"The Cask of Amontillado": The weapon of Montresor's madness
             One of the main characters of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask Of Amontillado" is Montresor, whose conviction for revenge consumes him, as he refers to Fortunato venturing upon insult. Montresor could stand no more and vowed revenge. Montresor's refusal to tell us the source of his hatred of Fortunato is our first clue that Montresor is completely mad. Fortunato may have done nothing whatsoever to Montresor, but that doesn't matter. What matters are Montresor believes he did. The narrator's reference to "...punish with impunity" begins to show an even darker side of Montresor, but at the same time tries to convince you of an honorable intent with Montresor's reference to "A wrong" in the following sentence. Poe tries to create a character that is a sinister evil premeditating murderer with a sense of morals. Poe's intentions are not for you to sympathize with Montresor, but rather a judgment of him.
             In the second paragraph Montresor states that in spite of his decision of killing Fortunato, he continued smiling in his face, but he adds: "...and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation." So, when they meet each other they behaved as always, but now Montresor's smile had another meaning for himself. Even if Fortunato were not vain and drunk, there is still a possibility that Fortunato would have gone home with Montresor anyway, because he doesn't suspect anything. We see this from his initial greeting; when he first runs into Montresor during the carnival festival, Montresor says that Fortunato "accosted me with excessive warmth." Even those under the influence of alcohol can normally tell their friends from their enemies, and with that remark, there is evidence that he does regard Montresor as a friend.
             One certain evening, "...during the supreme madness of carnival seas...