Kimberly Gonzalez
February 27, 2006
English 102 10
Short Story Essay
“The Cask of Amontillado”: Analyzed
“The Cask of Amontillado,” written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1846, is about a man named Montresor. Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato by taking him on a journey and walling him up alive. Fortunato plays an ironic role throughout the entire story. This story is also told by the main character, which makes this story untrustworthy. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe emphasizes a revenge theme through his representation of journey, irony, and narrative point of view.
Montresor’s vengeance on Fortunato is the outcome of an insult. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (Poe 136). In Montresor’s attempt to seek revenge, he uses Fortunato’s love for wine to lure him into the catacombs, where Montresor’s dead family members remain. Once in the catacombs, their journey begins. Fortunato begins to cough and Montresor uses Fortunato’s pride to keep him going. Montresor tells Fortunato that he will find someone else to taste the wine. Of course, since Fortunato thinks he is the best person to taste the wine and determine whether or not it is Amontillado, he agrees to continue on the journey. At the end of the dark and undesirable tunnel, which also represents hell, Fortunato is walled up and left to die. The journey represents hell because Montresor symbolizes the devil. The trip that Fortunato takes into the catacombs with Montresor with the expectation of tasting Amontillado is ironic, because it becomes a journey to his death.
