Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “Cask of Amontillado” (1846) shares the confession of a man who committed an abhorrent and nefarious crime half a century ago. Montresor lures Fortunato into the family catacombs under the pretext that he insists on requiring Fortunato 's self-proclaimed wine connoisseurship to determine the authenticity of Montresor’s newly attained cask of Amontillado. There, he proceeds to brick Fortunato into a wall of the vaults to perish as revenge for the “thousand injuries” he had presumably suffered at the hands of Fortunato (Poe 3). The story never fails to confound readers as to the motive behind Montresor’s actions. The mystery behind this often leads readers to draw the conclusion that Montresor suffers from mental
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In “The Cask of Amontillado” the claim that Montresor suffered “a thousand injuries” however fails to include elaboration regarding the allegation (3). This acts as the major premise for the claim that Montresor suffers from insanity. Readers arrive at the conclusion that Fortunato never actually induced “a thousand injuries” on Montresor and instead that Montresor suffers from delusions after Montresor neglects to clarify his accusations against Fortunato (3). The idea that if he had not suffered any injuries, it would be easy for him to deceive and entrap Fortunato, further supports this claim. This assertion explores how Fortunato would have no reason to suspect any ulterior motive when Montresor lures him to his death. Therefore, if Montresor has not been injured, insanity acts as the reason behind his need for revenge. However, Poe could not have allowed the question of his sanity or insanity to rest on a few vague words in the opening to his story. Accordingly, if Poe intended for the reader to postulate that Montresor committed the crime as a result of insanity, he would have provided further evidence and hints throughout the narrative exposing his altered mental …show more content…
Edgar Allan Poe ingeniously and adroitly intertwines the allure of mystery into the narrative to compel readers to think intellectually about the events of the story and come to their own conclusion regarding Montresor’s motives. The narrative provides multiple innuendos concerning and relating to the concept that family honor, personal beliefs, and pride impel him to desire and execute his plan for revenge. Although readers often conclude that he suffers from insanity, Montresor effectuates revenge on Fortunato due to his motives regarding family pride and his own personal ego. Throughout the narrative, Montresor proves that he has an incentive behind the crime he commits and believes that the motives driving his ambition for revenge justify his deed. This prevails as an obvious implication that insanity does not drive him to murder Fortunato and further exposes that his crime was committed as a result of his own pride driven
In “The Cask of Amontillado” the claim that Montresor suffered “a thousand injuries” however fails to include elaboration regarding the allegation (3). This acts as the major premise for the claim that Montresor suffers from insanity. Readers arrive at the conclusion that Fortunato never actually induced “a thousand injuries” on Montresor and instead that Montresor suffers from delusions after Montresor neglects to clarify his accusations against Fortunato (3). The idea that if he had not suffered any injuries, it would be easy for him to deceive and entrap Fortunato, further supports this claim. This assertion explores how Fortunato would have no reason to suspect any ulterior motive when Montresor lures him to his death. Therefore, if Montresor has not been injured, insanity acts as the reason behind his need for revenge. However, Poe could not have allowed the question of his sanity or insanity to rest on a few vague words in the opening to his story. Accordingly, if Poe intended for the reader to postulate that Montresor committed the crime as a result of insanity, he would have provided further evidence and hints throughout the narrative exposing his altered mental …show more content…
Edgar Allan Poe ingeniously and adroitly intertwines the allure of mystery into the narrative to compel readers to think intellectually about the events of the story and come to their own conclusion regarding Montresor’s motives. The narrative provides multiple innuendos concerning and relating to the concept that family honor, personal beliefs, and pride impel him to desire and execute his plan for revenge. Although readers often conclude that he suffers from insanity, Montresor effectuates revenge on Fortunato due to his motives regarding family pride and his own personal ego. Throughout the narrative, Montresor proves that he has an incentive behind the crime he commits and believes that the motives driving his ambition for revenge justify his deed. This prevails as an obvious implication that insanity does not drive him to murder Fortunato and further exposes that his crime was committed as a result of his own pride driven