The Cask of Amontillado

A Bottle of Wine Too Much……

“In pace requiescat” meaning may he rest in peace, in Italian. Is the last words of Montresor, from “The cask of Amontillado,” which symbolizes victory in a sad sense. In this story there are only a few objects that conflict with the characters. For example, Montresor has contextual and universal symbolism. But Fortunato has only one noticeable symbolism, which is cultural. Both Montresor and Fortunato have symbols in the story that can show relationships with each other. They develop there thoughts in a few different symbols, like the insults from Fortunato, the stones in the catacombs and the wine.

As the story begins Montresor starts off by talking about how Fortunato is always insulting him. Through out the whole story Montresor’s mind was always on Revenge. This shows how contextual symbolism can built a relationship with words. Because he was upset and hurt all he wanted to do was get back at Fortunato. Just like he used reverse psychology on him when in the catacombs. The insults triggered a huge chain of events which ended in a tragedy.

The stones in the catacombs represent a way for Montresor to not look back. The author uses universal symbolism, I believe, to make the reader think that Montresor doesn’t think he is doing wrong. The stones signify a hard and lifeless person. That is why he chooses to bury Fortunato