Cask of Amontillado
"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." With these ferverous words from the introductory paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado, the story of Montresor's revenge begins. Poe repeatedly stresses the need for revenge due to bitterness and resentment in Montresor's character towards Fortunato, but more importantly, stress is placed on revenge by which the victim realizes their injustice towards the redresser. Unfortunately, it seems that Montresor is denied this pure and encompassing revenge when his victim, Fortunato, during his last few minutes with Montresor, believes that his actions are a huge charade, and not the actions of a man scorned and seeking revenge. Although in burying Fortunato alive, Montresor is able to physically accomplish what he ultimately desired, he is left with an air of insatisfaction judging by his own definition of true and justified revenge. Poe shows the resentment Montresor feels towards Fortunato from the very first sentence of the story with, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I c
ould; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. As the "avenger", Montresor also feels he fails to make Fortunato realize that he is exacting revenge upon him, as shown by his frustration when Fortunato believes that the situation he is in now is a joke on Montresor's account. One can also hypothesize that Fortunato did realize what the reality of the situation was, and cheated Montresor from the satisfaction of his success by leaving him in a lurch as to whether he did the right thing. Even more appropriate is Montresor's family motto, translated as, "No one wounds me with impunity". Fortunato, instead of begging for help and forgiveness, as Montresor wanted, laughed! "A low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head. Later in the story, Montresor implores Fortunato half-heartedly, "Come, we will go back; your health is precious. Montresor, although successful in his settling of the score with Fortunato, falls short of what he had said and hoped his act of revenge would be. " once again showing strong resentment towards the unsuspecting Fortunato, whom he clearly blames for his present lower status. The little pleasure he did derive from Fortunato's suffering is further dulled when Fortunato asks Montresor to finish jesting with him, and return to the palazzo with him. He "struggled with its weight", showing his confusion at the path his revenge is taking. He hesitates at this moment, when his revenge is sweetest, when he should bask in the suffering of his "enemy", and finds himself contemplating the shrill screams of his captive! He does eventually compose himself and takes a few more moments of pleasure from his captive's struggles, but his apprehension returns just as he places the final brick. Revenge, although executed exactly as Montresor planned, still eluded him by falling short of his own expectations.
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,
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Acceptance Essays
