Montressor Against Fortunato example essay topic

1,140 words
"The Cask of Amontillado" Revenge can be sweet, but in this case it is just down right grotesque! In Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" it talks about a gentlemen named Montressor and how he is angry at Fortunato for insulting him in the past. Montressor will not let this go unpunished, so he thinks up a clever scheme to get back at him. This plan is in a way, ingenious but most definitely insane and crazy. This story dates back into the 1800's. The time of year, Mardi Gras.

A good friend and fellow wine connoisseur, Fortunato, once insulted Montressor, the main character. Although the insult was not stated in the story it must have been pretty bad because of the revenge Montressor was planning. After a party Fortunato went over to Montressor's house to have some wine and then go out to another party. There was something ironic about the way Fortunato was dressed. He was wearing motley, much like what a jester would wear and he would be made a fool later that evening. In the catacombs underneath the house is where they store all of their wine and some other things.

In the very back of the musty, damp, and dark cellar was the best of the best wines, Amontillado. Montressor used reverse phycology very frequently in the story to lure Fortunato in and to lead the servants out. He told the servants that he would not be home for at least twelve hours. So of course, they left the house to go to parties. He also told Fortunato not to go down into the catacombs because he did not want him to get even sicker from the dampness down there.

Of course, that made him want to go down to get the wine. Along the way they see lots of niter on the walls and they can feel the dampness from the river. They make many stops along the way in the vaults to drink fine vintages to make him a bit more intoxicated. Fortunato cannot even tell through his orbs that he has hurt his friend! As they get farther and farther away he keeps on suggesting for Fortunato to go upstairs and to get Luchesi to go to get the wine with him. Of course, Fortunato kept on saying he was fine.

The farther they go, the more wine they drink. Montressor kept on making it seem as though he was not angry at Fortunato for anything he had done. Along the way there were bones, and bodies laying all around in recesses on the walls. This sets off many questions like, is this man an insane murderer, or is that just all of his deceased family members? Finally, they reach the end on the catacombs and the Amontillado is near. Then, suddenly Montressor throws Fortunato and fettered him on the wall in a little aperture.

He Builds a crypt with a trowel and masonry slowly circumscribing him. Fortunato will slowly suffocate and die. He is almost done laying the stones when Fortunato begs him to let him out and lets him know that the joke was very good but Montressor is not joking. He lays the last block and clamored can be heard through the walls.

Slowly the noise died down and Montressor absconded to let Fortunato repose. Of course, then Fortunato perceived what he had done. In a way, Montressor was very clever. He got everyone to do what he wanted without telling them, and everyone being totally oblivious.

Reverse phycology played and important role in this perfect murder. It helped everything run smoothly with getting the servants out of the house and get Fortunato into the catacombs. Yes, this murder was the perfect consequence for what Fortunato had done. It got him down there and made him die, like Montessor's reputation and fortune. The slow death would have made him think long and hard about what he had done and how he had hurt Montressor. Montressor can either be an insane murderer or just a man who wants revenge.

He has to be a bit insane because he had killed this man. Whoever read this story never found out what kind of insult Fortunato had said or done to Montressor. It could have been a small insult that simply made Montressor go off the wall. If he was insane, and all the bodies in his basement were not his family members, but victims of his crazy mind, then the insult was most likely not very large.

Just the was he was dressed made him seem mischievous and almost like he had a dark side, like the outfit he was wearing. Montressor was wearing all black so he would not get noticed in all the clown costumes and other colorful outfits. In this story there were a few different main conflicts in this story. The first conflict is man vs. man. It is Montressor against Fortunato.

He was fighting to get back at Fortunato for stealing his pride, dignity, and social respect. The next conflict that was used is man vs. dignity. Montressor was fighting for his dignity and so he could once again be respected to all his fellow men and women. Poe's like had partly influenced this poem.

His life was dark and sad. He had lost so much during his lifetime due to many diseases. In Poe's mind he could have wanted to get revenge at somebody for making his life so tragic. Although, who would you set revenge on for something like this? The whole poem is not about his life.

He never killed anybody or hurt anyone physically. He might have insulted people mentally but that might have been the extent of anything. Montressor may seem to be insane, but he is a clever man that always served everyone right. He never let Fortunato go on about his ways and just forget about the insult. He wanted his pride back.

He needed to show Fortunato how bad the insult had hurt Montressor's dignity, and the perfect place for him to think about it was a little niche! Montressor was very smart and had a good plan to terminate Fortunato. The plan was very smart and some people would not even think of a plan like this. It was crazy, it was insane, it was grotesque, but it was so ingenious. Now, can anybody top that?