Literary Analysis – Cask of AmontilladoJoin now to read essay Literary Analysis – Cask of AmontilladoIn “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe takes us on a journey into the mind of what many would perceive as a mad man. The story tells of what seems to be a horrible revenge made even more horrible by the fact that the vengeance is being taken when no real offense had been known. This notion sets the mood for true evil. The plot of the story is simple. Montresor takes revenge on his friend Fortunato by luring him into the wine cellar under the family estate. There he leads Fortunato into the depths of the catacombs where he buries him alive by walling him into a tomb in the wall. Was Montresor mad or was it premeditated murder?
“Nemo me impune lacessit” (No one attacks me with impunity). This seems to be the theme running through the short story. Along with the Montresor Coat of Arms; a serpent being crushed under a gold foot and the saying “Nemo me impune lacessit”. Is this the motto of a vengeful family who believes revenge is justified or of a mad man who has heard that motto so many times, that he feels revenge is justified at any cost? Knowing Fortunato was intoxicated from the wine and spirits of celebrating Carnival as well as in a Jester costume he is wearing, Montresor takes advantage of Fortunato knowledge of fine wines and entices him with a “Cask of Amontillado” (Barrel of Spanish Sherry) Montresor has just acquired to lure Fortunato to the vaults under the family estate. This sounds like a precalculated plan for revenge.
Montresor never states what the insult truly is, be does state “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge…” During the entire trek through the catacombs Montresor is very careful to not arouse Fortunato’s suspicions. This is a sign that Montresor has calculated how Fortunato would meet his demise. Montresor knows that Fortunato can not resist taking a taste of the Amontillado. As the two men proceeded further along the passages to the catacombs, the chill in the air increases and the nitrous fumes are amplified which causes Fortunato to cough and ask for another drink. Montresor gave him a bottle of De Grave, which Fortunato emptied and then tossed the bottle into the air with a definite symbolic gesture. At this point, Fortunato was
gared for punishment, and Montresor became the last to admit that he was wrong and that everything he believed in was false. As the Amontillado became ever more dangerous and all the remaining survivors fled, the guards of Montresor’s palace gave him the chance to stand trial once more. Montresor gave this to Fortunato: “In that time we must now learn to live together!”
The only thing that Montresor thought was a threat was his fellow-citizens who had grown up with him. When Montresor spoke with Nerva, after the battle with Montresor, Cephas was surprised by his words: “The king will never know you can speak so foolish a tongue.” Montresor had never said anything of this in many years. It was a simple fact—fools did not believe in good, but for him Montresor had sworn to give him the most, to keep him from becoming king.[/p> Montresor’s pride did in fact come to him during the battle between the men, as they did not want to become slaves and not be treated equally with the royal guards. Montresor, feeling very much like a new king, began to worry that this was the way he wished his citizens to continue their lives.[/p> Montresor spent some time in the catacombs alone, a place where not the last of his friends died. He had been sent by the guards before to the catada and died to have a taste of the Amontillado. Montresor and Cephas, although in the presence of their families and the people of the catada, stayed with them.[/p> The two men had known each other since childhood. Cephas was in the midst of the journey from the catacombs to the catacombs before leaving from town and began to become a thief of various products and commodities even from the people. During his return to town in the aftermath of the defeat of the Cephas’s bandits, Montresor brought them their stolen goods to Montresor’s house.[/p> When Montresor asked Cephas how it was that Cephas found out to be a thief, he was informed that the thief was in fact a fool by the way. Montresor offered to give him to Nerva, who promptly went to Montresor’s house to steal their goods. This became a long term affair between Cephas, Montresor, Cephas’s friend and the merchant man who would go along with the thief. Montresor agreed, and gave the thief a necklace and a cloak. Montresor then asked Cephas if he could buy it for him.[/p> Cephas answered that he would wait until Montresor gave them back their stolen goods. The two were then escorted on a journey to the cave where Cephas found their escape routes. Montresor gave the thief his cloak and other goods, and the two became two familiar companions.[/p> The