Nemo me impune lacessit

“The Cask of Amontillado” is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous horror stories, and was first published in 1846. At first glance, the story appears to be a straightforward account of Montresor exacting his revenge upon his former friend, Fortunato. It is easy to assume Montresor is insane or crazy since he decided to essentially bury Fortunato alive in his (Montresor’s) family catacombs and very little detail is given as to why Montresor seeks vengeance, leaving it to the reader to guess at…

fangs are imbedded in the heel”, his murder of Fortunato can almost be justified despite the irony of it. His motto expresses even more of this irony. Thompson describes this justified feeling when he says “’Nemo me impune lacessit.’ Montresor's family motto has (b)een translated, ‘No one attacks me with impunity’… Any kind of injury or an insult of almost any degree would warrant retaliation” (White, 552). In other words, the entire idea of Montresor’s family is that they must seek revenge…

The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe, is a short story told from the point of view of a man, Montresor, that’s filled with hatred and vengefulness towards Fortunato. Poe develops the hateful and vengeful theme of this short story through his usage of the literary elements, more specifically the point of view, the usage of irony, and the setting of the story. He also does a good job of developing the theme through his establishment of a suspenseful, disturbing tone. In his poem Fable for…

Starting at a young age, humans know that death is inevitable. There is no escaping the harsh reality that one day, a person might not wake up. We know that death is coming, but we never know when. Our last days could be closely approaching without us even knowing. Yet when we think about our death, most of us do not think about being killed by live entombment. However, this is exactly what happens in Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Cask of Amontillado”. The story is from the point of view of an unreliable…

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, is usually proclaimed one of his best works as a short story. In this short story is about two men, Montresor and Fortunato, who were revered as men of power and success. Fortunato and Montresor are both very prideful men, who are willing to go to great strides to uphold and also maintain their honor and reputation for who they are as people. A long with all of the similarities of the two involving there pride, and there knowledge of wine there are…

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most well-known Gothic writers of all time, and also a master of suspense. One tool he used in his writing is foreshadowing, which is a very prominent literary device in Poe’s writings. Some of these writings include The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of The Red Death, and The Black Cat, in which readers are left wondering, “What happens next?” Whether he is using entire paragraphs to describe a character’s necessity for revenge, or leaving subtle hints in…

Fortunato will want to come to the vaults. He prides himself on being knowledgeable about wine and would not allow someone else to take his position. While in the catacombs, Montresor speaks about his family motto, "Nemo me impune lacessit." This quote translates to, “No one provokes me with impunity.” This means that no one is exempt from punishment if they wrong Montresor and he is willing to go to great lengths to defend it. Many people exploit someone using what they love, because their…

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe takes readers on a twisted journey inside the mind of a madman. Poe is often remembered for the dark themes present in his stories which can often be attributed to his difficult life. Poe uses irony to develop his theme of a man who seeks salvation through repression. From an early age, Edgar Allan Poe experienced many hardships. By the time Poe had turned three, his father had already left the family and his mother had died of tuberculosis. After the death of…

“Nemo me impune lacessit”, no one attacks me without impunity. Montresor a character in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” certainly lived by this motto. As the main character and narrator Montresor is introduced at the very beginning of the story where he explains his need for revenge against Fortunato and what he perceives to be Fortunatos weakness. The story continues when Montresor meets Fortunato at the carnival and tempts Fortunato to follow him down into the catacombs in search…

shows the dark side of human nature. Edgar Allen Poe’s story chronicles the true intentions of a vengeful man that goes by his last name, Montresor. Montresor lives by a quote that his family often said; “Nemo me impune lacessit.” When this Latin quote is translated, it means “no one attacks me with impunity.” This motto is important for understanding the protagonist’s grimy character. Through careful character analyzation and thorough reading it is easy to understand Montresor’s motives and…