Edgar Allan Poe
 Biographical information
 PAGE 218
 Writers sometimes take on a persona
 A mask or a voice for the 1st person narrator.
 You need to ask yourself, even though the
story may be told in first person, can you
trust what the narrator tells you.
 Sometimes a writer will have the narrator
be unreliable to tell a story from their point
of view
 An unreliable narrator may not always
know the whole truth
 An unreliable narrator may try to deceive
us on purpose.
 Pay attention to the narrator’s actions,
statements, voice, word choice, and
attitude.
 These will provide you with clues to
determine if the narrator is telling you the
whole truth!
 When you read, act like a detective!
 Gather information to be able to draw
conclusions or make judgments.
 Look closely at what the characters say
and do.
 Montresor, the Italian nobleman narrating this tale,
claims that Fortunato has injured and insulted him
and vows revenge.
 Meeting Fortunato during the winter carnival,
Montresor feigns friendship and lures him to his home
to taste some amontillado, a rare wine that is kept in a
cask in an underground vault.
 Once they are underground, Montresor chains
Fortunato to a wall and bricks him in, burying him
alive!
 50 years later, the crime remains undiscovered. He has
committed what he considers “the perfect crime” (he
mentioned this in the 1st paragraph) because he does
not get caught/there is no punishment.
 Is Montresor to be believed, or is he an unreliable
narrator?
 Is he lying or is he simply mad??