun of his family name. For years Montresor claims that Fortunato had, “hurt him”, so Montresor gets Fortunato drunk and tricks him into going to his house. When Fortunato arrives, they both go into Montresor’s basement and Montresor locks Fortunato up in addition to leaving him there to die. Montresor commits a crime by killing Fortunato in his own basement. Some people may argue that Montresor was a madman who only wanted to kill Fortunato because he made fun of Montresor’s family name; nevertheless, it is easy to see why one would believe that Montresor wasn’t a madman and that he had more motives rather than just that one reason to have killed Fortunato. What motivated Montresor to seek revenge on Fortunato was that he had made fun of Montresor’s Family name, had a drinking problem which causes him to lash out and say mean things to Montresor, and because Fortunato thought he knew more about fine wines than Montresor did. Theses motivations were also Fortunato’s weaknesses.

Our protagonist, Montresor, has a deep vilification towards Fortunato who is an all-around disgusting individual that has scorned Montresor so heinously in times past as to warrant extreme and extensive punishment in one massive vendetta. Montressor, who invites a drunken Fortunato to his home, relies on cunning deception to exact his revenge. Using Fortunato's love of wine, Montresor is able to lure him into a dank cellar with the promise of a rare Amontillado keg. Excited by such wonderful news, Fortunato drinks more alcohol the whole way down in order to suppress his growing sickness in the damp environment which becomes more intensive the further they descend. Montresor's fake concern only spurs Fortunato further until they enter the isolated chamber. When Fortunato searches a small niche for the supposed Amontillado, Montressor seizes the opportunity and chains him to the damp wall without letting him sober up. Maintaining dialogue with Fortunato the entire time, Montresor slowly seals up the opening with rocks in a frightened and elated haste. Montressor then expresses relief before continuing his life regularly. (1. Meyer/Poe, 727-731) Poe’s use of disconnected characters, foreshadowing, and imagery work together to create ominous scenery and atmosphere which shock contemporary

Fortunato for example was an awkward, clumsy, and egotistical drunk, whose main concern was when he would take his next drink. Michael Lewis suggests that Fortunato did not mean to mistreat Montresor or disturb his happiness, but his decisions to drown away his sorrows opened up a can of worms for Fortunato (Lewis, Explicator). Fortunato was over-indulging on sherry to build his confidence while stripping that of the other gentlemen, particularly Montresor. Now, for Montresor, Fortunato’s alcoholism was no excuse for his constant barrage of misdirected insults. Consequently, Montresor goes

Fortunato did not know what was happening and was taken by surprise when he figured out Montresor was going to kill him.In the story, Poe says“ It was succeeded.....over our wine --he! he! He!’ ”After being locked up, Fortunato’s drunkenness has worn off and he had started coming to his senses. Once he realizes what is happening, he plays off the situation as if it was a joke, Fortunato still shows fear for what will happen in his voice.

Alcoholism also leads to Fortunato's demise. As Montresor states, "in the matter of old wines he was sincere." Fortunato was an alcoholic. He knew, loved, and had all the wines, except the Amontillado, so when Montresor told Fortunato that he had the Amontillado, Fortunato couldn't resist. At the carnivale, Fortunato was already drunk, so Montresor knew it was the perfect time to avenge Fortunato. Montresor knew that Fortunato was an intelligent man, but Montresor also knew that Fortunato was foolish while he was drunk. Being an alcoholic comes with some consequences: you don?t remember much, drinking a lot makes the person feel drowsy and lazy, and lastly, while you are overly drunk, you don?t know what you are doing. Fortunato was unaware of what Montresor was doing, when drunk, and Montresor was aware that he could kill Fortunato easily when intoxicated. And when Fortunato was getting detoxicated, Montresor gave him more wine, and of course, being the

Somewhere down in the catacombs a revenge of insane measures is taking place. In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator, Montresor decides to seek revenge against Fortunato who reviled Montresor's name. To put his plan in place, Montresor plays the role of friend and tells Fortunato that he is in possession of a cask of amontillado. Fortunato, too drunk and enveloped in pride to notice the deceit, follows Montresor down into the catacombs to find the cask. The reader cannot trust Montresor because he only has to tell us his side of the story and may be leaving out key details. These reasons support the idea Montresor is insane.

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Fortunato thought he was going to taste a fine wine. Montresor accesses his catacombs and leads Fortunato away. He gets hoodwinked by Montresor and when

Fortunato's family is very distrusted and angry with Montresor for killing him. He understands their anger so he felt like the only polite and human thing was to do was to take on all the costs and host Fortunato's funeral. Montresor knows killing him was not right and I still for guilty for doing all of the terrible things that he did to Montresor but he is still angry enough to get revenge on him and his family. After speaking at his funeral and hearing all these other people speak I could only hear his insults and hurtful words in my head; "your business will never succeed", "why do you even try you know I am the best and I have the best". With those all those insults in the back of my head I no longer felt guilty for executing him and taking