When montresor offers the medoc wine to fortunato

Reflective Essay

The Power of Revenge

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado revolves around a man named Montresor and his friend, Fortunato. Montresor is the main character of the story and he is motivated to take vengeance against Fortunato for insulting him. The story begins with Montresor announcing that he has been terribly offended by Fortunato and that he can stand no more. Consequently, he vows revenge upon him. Accordingly, Montresor sets upon methods of entrapping Fortunato so as to exercise his revenge. Montresor does not let Fortunato know of his tread. Instead, he waits for one evening during a carnival when he is assured that he cannot be discovered and sets his wicked, livid plan into motion. When they first meet on that night, Montresor's first words to Fortunato were "you are luckily met (Poe 1)." However, the opposite was true as within a short time, Fortunato was entombed alive. In his short story, Poe uses dramatic irony, first person narration and conflict to develop his theme of revenge by a man who seeks redemption through cruelty.

Poe makes constant use of irony as a way of reinforcing the theme of the story by reminding the reader the true intentions of Montresor who vowed revenge. The story begins on a day of a carnival, which is supposed to be celebration time, but ends with murder. For instance, the line "bells upon his cap jingled” (Poe 3) implies a joyous atmosphere, which ironically ends with the death of the unfortunate Fortunato. Poe also employs dramatic irony through the words and imagery employed creating a setting that corresponds to the story’s ominous plot. Indeed, even the name Fortunato is itself ironic. Another use of irony is when Fortunato drinks wine so as to warm himself as he continues with his journey in the vaults. As they proceed deep into the vaults, the nitre makes Fortunato continually cough, although he proceeds with the journey due to his drunkenness. At some point, Montresor offers Fortunato a bottle of Medoc wine to help relieve the cough and to calm him. This ostensibly caring act lugs connotations of the most venomous irony, since the seemingly sympathetic act is only meant to keep the unfortunate Fortunato alive long enough to get him to the catacombs where he will be buried alive.

Poe also incorporates the first-person point of view to reinforce the primary theme of the story. The sensibility of Montresor as the narrator certainly fits the theme of revenge. He is totally preoccupied with his judiciously contrived act of revenge upon Fortunato. His surreal playfulness allows the author to tease out the underlying horror and madness inherent in revenge. As the story opens, Montresor has “vowed revenge” (Poe 1). He states that he is “accosted with excessive warmth” by Fortunato. Montresor is delighted to see him and he should have never wrung his hands (Poe 1). Montresor continuously feigns his worry over Fortunato’s health by pretending they should turn back instead of continuing into the catacombs. In doing all this, Montresor takes pleasure in his act of revenge and in the anguish that Fortunato must endure when he realizes what is happening.

Another technique that Poe uses in developing the theme of the story is conflict. The main conflict in the story is that of an individual versus an individual. This is the conflict between Montresor and Fortunato. Montresor, the narrator, believes that Fortunato has "inflicted a thousand injuries," upon him (Poe 1). It is these insults that pit Montresor as the protagonist and Fortunato as the antagonist in the story that revolves around Montresor’s execution of his plot for vengeance. The plot for revenge involves luring Fortunato into the vaults to his catacombs where he plans to exact his revenge. However, there are hurdles in accomplishing this. First, Montresor does not want to be suspected of the crime. Hence, while Montresor is driven to have his revenge, he is conflicted in that he must lure Fortunato to the vaults. In his endeavor to commit the perfect crime and go scot free, there is the conflict of the individual versus society. It is this fear of getting caught and being punished by society that leads Montresor to feign friendship with Fortunato, so that he can commit the perfect crime. In addition, he even makes sure that his workers are not around by giving them time off and pretending that it is because of the carnival.

In conclusion, this short story fits well into Poe's style that every aspect of a well-written story must contribute to the final product. Poe employs dramatic irony and first person narration to create an enthralling character before escalating his figurative approach to a state of suspense. From the beginning of story, Poe uses language that attracts the reader by invoking strong words that relate to revenge and conflict. All of these techniques contribute to the complete unity of this impeccable short story.

Work Cited

Poe, Edgar Allan."The Cask of Amontillado". AmericanEnglish.state.gov. 1846, pp. 68-72. accesed March 24, 2017.