"The Cask of Amontillado"
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The Cask of Amontillado
53
Short Story
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2020-05-14T07:27:47-07:00
Published in 1846, "The Cask of Amontillado" tells the tale of revenge enacted upon a nobleman named Fortunato by fellow nobleman Montresor. The short story takes place during Carnival in Italy where Montresor decides to lure Fortunato using his interest in fine wine. Montresor decides to exact his revenge after Fortunato insults him in an unspecified way.
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge....At length I would be avenged;...
Montresor tells Fortunato that he has a bottle of Amontillado that needs to be verified and talks about going to Fortunato's rival, Luchesi, to confirm it. Falling onto the bait, Fortunato exclaims that he can do it.
The pair head down to Montresor's family crypt (location of the wine vault) which is damp and has niter on its walls, making Fortunato have a fit full of coughs. Montresor coaxes him to drink wine to alleviate the coughing and as a result, gets Fortunato drunk. Once they're in the crypt, they reach the innermost section of the crypt where one section of four walls was removed and the bones taken down.
"Enough...the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough." "True--true," said Montresor.
By telling Fortunato this was where the Amontillado is located, Montresor convinces a drunken Fortunato to step inside the recess and then chains him to granite. Once the alcohol begins to wear off, Fortunato begins to scream. This makes Montresor pause on the wall he's building, but he remembers that they are deep underneath the world and no one can hear them. He resumes his work.
- "A succession of loud and shrill screams, [suddenly burst forth] from the throat of the chained [Fortunato].... I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew still."
As Montresor finishes the wall, he calls out to Fortunato twice but doesn't get a response, only a few jingles from the Fortunato's court jester costume. Montresor leaves because his heart starts to hurt him and said that for fifty years, no one disturbed them.
In "The Cask of Amontillado", there are two monsters: Montresor and from Montresor's perspective, Fortunato. Montresor commits murder for the supposed insults Fortunato bestows upon him, pre-planning his revenge. He is sure of his intent to be avenged, going in detail about how punishment is demanded of him. Through Montresor's viewpoint, Fortunato is the wrongdoer, the monster that must be punished for his behavior and actions. In addition, Fortunato represents everything Montresor seems to have lost, greatness, prestige, admiration, and respect. The switch in fortune has left Montresor bitter and angry towards Fortunato and causes Montresor to view Fortunato in a monstrous light.
"You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter."
