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Reflection on the cask of amontillado by edgar allan/poe
Reflection on the cask of amontillado by edgar allan/poe
Edgar allan poe descriptive writing
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Right from the start, Poe uses carefully chosen words to set up the story. When explaining the situation, the narrator, Montresor states, “At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled—but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser” (Poe, pg. 866). Poe uses words like “avenged,” “precluded,” “impunity,” “unredressed,” and “retribution,” which reveals that Montresor was insulted in a way that harmed his dignity and pushed him over the edge of his limits. These words also give us an understanding of Montresor’s character. We could tell that he was a meticulous, intelligent …show more content…
Upon entering the catacombs, the family motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit” is inscribed on the door. The motto means “No one harms me unpunished” (Poe, pg. 868) which is a statement that foreshadows the dramatic end of the story. We, as the readers, already know that narrator vowed to get revenge on his friend, Fortunato. Poe utilizes this vital information by placing the motto on the catacombs, giving us an immediate indication that the narrator will inflict his punishment on the Fortunato in the catacombs by the end of the story. He adds specific details to fit Montresor’s motive and earlier assertion of killing Fortunato. By doing this, Poe finds a way to keep pumping suspense into our veins, even though his foreshadowing already revealed most of the end. He also adds to the suspense, by making Montresor toy with the Fortunato, the way a cat toys with a mouse before killing it. Montresor continues to drop hints that lead to the dreadful ending, relishing the Fortunato’s cluelessness of the situation he is walking into. All in all, Poe foreshadows the ending of the short story without releasing all of the reader's suspense through
Fortunato “takes possession” of Montresor’s arm, for which he suffers (716) in order to carry out his plan. Poe’s use of possession and suffer give the impression that Montresor is being afflicted again by Fortunato. Once Montresor reveals this meeting at this evening is no coincidence by divulging he made sure none of his attendants would be home. By giving the direct orders to be home. Poe shows us that Montresor was not respected or feared by his servants’ actions. The servants’ leaving after being given a direct order to stay does give credence to the fact that Montresor must be very methodical and unyielding to his schedule. Only once Fortunato to the catacombs does he betray his own premise. Montresor refers to Fortunato as his “poor friend” (716). At this point Poe has depicted this instigator of a “thousand injuries” as a drunken jester that can barely catch his breath at this point in the story. Now Montresor is showing some sympathy towards him. At this point the transition is complete. Where the two men stopped at the entrance to Fortunato’s tomb, this is the moment that leaves no doubt that Montresor is the villain and Fortunato is the
When he does Montresor tries to be firm in his conviction of revenge, notwithstanding reacting briefly to Fortunato’s desperation, “I hesitated—I trembled” (Poe). After a
... carnival, so that the narrator would not consult another supposed wine connoisseur about the cask of amontillado, the reader must identify with the dark parts of their character and learn from the mistakes of the characters in this story. Like Montresor, all people have faults and by illustrating this extremely flawed character, Poe allows the reader a glimpse at the flaws in their own. Even Montresor recognizes that he must hares his crime, whether to confess or brag, the story could not die with him. Montresor is a vehicle that allows the reader to identify with their own shortcomings. He was consumed by a thirst for revenge, driven by pride, aided by intelligence, and suffering from a sense of inadequacy which created jealousy. Montresor demonstrates that vengeance and pride are impure motivators that lead to sinister thoughts and actions unfit for judgement day.
Edger Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” talks about how Montressor feels like he was insulted by his friend Fortunato. Also Montressor’s family motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit.”(Allan Poe 362), which means “No one insults me with impunity.”, and Montressor doesn’t want to let his family motto down so he uses it as a reason and make his revenge on Fortunato as a goal that has to be accomplished. Montressor tricks his friend Fortunato which was drunk at the moment, by asking him to follow him to his house and to check an expensive wine that he just purchased to be sure that he didn’t get tricked. Fortunato follows Montressor to his house and went down to the down stairs of Montressor’s house. When they get to the catacombs, Montressor chains up Fortunato and places him in a niche in the wall, and started to build a brick wall leaving him sealed inside to die in the catacombs.
