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Characteristics Of Montresor In The Cask Of Amontillado

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If you’ve read Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Cask of Amontillado, you know how evil the protagonist, Montresor, is. He expertly carried out a disturbing scheme that left a man buried alive in the deepest part of the Montresor catacombs to die and rot, all for the sake of revenge. We know that Montresor is a very dark and disturbing character, as his own personality was based off of Poe’s. There is no doubt that Montresor committed a heinous crime of which would not be excused in today’s world. However, there are several quotes and pieces of textual evidence to suggest that Montresor might have done the people a favor by killing the not-so-fortunate “fortunate one.” Is Montresor just a selfish evil genius fueled with revenge, or a good samaritan who wants to give the people the vengeance they deserve?
It’s very clear to see why Montresor is the ultimate character of revenge; Montresor indicates that he is going to kill Fortunato, just for the sake of revenge, as seen in this quote, “…He [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, I [Montresor] vowed revenge” (Poe 61). The whole story is based upon the concept of revenge. Revenge is almost always a personal matter, so nowhere in the book does it say anything about Montresor doing a good act, nor committing the will of the people. There is nothing in Poe’s novel that suggests Montresor was committing his crime …show more content…

Absolutely not. Montresor is an evil genius filled with the caustic fumes of revenge and hatred. On one hand, whatever good Montresor may have done for the people of Italy does not excuse murder. However, on the other Montresor unknowingly carried out the will of the people and took out a major problem in the Italian community (or maybe he did know; Montresor is a very smart man). Yet, whatever his intentions were, the end result was a relief to the public and much satisfaction to Montresor. Either way, Montresor is still a disturbed maniac capable of the most horrific deeds

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