Montensor In Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe shows that Montresor’s heart is filled with hatred against Fortunato, as he states, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (Poe). But, he never shows that feeling. Instead, he pretends to be a best friend till the end. Throughout the story, Montresor is planning and executing this crime with perfection. This shows the devilish mind of Montresor and his hunger for vengeance. He takes advantage of Fortunato’s beliefs, and uses his weakness of pride and wine to lure him to the vault where he executes the crime in the perfect setting and time, which portrays Montresor as an exceptional executioner.
Montresor is leading Fortunato to his own cemetery, yet he never realizes that because of the caring nature displayed by Montresor. The verbal irony, he uses to lure Fortunto is really amazing. He greets and treats Fortunato with, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met” shows that it was a coincidence, although everything was pre-planned (Poe). Fortunato

Fortunato is boastful for knowledge about wine. Montresor says “in the matter of wine he was sincere” (Poe). So, Montresor creates a trap by pretending that he had bought the Amontillado, a rare and expensive wine, and invites him to drink to identify the wine. The poor Fortunato immediately fall in the trap as he was ready to go with Montresor to distinguish whether it was really amontillado or not. Montresor even states, “As you are engaged. I am on my way to Luchesi. He will tell me” (Poe). The Fortunato didn’t feel the deception. Instead, he argues that he can only distinguish the taste of “Amontillado from sherry” (Poe). These conversations are enough for the unfortunate Fortunato to drag himself towards the vaults where his death was waiting for him. Montresor had also used the best time and setting so that nobody notices he had killed