The Cask of Amontillado

I again have read this story before now but I remember it well and it was one of my favorite short stories that I read in high school. It involves revenge and ultimately torture. A big difference in "The Cask of Amontillado" as opposed to "The Black Cat" was that the narrator actually had a legitimate motive in this story. In "The Black Cat" the narrator was an alcoholic with a rage for absolutely no reason other than his alcoholism. In this story the narrator had obviously felt wronged and was going to do something about that insult.

This story is narrated by Montresor, who tells the story by stating that he seeks revenge on Fortunado due to the man insulting him. He plots out his revenge perfectly. Montresor tells Fortunato that he has just gotten a shipment of something that could pass for Amontillado, a type of sherry. Because of Fortunado's love for wine and because he is a lush Montresor knows that this plan will work. Montresor tells Fortunato that he can ask a man to taste it if he is not up to it. Fortunato dislikes the man and claims that he could not tell Amontillado from other types of sherry. Because Fortunado is so insulted by this comparison to that man he immediately insists on going to the vaults to taste this sherry. The dampness of the vault aggravates Fortunado's cold but even after many attemps Montresor cannot convince him to turn back.

In the end Montressor traps Fortunado in a small cask and builds a wall so that he will die in that cask. I think that this was the biggest shock for me when I initially read the story. I thought I had it all figured out, the revenge. I believe when first reading it that I thought the narrator would poison Fortunado with a nice glass of Amontillado. The work cask to me had no meaning the first time I looked at the title. I was completely shocked when it seemed so easy for the narrator to just tie Fortunado up in chains and then build a wall so he would die slowly in the damp, dark cask. I thought the story was riveting and kept my attention because it was so twisted. I knew as a reader that this story would keep me guessing up until the last moment.

This story has a lot of the same qualities as "The Black Cat." In both of these stories there is a main character/narrator who is looking for the ultimate revenge. Poe, just like in the last story, put a lot of thought into how the narrator would kill his nemesis. Especially in this story the cause of death for Fortunado would be slow and painful as he died in solitary in the small cask. The plan was also a good one because the narrator would not want anyone to be able to like him to Fortunado's disappearance. The narrator also seems to have no worry that the people at the party that night will not even notice that the 2 men were gone for an extended period of time. This is another trend in Poe's stories; the narrator not thinking that he is going to be caught.