The Cask Of Amontillado Essay

in edgar allan poe's short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, a man named fortunato is murdered in a most unpleasant way by his assumed friend, Montresor. these events are being recounted by montresor half of a century after the fact to an unknown person and for an unknown reason. he tells the whole story of how he led fortunato into his vaults and then sealed him inside one of the walls in a crypt. although it seems like montressor is confessing to his past crime, it may be true that he is boasting about a deed that he still wholeheartedly believes he committed rightly.

throughout the story, fortunato insults montresor in various ways. before the tale begins, it is said that fortunato had injured before. this could have been a multitude of things and
it may be possible that the reason he waited that long to tell anyone was for his own safety, but if that is true, there is no reason he should ever tell anyone. while he tells the story, montresor does not inflate the insults that fortunato causes nor does he omit his own lessor misdeeds. montresor does not try to make himself look better because he is not ashamed by his actions. when his story is finished, montresor says a phrase in latin which translates to “rest in peace.” this acts as a final stab at fortunato and shows that montresor shows no remorse for his past actions.

in a certain way, fortunato may have deserved some type of punishment for the continuous insults that he heaped upon montresor. whether that is true or not, montresor saw it that way. becuase of the various breaches of etiquette performed by fortunato, along with montresors background, it is clear that montresor did not later disagree with his decision to kill fortunato. even though by many standards, he was in the wrong, montresor felt justified through himself and his family. because of this, he will never show remorse for his