Q2: PT
“Nemo me impune lacessit.” The cask of Amontillado, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is a
short story about vengeance, deception, and murder as the story’s protagonist and main
character, Montresor, tricks an intoxicated Fortunato, the antagonist of the story, by confining
him within an ancient crypt or catacomb. It’s narrated in first person point of view, which makes
the narrator unreliable since he most probably is biased. Montresor’s side of the story was heard,
but never Fortunato’s. The story conveys the message that it's necessary to be polite to others and
to avoid being excessively trusting or greedy. Fortunato failed to grasp these principles in time,
and this resulted in his horrifying demise. His previous mistreatment of Montresor, his faith in
the man's pretense, and his greed with regards to the Amontillado all played a part to his
unfortunate death. The themes of vengeance, folly, pride, and irony are all reflected by the title
"The Cask of Amontillado." From the characters to the various instances of symbolism, the novel
is brimming with examples and devices for those main themes. In this tale, Poe uses literary
elements to display his characters and setting, as well as to establish his tale and highlight the
themes.
Pride is the central topic and idea in this tale. The usage of the device point of view
helped to establish the theme of pride. As the story is narrated by Montresor, the readers get to
truly understand his thoughts and actions. It further clears the reasons behind his hatred for
Fortunato as he stated once in the story, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best
could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” Montresor mentions how he is angry
and infuriated by Fortunato as he said that he had offended and wronged him multiple times. It is
evident how this has injured his pride, otherwise he wouldn’t have committed the act of murder
against Fortunato. His pride was enough motivation for him to settle with seeking vengeance
against him. Opposite to how strong and important Montresor’s pride is, it is Fortunato’s
weakness besides his connoisseurship for wine. Since Montresor knows how Fortunato views
himself as an excellent and an experienced wine taster, he was able to lure him to the catacomb
by using his love for wine. Montresor knowing that he struck a chord with Fortunato by
mentioning Luchesi tasting the wine, it resulted in Fortunato insulting him and Luchesi yet again
as he said, “You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from
Amontillado." His prideful view about his expertise in wine resulted in his inevitable downfall.
Since the story is narrated in first person point of view, it helped in stressing over the theme of
pride, as well as see the narrator’s outlook on the situation between him and Fortunato. It also
allowed readers to understand Fortunato’s character, as well as his traits. With this literary
element, it made the readers realize how Montresor deeply values his pride; hence, he opted to
murder Fortunato as an act of revenge.
As for the theme of revenge, the element of foreshadowing, alongside other devices,
helped to highlight it. The introductory sentence of "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan
Poe makes it clear that retribution will serve as the main theme of the story. "The thousand
injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult I vowed
revenge." The next two paragraphs of the tale largely focus on Montresor's beliefs and views on
retaliation. Montresor has been clear of his outright disdain towards Fortunato for his previous
acts in the past with him. He said in the story “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity.
A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.” It is apparent that Montresor
doesn’t plan on letting Fortunato get away with his insults so easily. This line is a foreshadowing
for the act of revenge Montresor will commit against Fortunato shortly in this tale. Not only that,
but the family motto of Montresor symbolizes his character, yet also serves as a foreshadowing
for the inevitable future of Fortunato. “No one attacks me with impunity,” the motto states. This
makes it abundantly clear why Montresor was deeply affected by Fortunato’s doings. His family
motto is one of the reasons that fueled him into seeking vengeance. By him punishing and taking
action towards anyone who committed unjust acts towards, he is staying true to what his family
and predecessors lived by. Revenge is a characteristic that everyone in his family harbors. As the
motto states that any wrongful action committed to them would not go unnoticed without a
penalty, it suggests and hints at Montresor punishing Fortunato for all the wrongful acts he
committed against him, and the insults he couldn’t bare anymore that was thrown against him in
the future. With the usage of elements such as foreshadowing and symbolism, it helped in
accentuating and emphasizing the theme of revenge by dramatizing and adding tension and
suspense to the story.
