The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe is a story centred upon an act of revenge. Poe with his characters demonstrates how an unchecked emotion of a person can lead to another’s destruction. Montresor is used by Poe to exemplify the violence of which humans are capable of doing in terms of revenge. Stepp (1976) further concludes that by so doing Poe suggests that Montresor or his nature resides within each person who reads the story. The implication is clearly that any person could, provide the correct provocation, perform an act as heinous as that which Montresor does.
Montresor, the character whose perspective the readers get to experience the story, is one who is full of mystery and suspense. He sets the audience in the mood of terror by narrating the beginning of the story with angst: The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best as I could but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. By creating this character, Poe catapults Goth into his story. After introducing to the audience to what permeates in his mind, Montresor then further explicates the purpose of the other character: Fortunato, the man who is object to his revenge.
The way Montresor interacts with Fortunato is the main producer of the suspense in the story. The readers are not given explicit detail as to how Montresor will exact his revenge but are shown that Montresor is a cunning man who uses reverse psychology to formulate his plans. With the use of this technique, Montresor brings more tension in the story. Poe lengthens the suspense when he lets the two characters interact without letting the readers know what is going on in the murderer’s mind.
The Essay on Introduction To Literature Montresor Fortunato Poe
... tells this story as though his soon to be victim is a complete idiot. Revenge for Montresor involves making ... in a cheerful time and of the two characters only one is truly elated. Once again we ... delight for romantic writers, especially after Edgar Allan Poe. Poe delved into the dark psyche of men to ... As the story continues, the narrator keeps the reader in suspense of what his plan for revenge is until ...
The narration of Montresor in the beginning of the story already brings up question in the readers minds: The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne, as I best could [… ], Montresor never specifies what injuries and insult Fortunato inflicted on him. The conversations between the two intensify the suspense of the story as well. Montresor states that he never gave Fortunato a chance to doubt him: I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.
The readers are left to wonder whether the damned Fortunato had an inkling that Montresor was putting up a facade. Impunity, freedom from unpleasant consequences, is the main goal of Montresor as he acts out his revenge on Fortunato. Montresor carefully planned the murder of his friend and made sure that no other person will ever find out about the death of Fortunato.
