Just how far would you go to seek justice towards a person who has wronged you? How long would you wait? Could you loathe someone to such an extent, demanding revenge, all the while making them trust you as a friend and companion? Sure, it has been done. In the short story by Edgar Allen Poe, The Cask of Amontillado, and Such revenge is plotted in ways only imagined by someone like Poe. At length, I would be avenged (Paragraph 1). Revenge, deceit, betrayal, and devotion: these are the tones you can expect from this cryptic tale. You will be left with the question of justice (as Montresor did): is eye for an eye truly justice? Or is it an excuse to further commit crimes in the name of justice?
The Cask of Amontillado is actually a metaphor for the devious revenge plotted and carried out by one friend to another. Coming from a carnival, two friends take a journey that only one will return from. Fortunato, the unlucky character in this short story, follows his dear friend Montressor down a dreary cavern to view a buy for Montressor. Through this journey, Fortunato has no idea what awaits him, as he has walked right into a trap. He is drunk and vulnerable, but feels at ease in the presence of his trusted friend. What he does not realize is his untold injustice toward Montressor has proven to be his ultimate ending. A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser (Paragraph 1)
Poe uses irony several times in this story, as with many others of his. As this pair takes path through this cavern deep below the surface, nitre (saltpeter) fills the air. Fortunato coughs and wheezes from this tainted air, unable to comfortably breathe. Several times his friend tries to stop him, telling him your health is precious, let us return (irony). The irony here is that the man that is trying to secretly kill him is also trying to save him. Instead of returning, they drink wine to defend themselves (symbolism). As said by Fortunato himself, the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough. (Paragraph 36)
The theme and imagery in this story points to the cavern itself as a passage to the depths of hell, where Fortunato is to remain by the hands of Montressor. You will read about the bones and skulls lining the cavern walls as if this were an everyday scene (imagery). The further they descend the greater the stench. When they come to the end, there is one last passageway to pass through, where only one is to pass. The devil, as it were, is merely the guide to this setting.
When they both arrive, Montressor has his last minute decision to make regarding the fulfillment of his plan. He, himself, has to determine that he has the drive to betray his friend, and then live with it. These two were friends for quite sometime, and Fortunato does not even realize he has crossed his friend. Montressor himself does not completely want to do this, as he considers himself to be a good man. For a brief moment, I hesitated, I trembled, said Montresor (Paragraph 77). Respect, however, is his justification for his actions. To be dishonored and disrespected warranted death for Fortunatos actions, but what were his actions to begin with? How do you justify eye for an eye?
In the last paragraphs, Fortunato is doomed, and still is oblivious to what is going on. When reality hits him, he is still not convinced. His dying thoughts must have been filled with confusion and betrayal. This is what Montressor wanted. But when Montressor has to face what he has done, he too has to face the devil. My first paragraph talked about how the plot ended for each character. Both are important endings showing the consequences for ones actions. Two wrongs dont make a right, but justice must be met. That is what this story is about: the never ending cycle that eye for an eye brings, and the natural reactions to follow.
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