With the theme of death, elements like irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism were used
to display it. Death is something unavoidable. The awful fact that someone may not wake up one
day cannot be avoided. Death is inevitable, but the precise timing is always unknown. Fortunato
somehow led himself to his inescapable demise as a result of his passion for liquor. Fooled by
Montresor, he was escorted to the catacombs while excessively coughing by the second as they
were walking inside it. Curious, Montresor questions him about his wellbeing, to which he
replied, “I shall not die of a cough.” Amused by this, Montresor replies “True – true.” This is a
perfect exhibition of verbal irony as Montresor knew that a cough shall not kill him nor cause
him harm, but rather it was his plan of revenge that would murder Fortunato. The household
crest as well serves as a symbol of death as it depicts a snake biting into a foot that is treading on
it. The insignia represents Montresor's reaction to getting bit by Fortunato's arrogant pride. The
family's motto and the serpent on the crest both allude to Montresor's allegedly inherited
propensity for retaliation. Though, it also means that Montresor’s family would put anyone to
death no matter who harms them. The catacomb can also serve as a symbol and foreshadowing
of death. The family of Montresor is interred and buried in this vault. This crypt contains a real
heap of bones. Although one may preserve wine in a vault because of the identical physical
conditions, one wouldn't anticipate newly bought wine to be kept in the depths of this catacomb.
Although this location has wine, it also serves as a site of death; therefore, bringing Fortunato to
the crypt foreshadows his death. This could also be interpreted as a grim parody of the Christian
doctrine of rebirth due to the significant connection of wine mostly with Christian communion.
Christ was pronounced dead and laid in a tomb, yet he later arose. However, Fortunato is buried
alive and doesn't appear again. Only in Montresor’s memories does he still live on. Generally
speaking, the theme of death was portrayed and highlighted in the story by the use of
foreshadowing, symbolism, alongside verbal irony.
Overall, in The Cask of Amontillado, literary elements such as foreshadowing, irony,
symbolism, and point of view played a role in displaying the main themes and ideas of the story.
The characters, as well, were especially highlighted by those devices, most importantly, by the
usage of first-person point of view. As Montresor narrated the story, the readers and audience
only got to see his side of the story, but not Fortunato’s. It implies that he is most likely biased in
his telling of the incident between him and Fortunato. In conclusion, in Cask of Amontillado,
Poe depicts the deepest human thoughts and emotions in Cask of Amontillado. According to the
tale, Montresor believes Fortunato wronged him and is out to get retribution. Fortunato is killed
by Montresor, who succeeds in addition avoids punishment and appeased his ego to establish
himself as the superior person. There are various lessons regarding retaliation that may be drawn
from Montresor's actions and behavior in The Cask of Amontillado. Humans should refrain from
seeking retribution as doing so could drive them to commit violent acts which could plague them
for the rest of their life. One is bound to suffer with the guilt and remorse of hurting another
individual; therefore, the idea of the perfect act of retaliation hardly exists. Somebody who seeks
revenge might be forced to carry their guilt with them for the rest of their life. Despite
Montresor's attempts to defend his acts 50 years after Fortunato was killed, his evident guilt
indicates that ultimate revenge is unachievable and not possible. The memories and
consequences of one's actions must still be dealt with, even if the proof is suppressed. In
conclusion, the moral of this story is to be nice to others and avoid being gullible. Fortunato,
however, failed to grasp these lessons in time. As a result, his horrifying death occurred by his
previous mistreatment of Montresor, his faith in the man's façade, and his thirst for the
Amontillado.
Works Cited
Course Hero. "The Cask of Amontillado Study Guide." Course Hero. 29 Dec. 2016. Web.
2 Dec. 2022. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Cask-of-Amontillado/>.
Studyfy. “The Cask of Amontillado Themes” L. Marissa. Aug 2, 2021.
https://studyfy.com/literature-study-guides/the-cask-of-amontillado-themes