Cask of Amontillado

Sean Irvin

English 102-1AC

College Composition II

Prof. Ronald Strothers

May 14, 2001

Essay 1

I think that “The Cask Of Amontillado” is believable because it seems like Montresor is fed up with Fortunato. Poe also leads us to believe that Fortunato is foolish enough to follow Montresor into the dark catacombs to get to the amontillado that he is an expert on. The story is a dark tale of a presumably insane man who suffers from, according to him, “the thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could”(75). Montresor has never told us exactly what Fortunato had done to him to make him so frustrated. We can only assume that it had to be many things that added up over a period of time.

The narration in the story gives readers the impression that Montresor is insane. Readers hear this story from the first person, from Montresor himself, and hear the way he perceives every event and every detail in its entirety, all from his point of view without anyone else’s interfering. He refers to Fortunato as his friend, a clue that he is not acting in his right mind. If Montresor had a good motive like Fortunato killing someone close to him, he would refer to Fortunato as his enemy. The reader also feels the pain of Montresor when he is erecting the wall over Fortunato; Montresor does not feel right in what he is doing. He even tries to call Fortunato’s name before he lays the final stone to see if he is still alive, wondering if he could turn back and change his mind before it is too late and Fortunato is dead.

McConnell 2

The symbolism of this story describes what this story is about, Montresor killing Fortunato. At the time that Montresor is telling the story, he is on his deathbed confessing a terrible sin that he has done. He seems to have some regrets because he hesitates for a moment. When Montresor tries to call Fortunato for the last time after hearing Fortunato’s last words, he thrusts a torch into the hole but “in return came only a jingling of the bells”(80).