“The Cask of Amontillado” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1846. The story deals with revenge, torture and murder and it is set in a catacomb where skeletons might be seen like in underground Paris. The story is also about Montresor’s murderous mind and the actions which let him plot his revenge.
Montresor is the narrator of the story as well as the protagonist and the murderer. He is a cold and merciless person who believes in murder as a necessary way to defend his honor. Fortunato mocks him numerous times and Montresor believes that the right punishment for that is death. The motto of his family is: “Nemo me impune lacessit” (Poe 868), which means that nobody who does harm to him may go unpunished. Fortunato finds this out, but he does not take it seriously which is what makes him a tragic character. Montresor tells his story after fifty years have passed since his villainy. He does not regret his deed and the story is his confession and legacy for the future because it is the evidence of his honor. Montresor is unreliable as a narrator because he is not a normal person as normal people do not kill other people for vengeance. Being unreliable is his personal trait and it makes him a cold-blooded murder who never repents. The story deals with the human nature and the capability of people to commit horrible crimes in the name of honor. Montresor takes pride in the fact that his murder goes unpunished because it assures him that he was right in committing it.
The readers cannot feel sympathy for Montresor because he seems to be mentally deranged. Most people cannot relate to his character because he is a murderer who kills a friend because of being mocked in front of other people. This is not a reason for murder because it can be solved verbally. Montresor pretends that Fortunato’s pranks never insult him, but he plots a murder instead. This is a monstrous act which could have come only from a devious mind like Montresor’s. Some readers might recognize that they have desire for revenge, but not many people act upon it. Many people have secrets which they are not proud of and this murder can be considered as a metaphor for them and not only as the actual murder. Montresor gets away with what he does to an innocent man and he even confesses his crime in this story half a century later. His character represents the dark side of human nature which is capable of vengeance. This is not a civilized act and cannot be approved of in modern society. His action shows that people should not take justice into their own hands because they cannot determine what is just and what is not. The society has mechanisms which protect people from vengeance and it is the cornerstone of a civilized society. It is not easy to determine whether Montresor confesses murder as a wrong-doing or takes pride in it. It is up to each reader to understand it according to their own sensibility. People have the need to speak to another person about everything that bothers them. Montresor makes a confession because he needs to and he wishes to set himself free of keeping such a secret to himself. It is his urge to tell the story of his crime after so much time has passed because it is a relief for him. He probably does not repent for his sin because he thinks that the murder is justified, but he wants people to relate to him and to his action.
The story deals with a case of cold-blooded murder for no reason because Montresor could have dealt with Fortunato’s pranks in a verbal manner. However: “Poe's story is a case of premeditated murder. The reader becomes quickly aware of the fact that Montresor is not a reliable narrator, and that he has a tendency to hold grudges and exaggerate terribly“ (Womack). It is Montresor’s idea to make the reader accept his point of view that his murder was the right thing to do to defend his honor. There is irony in the story when the readers understand Montresor’s plan and Fortunato does not. He is an innocent man who really believes that he is being taken to see the Amontillado wine. Fortunato is tempted to test the wine and he discredits Luchresi: “Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado” (Poe 867). This is a challenge for Fortunato and he does not suspect anything bad to happen to him even after Montresor takes him to the catacombs. There is also irony in the words of Montresor who seems to be worried about Fortunato’s health. All of it is a scheme which makes Fortunato lose his life in a tragic way which could have been prevented if his curiosity did not stand in the way of his common sense. The readers are witnesses of Montresor’s character: “Like poor Fortunato, we too are walled up in a suffocating structure from which only death — or the end of the story — can release us” (McGrath). Montresor needs the audience in order to take pride in his foul action.
Montresor is an evil man who believes that revenge is the only way to defend his honor. Fortunato is an unfortunate character who loses his life because of his recklessness and misjudgment of Montresor’s character. The story ends with Montresor’s words that Fortunato should rest in peace and this means that he has no regrets.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar A. "The Cask of Amontillado." The Story and its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction . Ed. Ann Charters. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. 866-70. Print.
Womack, Martha A. "Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"." Poedecoder.com. Ed. Ann Charters. N.p., 2003. Web. 28 July 2016. <http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/cask/#characters>.
McGrath, Patrick. "Method to the Madness." The New York Times 28 June 2013. Web. 28 July 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/books/review/method-to-the-madness.html?_r=0>.
