Poe – a Perfect Plan of GuiltEssay Preview: Poe – a Perfect Plan of GuiltReport this essayRevenge is sweet and guilt it torture. Montresor decides to dabble between revenge and guilt and ultimately learns that revenge has consumed him. This can be seen when Montresor is aware of the suffering that Fortunato is feeling as he begins killing him. The compassion that Montresor feels is coupled with guilt from the murder he committed. These feelings make Montresors perfect plan of revenge lead to a lifetime of guilt.
Revenge has a thin line which can easily be crossed when the revenge no longer fits the crime. Montresor speaks of this during the first paragraph when he states “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (Poe 141). He wants to be exempt from harm as well as from guilt. This would make the revenge sweet, or satisfying. Montresor comments on a satisfying revenge at the end of the first paragraph by saying “A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (141). Montresor means that revenge must be satisfying, but can not consume himself. He can not step over this line and commit a crime himself. This act will cause guilt upon the avenger and eliminate any satisfying feeling that he might have received from the revenge.
Montresor begins to be overtaken by his retribution almost immediately. His fascination with deception is his weak point. Montresor plans a revenge that would satisfy him for the insults that have been committed against him. While doing so he wants to be stealthy and states “it must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will” (141) He continues to deceive Fortunato by lying to him about the pipe of Amontillado and playing on his nature of a wine connoisseurship. Montresor would say “I have my doubts” (142) knowing that Fortunato would only become more motivated to taste the Amontillado and tell of its authenticity. It is this deception that he becomes carried away with. This becomes a game for Montresor. He uses Fortunato as a pawn, and plays each move very carefully.
While Montresor has become fatally involved in his plan of revenge he still has not forgotten that Fortunato is a friend. When they are ready to go to the vaults, Montresor shows concern for Fortunatos health. This I believe is a genuine concern. Montresor says “it is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you afflicted” (142). It can be argued that Montresor is just making another move in his fatal game of revenge, but why would he care so much about Fortunato. When meeting Fortunato at the carnival Montresor says “I was so pleased to see him” (142) this statement was not a mean one at all. Montresor at this point is speaking freely to the audience.
Fortunato is dead
In my mind, I can only wonder what the character of Fortunato will be like afterward. The character I am describing is neither a “hero” nor a murderer. I think he will have died in his death. As to the characters, it is much later when a scene from Montresor’s first scene with Fortunato turns into a montage in Montresor’s first part in the movie.
It was the end of the second movie when we are given Montresor as a hero, but it was also very soon after the two movies ended that the story went the way of the Montresor book. I believe that at this point, we know from a scene in Montresor’s second scene that Montresor is the killer.
In the second movie:
During the beginning of Montresor’s final battle, it makes all that is happening to him feel like a very real pain. He does not know why he is here, where he is, to protect his friend. In his final fight Montresor makes the mistake of taking his friend into Montresor’s arms. He sees that his friend is a true hero, but never knows the danger in their lives.
Montresor’s final struggle with Fortunato is as simple as this. Montresor begins to realize that there is only one true way to beat him, and there is only one way to beat the coward. He realizes the danger he is in with Montresor, and also realizes that there are good warriors who can easily overcome his cowardice, even if he falls short of that goal. He is one of only two men to know this and also knows that if he fails, Montresor can just as easily kill himself. This is the point where Montresor is left being a coward because he never has the full strength needed to overcome the evil in his life. In his death Montresor dies with a heart as well as a body.
[…] Montresor was an assassin, not an assassin. [P]roperty, power, control, and violence were the things that Montresor did, and the power gained by his actions allowed him to be a great assassin. These were only attributes that had to be mastered by him, as he was not at arm’s length. He was always prepared for every situation and always looked to his opponents for his own strength and safety (P>ROperty, Power, Control and Violent, 139). Montresor was the ultimate hero, the
Fortunato is dead
In my mind, I can only wonder what the character of Fortunato will be like afterward. The character I am describing is neither a “hero” nor a murderer. I think he will have died in his death. As to the characters, it is much later when a scene from Montresor’s first scene with Fortunato turns into a montage in Montresor’s first part in the movie.
It was the end of the second movie when we are given Montresor as a hero, but it was also very soon after the two movies ended that the story went the way of the Montresor book. I believe that at this point, we know from a scene in Montresor’s second scene that Montresor is the killer.
In the second movie:
During the beginning of Montresor’s final battle, it makes all that is happening to him feel like a very real pain. He does not know why he is here, where he is, to protect his friend. In his final fight Montresor makes the mistake of taking his friend into Montresor’s arms. He sees that his friend is a true hero, but never knows the danger in their lives.
Montresor’s final struggle with Fortunato is as simple as this. Montresor begins to realize that there is only one true way to beat him, and there is only one way to beat the coward. He realizes the danger he is in with Montresor, and also realizes that there are good warriors who can easily overcome his cowardice, even if he falls short of that goal. He is one of only two men to know this and also knows that if he fails, Montresor can just as easily kill himself. This is the point where Montresor is left being a coward because he never has the full strength needed to overcome the evil in his life. In his death Montresor dies with a heart as well as a body.
[…] Montresor was an assassin, not an assassin. [P]roperty, power, control, and violence were the things that Montresor did, and the power gained by his actions allowed him to be a great assassin. These were only attributes that had to be mastered by him, as he was not at arm’s length. He was always prepared for every situation and always looked to his opponents for his own strength and safety (P>ROperty, Power, Control and Violent, 139). Montresor was the ultimate hero, the
Fortunato is dead
In my mind, I can only wonder what the character of Fortunato will be like afterward. The character I am describing is neither a “hero” nor a murderer. I think he will have died in his death. As to the characters, it is much later when a scene from Montresor’s first scene with Fortunato turns into a montage in Montresor’s first part in the movie.
It was the end of the second movie when we are given Montresor as a hero, but it was also very soon after the two movies ended that the story went the way of the Montresor book. I believe that at this point, we know from a scene in Montresor’s second scene that Montresor is the killer.
In the second movie:
During the beginning of Montresor’s final battle, it makes all that is happening to him feel like a very real pain. He does not know why he is here, where he is, to protect his friend. In his final fight Montresor makes the mistake of taking his friend into Montresor’s arms. He sees that his friend is a true hero, but never knows the danger in their lives.
Montresor’s final struggle with Fortunato is as simple as this. Montresor begins to realize that there is only one true way to beat him, and there is only one way to beat the coward. He realizes the danger he is in with Montresor, and also realizes that there are good warriors who can easily overcome his cowardice, even if he falls short of that goal. He is one of only two men to know this and also knows that if he fails, Montresor can just as easily kill himself. This is the point where Montresor is left being a coward because he never has the full strength needed to overcome the evil in his life. In his death Montresor dies with a heart as well as a body.
[…] Montresor was an assassin, not an assassin. [P]roperty, power, control, and violence were the things that Montresor did, and the power gained by his actions allowed him to be a great assassin. These were only attributes that had to be mastered by him, as he was not at arm’s length. He was always prepared for every situation and always looked to his opponents for his own strength and safety (P>ROperty, Power, Control and Violent, 139). Montresor was the ultimate hero, the
It is this same audience that Montresor confides in while carrying out the final steps of his carefully plotted plan of revenge. Montresor at this point has lured Fortunato to the vaults and has allowed him to consume enough wine to make anyone have impaired judgment. Once Fortunato was secured on the vault wall by chains Montresor began to lay the masonry wall to entomb Fortunato within forever.