In "The Cask of Amontillado" Edgar Allen Poe explores the depths and perversity of the human mind. The protagonist and narrator Montresor endured being the brunt of many jokes and one insult made by his friend Fortunato. Montresor reached the point where he could not take this treatment anymore and reconciled to the idea of punishing Fortunato with impunity. In order to bait Fortunato into his well-devised trap, Montresor remained on the surface an amiable comrade so that Fortunato would not expect the horrific tragedy that waited for him. Ultimately Montresor achieves his goal of punishing the unsuspecting Fortunato by flattering him on his connoisseurship in wine and luring him into the catacombs of the Montresor family. I believe Montresor probably thought he would forget about his sin over time, but he did not. Fifty years later Montresor cheerfully confesses to the reader that he buried Fortunato alive and escaped punishment.
             Montresor calculated the murder of Fortunato very well. One can see that he gave serious thought and time to the orchestration of the murder because it was performed flawlessly. Montresor was not apprehended or suspected by the police for he went for fifty years without any penalty. On the surface, the reader may assume that he is guilt free and elated that he achieved his goals of murder and bewildering Fortunato. However, in a criticism of this story, G.R. Thompson says that it is implied that Montresor was tormented for those fifty years. "...Montresor, rather than having successfully taken his revenge 'with impunity,' as he says, has instead suffered a fifty-year's ravage of conscience" (19). It is hard to believe that Montresor even had a conscience because of the callous steps taken to entomb his foe.
             Entombment is a commonality between "The Cask of Amontillado" and his other chilling story, "The Black Cat." In both stories, th...