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.
As Montresor is the one that is not drunk, he acts more normally than Fortunato would and therefore shows more character traits. For example, Montresor shows smartness as he manages to get Fortunato into chains, he also shows manipulation as he manipulates Fortunato into thinking that they are friends as Montresor is drunk for the majority of the story making the reader unable to comprehend how he would like normally when the only part in the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” that he is sober is when he has been chained up and about to be buried alive. During this part, the reader still can not understand Fortunato’s character traits as all he does is moan and trash like a normal person would do if they were to be in the same type of
In the Cask of Amontillado, our narrator’s situation is one he is quite happy being in. Our narrator is Montresor, an Italian man rich with pride, and you quickly learn through his narration that he is intelligent, conniving, and extremely sinister. Throughout the story, everything Montresor does is motivated by one thing, his own thirst for vengeance. Montresor explains his actions are a result of Fortunato constantly abusing him and finally going too far, but he never explains anything Fortunato has done to insult him. When we meet Fortunato, he is extremely friendly towards Montresor, albeit a little intoxicated, so much that he makes Montresor’s story of “a thousand injuries” seem unbelievable (Cask 1). Compared to Gilman’s narrator whose spiral out of control was triggered by her forced seclusion from the outside world, it seems that Montresor’s insanity come from inside his own head. There is no evidence that suggest any attempts by Fortunato to belittle or insult Montresor in any way. I believe that Montresor may have been jealous of Fortunato’s success in life, and that is what drove him to vengeance. For example, on their way to the catacombs Fortunato makes a hand gesture of the Masons, a secret brotherhood, which Montresor doesn’t understand. Fortunato ask if Montresor is a Mason and for him to prove it, and Montresor lies and shows his trowel (Cask 5). This proves that
He shows absolutely no remorse or any true interest in the effect that his actions will have. Even to go as far to make jokes at the expense of the future murder of his so called “friend.” Like Dr. Stout said, sociopaths can lead people to their impaling doom with much ease. The sheer ease of his master plan of revenge unfolding. His use of reverse psychology on people to have them ultimately do his true bidding. Playing with Fortunado’s trust to his own satisfaction and gain. He exhibits many traits of a sociopath throughout the story. Edgar Allan Poe is well known for doing this in many of his works as seen in classic works like The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart. The protagonists of these stories are also sociopathic, insane, vengeful and blood thirsty people who in reality are in fact the true antagonists. In each of their minds they believe they’re rightfully exacting justice and don’t see any error in their actions or just simply don’t care. They’re also cold, unfeeling, persuasive, and sinister murders who escalate small issues out of proportion. A sinister character is a recurring theme in Poe’s work and Montresor is surely no exception to this
The author introduces the readers to the narrator who is known as Montresor when he is talking to an unknown audience. In the course of the discussion with the unknown audience, Montresor attests to the fact that Fortunato, who is a close friend of his has morally insulted. Due to the moral insult labeled against him, Montresor intends to revenge. “Part of Montresor's vengeance plan, however, is to ensure that he does not expose himself neither to Fortunato nor to the society at large” (Johnson et.al, 8). To this effect, he does not let open the ill feelings that he harbors against Fortunato. Montresor asserts to the fact that he would consider his vengeance plan a failure if at all Fortunato found out and exerted revenge. That notwithstanding though, he says that he would let Fortunato know that he is the mastermind of all his misfortunes when he will be satisfied that his vengeance plan will not backfire.
1. What can the reader infer about Montresor’s social position and character from hints in the text? What evidence does the text provide that Montresor is an unreliable narrator? We learned from paragraph 23 to 24 that Montresor owns a Palazzo and also has lot of retainers based on that evidence, the reader can infer that Montresor is a very wealthy and successful man. About his character, the reader can imply that Montresor is a heartless, cold blooded, sneaky, manipulative, and untrustworthy man, as well as a man who hold on to grudges. Moreover, Montresor is an unreliable narrator, because he reveals in the first paragraph that he intends to have a revenge on Fortunato, but he did not indicate or clearly prove to the readers how Fortunato
Edgar Allen Poe did a fantastic job creating the character, Montresor. He created the character to be incredibly meticulous, and cunning. In the beginning of the story, it is mentioned that Fortunato had insulted Montresor in such a humiliating way that Montresor swore revenge. He was so remarkably deceitful,
Within the story, Montresor is really losing his mind by showing that he wants to kill Fortunato but we the readers don’t know why he wants to kill him. In this passage, “ The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when
Montresor shows these characteristics once he starts planning his revenge for Fortunato. Not only does Montresor use his cleverness by making sure that his plan is precise and accurate, but also by having a perfect plan with no mistakes. Since Montresor wants revenge from Fortunato, he must make sure that he “not only punish, but punish with impunity” (Poe 344). This makes evident that Montresor will get revenge without getting caught or seen. Montresor requires himself to plan his revenge without any witness and makes sure to know what to do in case of an accident. Montresor believes that he can not get revenge if he does not get away with it. He uses his brilliance to assure that there are no errors so that he gets to enjoy his revenge afterward. Montresor is thinking ahead of the game and wants to assure that everything goes as he planned it. Thus, it is clear that Montresor is a very perspicacious, intuitive man and is capable of using that knowledge for his
To start off, we learn that Montresor has borne many insults by Fortunato that leads him to the extremity of whisking away his life. Towards the beginning, it is made clear that Montresor’s desire is revenge and that he is persistent in making it a reality. We also learn that Montresor is sly and cunning when acting towards Fortunato. Montresor’s fake smile and cunning ways of appeasing Fortunato’s senses lead him to his own demise. We learn from these actions that Fortunato is a fool and oblivious. Not only that, but we are given a sense of humor as well when
Montresor’s pride in his family name is so great that “When [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, [Montresor] vowed revenge” (739). He cannot let himself be put down because he would appear to be weak and inferior, so he plans his revenge carefully. He [Fortunado] prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine (739). Montresor found this to be a weakness and his plot for revenge. Montresor preys
At the beginning of the story, Montresor states his motive to kill Fortunato, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” Montresor doesn’t specify what Fortunato did to him, but you have to infer that he’s done some pretty serious things to deserve to die. This quote alone doesn’t give enough to create the personality of Montresor; throughout the story, Montresor gives several hints that he will not let anything stop his plan, one of which being his motto. Montresor telling the story for the first time in 50 years shows that he sticks to his word no matter what, which can be good, but then again, he did kill a man in cold blood half a century before he
In the story, Montresor is very sneaky and deceitful. Montresor made it appear as if he were Fortunato’s friend when he told Fortunato in the cave after a coughing fit occurred, “‘Come,’ I said, with decision, ‘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,’” (2). Montresor managed to sneakily deceive Fortunato into thinking he wished him no harm! Fortunato was very sure that Montresor was a friend, not an enemy, and Montresor gave no hint to his plan! You see Montresor acting like Fortunato’s friend after they discuss the masons, “...replacing the tool under my cloak and again offering (Fortunato) my arm. He
Montresor’s pride of self-respect and dignity is reflected from the very beginning of the story. He speaks about the frequent insults from Fortunato. While the details of the final insult are never revealed, it caused Montresor to seek revenge, to the point of murder. He
Fortunato is depicted from the outset of the tale as arrogant and egotistical. Montressor begins his narration by saying, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge" (240). Though the exact nature of the insult is not made known, there are numerous examples of subtle slights by Fortunato throughout the narrative. Perhaps Fortunato is unaware that his comments are frequently demeaning but his remarks make him seem arrogant and uncaring. Early in the story, he indicates his belief that Montressor is not a true connoiss...