"The Cask of Amontillado"- By Adgar Allan Poe

“The Cask of Amontillado” is the narrator’s account of his ability to carry out a chilling plot of revenge against his offender.

Setting of the story:

Time, place, and setting contribute to the macabre setting of this story and add suspense as Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato. “The Cask of Amontillado” is set during the “supreme madness” of Carnival.  In  “The Cask of Amontillado” The narrator plans for his revenge to take place in the catacombs beneath his estate.

Unreliable Narrator

Montresor is the unreliable narrator, because we don't know if he is telling the truth. He seems untrustworthy and like he is hiding something from us. He knows the whole truth but hides it from us. He's unreliable because he didn't clearly say why he wanted to kill him and that he told this story years after it happened.

Main Characters

1)    Montresor: His personality was agitated and cunning. The physical appearance of him was not mentioned in the text.

2)    Fortunato: His personality was quack and drunk. His physical appearance was a tight fitting parti-striped dress and a cap with bells on it.

Theme

I believe that Revenge is the theme of this story because throughout the entire story it talks about how Montresor wants to get vengeance on Fortunate and then decides to kill him as a result.

Conflicts

- Man V.S. Man
- Montresor V.S. Fortunato

There is an on-going conflict between these two characters throughtout the entire story. Montresor is 'insulted' by Fortunato, so he feels like he has to get even or get revenge. This is a life long on-going battle that has come to a boil, and Montresor is out to kill Fortunato. Montresor finally getting his revenge kills Fortunato.

The dramatic and verbal irony in this story create a creepy but funny tone and mood...creepy in the sense of the killing and the dark catacombs; funny in the sense of Fortunato is drunk the entire time and does not understand he is being lead to his death.

Montresor is jealous and angry towards a man named Fortunato. Montresor has vowed to kill Fortunato. Montresor pretends he has a bottle of Amontillado.Fortunato is a wine connoisseur and wants to taste and judge the wine. Montresor and Fortunato go deeper and deeper into the catacombs. Nitre in the catacombs makes Fortunato’s cough intensify. Montresor and Fortunato reach a large crypt with the walls lined with human remains. It leads into another smaller crypt.Montresor leads Fortunato inside and then chains him to the wall .Fortunato becomes more ill from the nitre. Montresor calls out for Fortunato and when he doesn’t hear any voice call back, he drops his torch into the smaller crypt, finishes patching the wall, then leaves. And last Montresor patches up the wall.