One of the most horrifying lines in the story is given by Montresor after Fortunato says, “I will not die of a cough” (Baym ). Montresor says, “True— true....” (Baym ). It seems that Montresor 's murder plot became subconsciously manifest in those two words. Dramatic irony is irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the story (“dramatic-irony”) and Poe uses this effectively in this story. For example, Montresor expresses concern about Fortunato and says, "Come, I said, with decision, we will go back; your health is
In his article, he mainly wanted to answer two questions; 1) What could have been Montresor’s motive to kill Fortunato? And 2) Why did he wait fifty years to tell the story? As I finished DiSanza’s article, neither of those questions were actually answered. I guess that’s because no one but Poe himself could really tell us readers why. Bales, Kent and Gargano were DiSanza’s most used sources and even those authors couldn’t answer his main questions, which he based his article around. I found that while reading “On Memory, Forgetting, and Complicity in “The Cask of Amontillado”” by Raymond DiSanza, Edgar Allan Poe’s short story causes the reader to ask many questions. In which, those questions interconnect more frequently than you’d think. DiSanza makes you realize Poe never mentions Montresor’s motive because he knew exactly how the readers would react. A great tactic Poe brilliantly uses, purposefully leaving out information in order to create suspense and mystery; causing the reader to wonder. Poe wanted us to overanalyze and try to figure out the many possibilities behind these questions, he wanted us to think in a way we wouldn’t have. He is able to avoid giving examples of what these injuries Fortunato put upon Montresor were. Poe 's problem in writing this story include keeping the reader somewhat sympathetic for a man who was able to bury another man
Edgar Allan Poe was an excellent horror, suspense, and mystery writer of the eighteenth century. His use of literary devices and different literary techniques makes this writer important to American literature. This paper will show how Edgar Allan Poe has made an impact on Society and American literature as well as how Edgar Allan Poe developed the short story. I will also discuss and analyze some of his works and techniques he uses in his short stories and poems.
The thoughts and feelings of Montresor lead the reader to conclude that he is not successful at revenge. Montresor says in telling his story, "You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however that I gave utterance to a threat" (153). By communicating in this way, the question arises of who Montresor is actually speaking to, and why he is telling this story fifty years later. One can only conclude that it is for one of two reasons: he is either bragging or finally giving confession. As he tells the story, it becomes obvious that he has not yet filled his need to win, and now a half of a century later, is still struggling with his conscience. As Gregory Jay s...
How simple, indeed--at least until we examine a group of irreconcilable paradoxes in the story. To begin with, the names Montresor and Fortunato are synonymous. (Hoffman 223) Secondly, we find that the motive for the crime was some unnamed insult. Motives for killing someone should be important enough to detail. Why does Poe have Montresor gloss over the motives? One view is that Montresor relates the details of the murder not to justify his actions, but as a form of confession. But if this be confession, where is the regret? Again, Poe leaves his readers mystified concerning the time and location for issuance of the narrative voice. If Montresor still lives, he must be a very old man. If so, the phantasms of his deed may have horrified him all of his life. Then why does he not seem horrified? If this be confession, then why does he seem not penitent?
In "Cask of Amontillado", Montresor is the narrator. "The thousand of injuries of Fortunato he has borne as he best could; but when he ventures upon insult, Montresor vows revenge" (Poe 528). As the story unfolds, "Montresor's idea of perfect revenge" is "characteristically precise and logical in detail" as to how he commits his crime (Delaney 1).
Because Montresor narrates the story in the first person, the reader is able to perceive his thoughts and understand his motivations and justifications for his ruthless murder in a manner which a third person point of view would not allow. Montresor’s personal narration of the events of the story does not justify his crime in the audience’s eyes, but it does offer a unique opportunity for the audience to view a murder from the perspective of a madman killer. It is Poe’s usage of this unique angle that causes the story to be so captivating and gruesomely fascinating. As the story opens, Montresor explains why it is necessary that he “not only punish but punish with impunity” to avenge for Fortunado’s insult to him. This justification for his crime is a piece of information that the audience is able to learn only because they are permitted inside the mind of the protagonist. In the final scene, when Montresor is carrying out his murder pl...
Poe creates a horror story of a psychological revenge and murder that occurred fifty years ago. Montresor is able to recall with clarity the details of his crime. Does he feel remorse for what he has done to Fortunato? The reader would think that he does, Montresor seems to be making the haunting confession from his death bed. The last thing that Montresor says to Fortunato is “In pace requiescat” which means “In peace may he rest” (557)! This is what Montresor wants for himself, this is why he is confessing to his sins.
This immediate familiarity helps the reader to see inside the calculating mind of Montresor, whom we later learn is a killer. When talking about the past insults of Fortunato, he takes on a cold, determined tone: “At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled […] I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (Poe, 618).
Poe starts out with a man, by the name of Montresor, wanting revenge on another man, named Fortunato. Most of the story takes place deep in the Montresor family catacombs. As Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs, he chains Fortunato up to a small hole in a wall, bricks it over, and leaves Fortunato to die. Even through the traits of anger, hatred, and revenge, as the story progresses on, Montresor, the main character in “The Cask of Amontillado”, starts to show signs of feeling guilty for wanting to murder Fortunato.
Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature Fifth Edition Volume B Early Nineteenth Century: 1800-1865 2006