Theme Of Montresor An Unreliable Narrator In The Cask Of Amontillado

In Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado,” the main character and narrator, Montresor begins the story by expressing how he has put up with many insults from a man named Fortunato and that he has had enough and vows revenge against him. Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs to taste the Amontillado so as to kill him secretly. Montresor portrays in the beginning of the story that he is going to be lying to Fortunato’s face, acting one way while really thinking another. This fact indicates that Montresor is an unreliable narrator for telling the story because he lies to people he knows, gives hints that he is jealous of Fortunato, does not offer an explanation for wanting to murder Fortunato and his tone of narrating the story.
Montresor demonstrates that he is an unreliable narrator for the events that he describes by lying to other characters in the story. Firstly, he establishes in the beginning of the story

He describes Fortunato as a “rich, respected, admired, beloved; happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter” (252). Montresor takes insult at the fact that Fortunato seems to look upon the fact that he is not a freemason with disdain. And when Fortunato explains that he has forgotten the Montresor’s family coat of arms, Montresor takes insult. This explains that Montresor is indeed jealous of Fortunato, which is likely the true reason as to why he kills him.
Throughout the story, Montresor does not justify his reasons for committing murder. He does not disclose anything about the “thousand injuries” (250) done to him by Fortunato, nor does he even reveal the details of the supposed injuries that drove him to vow revenge. Montresor’s family motto, “nemo me impune lacessit” which means “no one insults me with impunity” (252), indicate that Montresor only killed Fortunato to protect his family’s