Pride In Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. This story tells about Montresor and his belief that the clan of Fortunato is trying to insult him and his relatives. Since the Montresor family motto is "no one insults me with impunity (freedom from punishment)", Montresor feels justified in taking revenge on Fortunato. Montresor lures a drunken Fortunato down to the catacombs with the promise of some really fine type of wine called Amontillado. The narrator chains Fortunato to the wall, then begins to close Fortunato in the hole by filling in the opening with bricks leaving him to die behind a wall in the catacombs. Edgar Allen Poe develops a theme that pride is a destructive force by showing the lengths that Montresor will …show more content…
This is important because readers get the story from Montresor’s point of view, but unreliable as one simply can’t be sure about Montresor’s justifications “At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (985). If this was written in a point of view other than first person. Montresor could be insane, unreasonable, or overly sensitive, it would be logical to assume that Montresor is just overreacting and/or behaving like a psychopath. “The Cask of Amontillado” is filled with situational, dramatic, and verbal irony. First, the word “cask” means “wine barrel,” but casket, or coffin, also comes from the same word, so although Fortunato believes he will ultimately reach a cask of wine, he actually meets his casket: “I shall not die of a cough…True – true,” I replied” (987). The reader at this point can almost see a devilish gleam in Montresor’s eyes, for he knows exactly how Fortunato will die.” This is dramatic irony, when the reader or a character knows something that another character does not, is also evident in the