Montresor’s blood lust can be explained through another of Freud’s theories. Freud’s “id” theory is driven by pleasure and an imbalance, which could suggest a mental illness and explains his aggressive behavior. Montresor’s pleasure coincides with an obsession of obtaining revenge and when someone is obsessed with something they tend to adopt a more aggressive nature. This aggressive attitude is obvious at the beginning of the story before he runs into Fortunato and he is plotting his downfall: “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” (Poe 14). Freud’s theory expands further to claim that mental illnesses result from a faulty ego or inability to balance
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After years of denying himself the satisfaction of obtaining immediate revenge, Montresor is now allowing himself to revel in these feelings since so much time has passed thus leaving no room for remorse. Montresor believes that he is wholly justified in killing Fortunato because of whatever bad blood is between the two of them: “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (Poe 14). The possibility of Montresor having a mental illness or some form of mental instability or imbalance has caused Montresor to convince himself that the pain and suffering he is inflicting on Fortunato is justified and well deserved. Readers might further consider what Montresor could have to gain by eliminating Fortunato other than revenge and self satisfaction. Readers could have hypothesized that it was Fortunato who put Montresor out of the wine business so without Fortunato there would no longer be any competition between businesses. The end of “The Cask of Amontillado” suggests that Montresor is bragging about the way he carried out and succeeded in obtaining his revenge. Regardless of Montresor’s true motives his belief is that he is completely justified in his actions due to his desire for obtaining revenge, which stems from the imbalance of his id, superego, and mind according to Freud’s
After years of denying himself the satisfaction of obtaining immediate revenge, Montresor is now allowing himself to revel in these feelings since so much time has passed thus leaving no room for remorse. Montresor believes that he is wholly justified in killing Fortunato because of whatever bad blood is between the two of them: “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (Poe 14). The possibility of Montresor having a mental illness or some form of mental instability or imbalance has caused Montresor to convince himself that the pain and suffering he is inflicting on Fortunato is justified and well deserved. Readers might further consider what Montresor could have to gain by eliminating Fortunato other than revenge and self satisfaction. Readers could have hypothesized that it was Fortunato who put Montresor out of the wine business so without Fortunato there would no longer be any competition between businesses. The end of “The Cask of Amontillado” suggests that Montresor is bragging about the way he carried out and succeeded in obtaining his revenge. Regardless of Montresor’s true motives his belief is that he is completely justified in his actions due to his desire for obtaining revenge, which stems from the imbalance of his id, superego, and mind according to Freud’s