Montresor: A Short Story

It was damp, dark, and intimidating down there with the walls covered in human remains. It also says, “We had passed through walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow” (52). Once again, Montresor is trying to be nice and welcoming in the scary setting to trick Fortunado into trusting him until he can make his move. With the combination of Montresor’s fake friendliness and the suspicious surrounding, the reader could infer Montresor’s intensions in the catacombs.

The first reason for this statement is that Montresor was the last person to be seen with Fortunato before his disappearance. The second reason is that no case of Amontillado was found in the catacombs. Lastly, Screams were thought to be heard coming from the catacombs on the night of Fortunato’s disappearance. The first reason Montresor should be convicted with these crimes is that he was the last person to be seen with Fortunato before his disappearance.

Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them”(217). This quote can explain the violent death of Fortunato that Montresor performed. Instead of killing him instantly. Montresor let him die a nice, long, and suffering death.

Montresor states, “I continued , as was my in to smile in his face and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe 1). Montresor devises an intricate and well thought out plan to murder someone he considers a friend, he highlights the evil of humanity when the thought of killing Fortunato brings a smile to his face.

I shall not die of a cough. ”(4) Montresor pretended to care about Fortunato’s health, insisting they go back. The narrator states, “ I placed my

The authors also want the readers to have a mutual hatred towards Fortunato. 2. The techniques the author uses to help the readers visualize the place, people, and the events taking place within the story is imagery. He goes into details about the settings, and he also describes the coldness of being underground. The author also uses foreshadowing “I shall not die of a cough” and Montresor says “true” meaning he’ll probably die from dehydration and starvation in the vault.

He has plotted a revenge for him so that Fortunato could get what he deserved. Montresor planned for Fortunato to get drunk and then lure him to his home where he will kill him . After Fortunato is led back to Montresor’s house be deceiving him and took him to the catacombs of the Mansion where the supposed Amontillado wine is. Montresor was planning to trap Fortunato in the catacombs to kill him, this is an extremely horrible death. Dying of starvation or thirst would be a painful way to go especially in a dark catacomb surrounded by skeletons and the smell of rot and dampness.

He got Fortunato drunk, (Montresor states this when he says "Drink," I said, presenting him the wine”), then lured him into the catacombs to where he was going to trap him, leaving him there to starve. In conclusion, Montresor should be sentenced to death because he committed a severe crime that hurt a family and friends. There is no other ruly way to punish him rather than killing him. He should receive capital punishment and he should not be allowed to live, because then there is no for sure way to tell if he will murder another person or

Have you ever been insulted or judged by someone for something you did or the way you represent yourself to society? In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, it talks about two friends Montresor and Fortunato, whose fates are determined by murder and revenge. Montresor planned to seek revenge on his friend for the insults he has committed despite Fortunato who isn’t aware of Montresor anger. The author of “The Cask of Amontillado” used symbolism and imagery to describe the theme of revenge.

The quote shows the author's details create a shocking mood in the readers because he describes a detailed image the helps the reader envision what is going on. This action takes the audience by surprise because they know Montresor is getting revenge, but they aren’t told what it will be so they are as clueless as Fortunato. Montresor threw a torch in the niche where he tied Fortunato up and he finished closing up the wall, killing a man who considered him a friend. “I thrust a torch to the remaining aperture and let it fall within… I force the last stone into position; I plastered it up.” (pg7)

He exploits this and deceives the man to go down into the caverns that housed the supposed Amontillado. Furthermore, Montresor never tells the reader what Fortunato actually did. He only states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe, 360). Insults do not call for homicide.

He states that Fortunato is a respected man, and that he will be greatly missed, and that he is happy as he once had been. He insists on turning around, and Fortunato refuses. Fortunato says that a cold shall not kill him, and he insists on moving forward. Montresor, I believe, enjoys the irony and agrees that a cold shall not kill him, because he knows that he will be the cause of Fortunato’s death. Fortunato’s lack of knowledge allows his to easily fall for Montresor’s 3rd step in his

Montresor tortures Fortunato, both physiologically and physically. Montresor clearly gives Fortunato “multiple chances to escape his fate” (Delany 34), as he gives Fortunato obvious clues to his true intensions. These include leading Fortunato into a place for the dead, telling Fortunato not to go due to his severe cough that made it “impossible to reply” (Poe 5) at times, reminding Fortunato of his family arms, mentioning Luchesi, and showing Fortunato a trowel. Montresor seems to receive morbid joy out of the fact that Fortunato is so intoxicated that, just like the foot on Montresor’s coat of arms, he is unintentionally “stepping into his own destruction” (Cervo

Montresor told Fortunato that he is a “rich, respected, admired, beloved” (86) man. He does not actually think that. When he says he “must not only punish” (83) Fortunato, but he must “punish [him] with impunity” (83), which he does. The first step in Montresor's plan is to get Fortunato to go in the catacombs. He says to Fortunato, “Come, we will go back, your health is precious” (86).

Montresor then starts to easily manipulate Fortunato. Montresor uses Fortunato’s vanity against him to get what he wants. Fortunato thinks that Montresor has nothing against him and just wants him to taste wine. Fortunato goes with Montresor, and in doing this Fortunato becomes complicit in his own demise by insisting on sampling the amontillado. This allows Montresor to take control and lure Fortunato to the vaults, where Montresor becomes murderous.