Fortunato's Manipulation
The Cask of Amontillado In “The Cast of Amontillato,” Edgar Poe manipulates the story to be the way he wants it to be by using the narrator’s point of view. The point of view could be very important in influencing the reader’s perception of the story. By reading the first paragraph of the story, we realize that the narrator is trying to bring the reader to his side, even though he presents us a really vague understanding of his motivations. Montresor’s actions of good will and careful manipulation of Fortunato presents the attention of his plans of Fortunato’s death. “The thousands injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (Poe 236). The narrator tries to win the reader right away by telling him that Fortunato has crossed over the line. In fact, we don’t really know if Fortunato has really insulted Montresor, the narrator, or if Montresor is just an unreasonable, cold-blooded murderer. In contrast,
…show more content…
the narrator displays a particularly black sense of humor when he amuses himself and the horrified audience as he leads Fortunato into his deadly trap. He also tells the reader about his intentions right before he begins the story of his last meeting with Fortunato, and Poe applies both dramatic and verbal irony to guide the darkness of the story.
Verbal irony happens when the literal meaning of what the speaker says totally contracts with the speaker’s actual message. For instance, Poe, the author of the story, gives the victim the Italian name of Fortunato, which means “the fortunate one,” however; he adds an extra cynical element of humor to Fortunato’s ungenuous character. Montresor’s conversation makes particular use of verbal irony, since he knows that Fortunato doesn’t even suspect what is about to happen and therefore will totally misinterpret Montresor’s words and intentions. In addiction, Montresor tells Fortunato, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.” (Poe 237) In Fortunato’s head, all it means is that Montresor is really glad and thankful for running into him. In the other hand, Montresor is only happy to see him because now he can give continuity to his murderous plan. Another example is when Fortunato says, “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough,” and Montresor replies, “True,” (Poe 238) because he knows that Fortunato will die from dehydration and starvation inside the crypt. Moreover, the word “luckliy” seems to have something to do with the meaning of Furtunato’s name, however, completely different from his destiny. Another example of verbal irony is when Montresor’s declares that he is a “mason” by showing Fortunato his trowel. In fact, what he really means is that he is a literal stonemason, that constructs things out stones such as graves. Although Montresor is just about to become a mason by imprisoning Fortunato, he is not a real freemason. Dramatic irony occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. In the “The Cask of Amontillato,” dramatic irony plays a big role since the audience and Montresor are both aware of Fortunato’s impending death. Dramatic irony occurs when Fortunato has no clue of the real purpose of his own actions. The setting of the story is ironic, in that Montresor has chosen the joyful and social interaction carnival season, to put in action his murder since nobody would be at his estate to witness the crime. Fortunato itself was wearing a clown costume with jingling bells reminding us a happy and cheerful season. Consequently, as they drink the Medoc, Fortunate literally drinks to the dead and buried without noticing that this was actually his fate. He says, “I drink, to the buried that repose around us.” (Poe 238) and Montresor sarcastically drinks to Fortunato’s health. Montresor replies, “And I to your long life.” (Poe 238) The main point of the humor in “The Cask of Amontillato” is that even though Montresor sounds really sarcastic, Fortunato does not realize how critical is his situation until he is chained to the granite, and even after he stays too drunk to completely understand what is actually going on.
After constantly insulting Luchesi for his lack of intellectuality, Fortunato appears to be even easier to fool. As a fact, we truly don’t know if Fortunato would have been smarter in his normal state if he wasn’t so drunk and in unsuspicious conditions. Nevertheless, by the end of the story, Montresor proves to be more evil and more intelligent than Fortunato. As he tells Fortunato, he comes from a family with motto and a coat of arms that indicates a long tradition of revenge, and he ignores any torture of heart sickness by blaming the damp and shutting Forunato into the burial ground of his revenging family. Montresor says, “Nemo me impune lacessit.” (Poe 238) which it means is “No one attacks me without paying
dearly.” In “The Cask of Amontillado”, written by Poe, Montresor appears as the first person narrator and he sounds to be speaking to a specific audience. Upon reading Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, we learn very little about Montresor’s audience and his motivations. The only hint we have is stated in the first paragraph, where he implies that his audience already knows about Montresor’s thoughts, reasons and personality. Montreso confesses this story fifty years later it occurrence, suggesting that the crime was never discovered and that Montresor has not regretted or changed his opinion that the crime was justified, even after he got older. Montresor appeared to be very risk averse, making believe that his audience must be someone that he completely trusts, or maybe a confessor or even a family member. Because many years went by, and he can no longer face any severe consequences, he has chosen to tell his story. The double meaning of the circumstances and Montresor’s freedom lend to a malefic tone Poe’s story, which is further build by extensive use of irony.
