Fortunato's Greatest Weakness

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Edgar Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is a dark and frightening tale of revenge, temptation and murder. The victim of the heinous crime, Fortunato, is a respectable gentleman with a weakness. He has flaws like any other human being, but the difference lies in the severity of his imperfections. For poor Fortunato, his vulnerabilities prove to be the cause of his death. If Fortunato had not been drunk at the time of his homicide, he would not have been susceptible to the enticements of his murderer, Montressor, and would not have been killed.

The Cask of Amontillado is an eloquent story narrated from the murderer’s point of view. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato for numerous insults the reader can only imagine. In order to determine the severity of the apparent injustices, Fortunato himself must be understood. Montressor describes him as being “rich, respected, admired, [and] beloved,” as well as “a man to be … feared” (Poe 274-276). Fortunato was a flawed individual, however. His greatest imperfection was his love for wine. Fortunato’s “connoisseurship” (274) of wine resulted in his intoxicated state throughout the short story. His physical and mental capacities were impaired by his drunkenness, and as a result, he was unable to resist Montressor’s lure into the catacombs.

The alcohol in which Fortunato consumed had drastic affects on the physiology of his body. In general, alcohol affects virtually every cell in the human body. When it is introduced into the system through consumption, it diffuses through both the stomach and the small intestines and enters the bloodstream. The alcohol travels through the blood and is metabolized by the liver. It takes approximately one hour for one drink to be broken down by ...

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Works Cited

Blume, Arthur W., and G. Alan Marlatt. "The Role Of Executive Cognitive Functions In

Changing Substance Use: What We Know And What We Need To Know." Annals Of Behavioral Medicine 37.2 (2009): 117-125. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

Grant, Naomi K., and Tara K. MacDonald. “Can Alcohol Lead to Inhibition or Disinhibiton?

Applying Alcohol Myopia to Animal Experimentation.” Oxford Journals 40.5 (2005): 373-378. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

Goldberg, Leonard. “Behavioral and Physiological Effects of Alcohol on Man.” Psychomatic

Medicine. 28.4 (1966): 570-594. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.

“How Alcohol Affects Your Body” Blood Alcohol Information. N.p. 2006. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

Poe, Edgar A. “The Cask of Amontillado” The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe.

New York: The Modern Library, 1992. 274-279. Print.

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