The story, The Cask of Amontillado, is surely one of the finest works of literature even penned by a creative artist. This literary work by the stalwart author, Edgar Allan Poe, goes on to engage the avid readers and stirs them to the very core with the portrayal of sheer horror that marks the end of the story. This story is about the theme of revenge and shows the male protagonist who is also the narrator of the story trap another character named Fortunato. ““The Cask of Amontillado” remains one of Poe’s most popular short stories and a frequent performance piece.” (Frank et.al. 65) The author goes on to exude his literary genius as he is successful in creating an ambiance of mystery and horror as the narrative progresses. A close scrutiny of this literary piece would suffice in the exploration of the intricacies of the narrative that grip the readers and leave a lasting impression on their minds.
The narrator lets the readers know right at the inception of the story that Fortunato has hurt and even insulted him, and he wants revenge for all the wrongdoings. The narrator tells, “Fortunato had hurt me a thousand times and I had suffered quietly.” (Poe 68) As Fortunato visits the narrator of the story, Montresor, at his home, they discuss about the rare wine called Amontillado which greatly intrigues the Fortunato. Fortunato is already drunk and shows keen interest in the wine and wishes to check its authenticity. Montresor takes the opportunity of Fortunato’s exuberant keenness and asks him to come down to the catacombs where the wine has been kept. Fortunato never comes across to be skeptical or suspecting of the narrator of the story. “Poe throws some of his own twists” in the narrative. (Bloom 161) As the story progresses, the narrator expresses the ambiance and raises the feeling of horror and claustrophobia in the minds of the avid readers who can anticipate the impending danger for the character of Fortunato. “In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Poe, the extradiegetic narrator addresses such an audience” to raise their interest in the story. (Herman & Vervaeck 81) “Thus, the extradiegetic narrator mostly speaks to an extradiegetic narratee.” (Herman & Vervaeck 82)
On the way into the catacombs, Montresor makes sure that Fortunato gets drunk even more. He does this so that Fortunato loses control over his own self and is unable to save himself from the imminent danger. It is truly intriguing to find how the author of this short story catapults the horror through the words of the narrator. The very fact that the readers get an insight into the psyche and feelings of the narrator makes the story more intriguing. It has to be noted that “Poe has designed this deliberately” for engaging the readers to the story. (Bloom 160) The amount of hatred in the heart of Montresor is very much conspicuous in the course of the narrative. The narrator is vile and comes across to be very cold, merciless and brutal in his approach. The conniving narrator never refrains from expressing the vivid details of the revengeful act in the course of the short story.
The readers get the feeling that they are inside the mind of the plotting narrator as every subtle detail is expressed with utmost clarity. This also works to catapult the horror and showing how the revenge was taken in cold blood by Montresor. This also enhances the psychological effect of this story as one can comprehend that danger looms all through the path of the catacombs for the character of Fortunato. The subjectivity of the narrator hogs the attention so as to make one envisage the claustrophobic ambiance as the two character travel further into the dark catacomb. The gradual descent signifies the enhancing danger for Fortunato, and shows how he is getting far from the safety of the world around. “Given several opportunities to foresee his fate and to comprehend his danger and turn back, Fortunato insists upon walking or staggering into his own tomb.” (Frank et.al. 65) Till the climactic moment of the narrative, the victim has literally no idea about his impending fate as Montresor plays along with him making him believe that they are going to taste the wine.
However, as they reach the place where Montresor has planned to kill Fortunato, the narrator pushes the victim into this small space and binds him with chains. This is the first point of time in the narrative where the looming ambiance of claustrophobia strikes upon the victim as he gets physically constrained by the narrator. Fortunato is so drunk by this time that he is unable to save himself by fighting back. Montresor provides a vivid description of how he seals the place with bricks so as to kill Fortunato. This is the final expression of horror as Fortunato would die in the enclosure. Fortunato finally starts to beg for mercy in front of Montresor- something that seems to only enhance the pleasure and bliss he finds in trapping the victim to kill him. Montresor finds his yearned revenge as he puts the last brick. However, “Montresor recognizes that he has failed to perform an act of honorable vengeance” since Fortunato never gets to know why he should die. (Sova 46) The readers come to know that fifty years have passed since the incident, but no one has found out about it. “Montresor is a compulsive man whose crime against Fortunato remains a crime against himself because he is still telling the story 50 years after the occurrence.” (Sova 46) Nonetheless, he basks in his bliss of having found revenge over Fortunato.
Thus, the entire story unfolds with all its horror and revengefulness from the perspective of the character of Montresor who describes his feelings with great detailing so as to make the readers get gripped to the narrative due to the sheer affective appeal of the story. The narrator boasts at the end of the narrative, “For half a century now no human hand has touched them. May he rest in peace!” (Poe 72) The Cask of Amontillado is surely one of the most intriguing tales of murder as it makes one travel to the very ambiance of action to feel the claustrophobia, the darkness, the emotions, the fear of the victim and the conniving nature of the murderer who rather takes pride in remembering an incident of so long back in time that he had plotted just to take revenge on one of his acquaintances.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Edgar Allan Poe's the Tell-tale Heart and Other Stories. New York:
Infobase Publishing, 2009. Print.
Frank, Frederick S. & Magistrale, Tony & Poe, Edgar Allan. The Poe Encyclopedia.
Herman, Luc & Vervaeck, Bart. Handbook of Narrative Analysis. London: University of
Nebraska Press, 2001. Print.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Cask of Amontillado. PDF. pp. 68-72.
Sova, Dawn V. Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life
and Work. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print.
