1.In "The Cask of Amontillado," what does the narrator's attitude toward his servants reveal about his view of humanity?
It is clear that this is another key indication of the kind of character that Montresor is as a narrator. The fact that he has deliberately organised for his home to be empty when he brings Fortunato home speaks of the way in which he is a calculated killer and has deliberately planned to have Fortunato murdered. However, note what he says about his servants and how he achieves the emptying of his house.
Montresor thus seeks to implicitly recognise the human failings of others. He knows that during the time of Carnival, if given the opportunity, his servants would go out and make merry, even if they were told not to. He
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This shows a very logical and detail-oriented mind, not one to commit murder for passion or on impulse. While it is certainly possible that there was no reason for the murder aside from revenge, there is also no evidence that Montresor is lying; the murder has been undiscovered for fifty years, and in retelling the events he has no reason to make up a story. He cannot be punished now, and so he has little reason to be anything but truthful; the story is, in essence, a boast, and so Montresor would take greater pride in telling the truth.
5.How does Poe create a sense of fear in "The Cask of Amontillado"?
Poe's own fear of being buried alive is one of the most important themes in "The Cask of Amontillado." To project this fear on others, he stresses the dark and hostile environment of the catacomb, making what should be a simple, nonthreatening wine-cellar into a frightening tomb:
We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs.
[...]
We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux (torch) rather to glow than flame.
(Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado," eNotes eText)
The fear of being confined is called claustrophobia, and is a common fear. The damp walls, with their piled skeletons and sheen of
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
Montresor is an evil person because he killed a man. In the story Montresor says ¨There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house.¨ (Poe, 210) Montresor did not decide to kill Fortunato in the moment. He knew that he would kill him before he did it. This is revealed in the story, when Montresor orders his servants to leave his home, so there would be no witnesses to his plan. Another example to prove this is that Montresor brought a trowel with him into catacombs so that he could seal Fortunato into the wall with bricks and the trowel is used to spread mortar onto the bricks. People
Montresor’s apparent pride in his having gotten away with the murder of Fortunato and the subtle lies he implants into the story only adds to the cold-hearted man who is Montresor.
Montresor is trying to lure Fortunato to his vaults by telling him that Luchresi can just come and taste the Amontillado because he knows best. He knows Fortunato will freak out by this statement, and then show Montresor that he is wrong in saying that. Indeed, this leads Fortunato down into the catacombs, just so he can prove Montresor wrong. That 's when Montresor will take his final step in his plan to end Fortunato. This event leads to the most suspenseful part in the short story. The reader doesn’t know what Montresor’s next step is going to be in his plan, along with what stupid move is Fortunato going to take to leading himself closer to his death.
While Poe did not use any extraneous details in The Cask of Amontillado, he certainly did not skimp on detail when it was needed. His description of the inner recess of the catacombs, an area which could be simply explained, was very specific and to the point. “At the remote end of the the crypt there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris… Within the wall thus exposed by displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior recess.” Poe goes on to give the dimensions of the inner recess and a brief yet fitting description of what the interior of the room looked like. The description of this seemingly unimportant yet crucial room allows the reader to properly visualize the scene and immerse themselves even deeper into the story. Using simple imagery like this allows the readers to better visualize what a room looks like. It allows a reader to put themselves into the story and immerse themselves within it. While this is a more detailed form of description, a simpler form can have the same effect. When chained up, Poe describes the movements and struggle of Fortunato. Poe spends an entire paragraph going on about the sporadic flails and hopeless efforts of resistance that Fortunato makes in an attempt to get off the wall. While the
Montresor is untrustworthy from the very beginning. By montresor vowing revenge early on ,the readers cannot trust his unreliable story. The text states , “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had born as long I could”(poe 59). The reader cannot trust montresor because montresor wants to kill fortunato.The reader cannot trust someone who has vengeance on others. There are always two sides to a story there side your side and the truth. And in this story we only got one side. James F. Cooney says “In the course of the narrative we learn how montresor used the cutting edge of irony to give a surgeon’s neatness to his work and to secure the greatest possible delight of himself” (Cooney 15 ). Montresor is trying to kill fortunato. He finds delight in the the act of killing fortunato. His murder
Although Poe does not describe many of the Catacomb rooms, I believe he chooses not to. This is simply a tool to lead the readers to believe that the rooms are all the same, therefore, bringing sobering fear and possibly even death with them. Poe describes these few rooms, each having the decayed remains of the deceased, bringing on a feeling of uneasiness and fear. The air in the crypts is thick and oppressive, with the foul stench of decay and mold, which “…caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.” The main room is described as a small room four feet deep by three feet wide and six feet high, with chains affixed to the walls and human skeletons piled beside the entrance. Here, Montressor lures a drunk Fortunato into the room with the promise of Amontillado, only to chain him up and leave him to die.
From the very beginning of the story, one can obviously see that Montresor thinks that he has been wronged by Fortunato. His plan for vengeance is easily seen through his actions and his thoughts. "He had a weak
In “Cask Of Amontillado” Montresor seems to have Fortunato's best interests in mind until his true intentions are revealed through his thoughts, not his actions. This is showing how Montresor is careful in his revenge; Fortunato disrespected Montresor, being the wicked and revengeful person he is must make him pay for his mistake. Therefore, Montresor carefully planned out his attack, he had every detail carefully outlined in his head. He made no mistakes; while Fortunato unknowingly made the biggest mistake of his life. Montresor felt satisfied and happy with the horrible crime he committed. While he was burying Fortunato alive, he enjoyed the screams of his foe, relishing in the fact that he won. “...felt
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 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.
All of these images of the setting and characters come together with the idea of Montresor’s premeditated demise for Fortunado. From the beginning we know that Montresor is upset with Fortuado and he is seeking revenge. With all of Montresor’s comments we see that this is not just talk but a reality. When the two men are discussing turning around due to Fortunado’s cough, Fortunado says, “I shall not die of a cough” which in reply Montresor says “true.” (Poe page 3) This foreshadows the demise of Fortunado, and what Montresor has in mind for him. Another example of this is when they discuss Montresor’s family crest, that his family moto is “Nemo me impune lacessit” (Poe page 3) which means no one attacks me without paying dearly. Along with this statement, is when he tells Fortunado that his family are of the masons, foreshadowing the way he will kill Fortunado.
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
When discussing Montresor’s mental state, his methodical approach is a crucial indicator. When Montresor is enacting his plan for revenge, it is apparent that he had plotted and took time to configure each of his
The third characteristic we see in Montresor is pride. He isn’t modest and boasts even after fifty years about his perfect crime. His pride is what leads him to seek revenge against Fortunato because he doesn’t want him to think he can go with impunity after insulting him. The murder may have not been just out of anger for the insult but more of because he didn’t want to be seen as weak. Montresor takes pride in his extensively planned out scheme and how he plans out all the details.