the narrator displays a particularly black sense of humor when he amuses himself and the horrified audience as he leads Fortunato into his deadly trap. He also tells the reader about his intentions right before he begins the story of his last meeting with Fortunato, and Poe applies both dramatic and verbal irony to guide the darkness of the story.
Verbal irony happens when the literal meaning of what the speaker says totally contracts with the speaker’s actual message. For instance, Poe, the author of the story, gives the victim the Italian name of Fortunato, which means “the fortunate one,” however; he adds an extra cynical element of humor to Fortunato’s ungenuous character. Montresor’s conversation makes particular use of verbal irony, since he knows that Fortunato doesn’t even suspect what is about to happen and therefore will totally misinterpret Montresor’s words and intentions. In addiction, Montresor tells Fortunato, “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.” (Poe 237) In Fortunato’s head, all it means is that Montresor is really glad and thankful for running into him. In the other hand, Montresor is only happy to see him because now he can give continuity to his murderous plan. Another example is when Fortunato says, “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough,” and Montresor replies, “True,” (Poe 238) because he knows that Fortunato will die from dehydration and starvation inside the crypt. Moreover, the word “luckliy” seems to have something to do with the meaning of Furtunato’s name, however, completely different from his destiny. Another example of verbal irony is when Montresor’s declares that he is a “mason” by showing Fortunato his trowel. In fact, what he really means is that he is a literal stonemason, that constructs things out stones such as graves. Although Montresor is just about to become a mason by imprisoning Fortunato, he is not a real freemason. Dramatic irony occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. In the “The Cask of Amontillato,” dramatic irony plays a big role since the audience and Montresor are both aware of Fortunato’s impending death. Dramatic irony occurs when Fortunato has no clue of the real purpose of his own actions. The setting of the story is ironic, in that Montresor has chosen the joyful and social interaction carnival season, to put in action his murder since nobody would be at his estate to witness the crime. Fortunato itself was wearing a clown costume with jingling bells reminding us a happy and cheerful season. Consequently, as they drink the Medoc, Fortunate literally drinks to the dead and buried without noticing that this was actually his fate. He says, “I drink, to the buried that repose around us.” (Poe 238) and Montresor sarcastically drinks to Fortunato’s health. Montresor replies, “And I to your long life.” (Poe 238) The main point of the humor in “The Cask of Amontillato” is that even though Montresor sounds really sarcastic, Fortunato does not realize how critical is his situation until he is chained to the granite, and even after he stays too drunk to completely understand what is actually going on.
After constantly insulting Luchesi for his lack of intellectuality, Fortunato appears to be even easier to fool. As a fact, we truly don’t know if Fortunato would have been smarter in his normal state if he wasn’t so drunk and in unsuspicious conditions. Nevertheless, by the end of the story, Montresor proves to be more evil and more intelligent than Fortunato. As he tells Fortunato, he comes from a family with motto and a coat of arms that indicates a long tradition of revenge, and he ignores any torture of heart sickness by blaming the damp and shutting Forunato into the burial ground of his revenging family. Montresor says, “Nemo me impune lacessit.” (Poe 238) which it means is “No one attacks me without paying
dearly.” In “The Cask of Amontillado”, written by Poe, Montresor appears as the first person narrator and he sounds to be speaking to a specific audience. Upon reading Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, we learn very little about Montresor’s audience and his motivations. The only hint we have is stated in the first paragraph, where he implies that his audience already knows about Montresor’s thoughts, reasons and personality. Montreso confesses this story fifty years later it occurrence, suggesting that the crime was never discovered and that Montresor has not regretted or changed his opinion that the crime was justified, even after he got older. Montresor appeared to be very risk averse, making believe that his audience must be someone that he completely trusts, or maybe a confessor or even a family member. Because many years went by, and he can no longer face any severe consequences, he has chosen to tell his story. The double meaning of the circumstances and Montresor’s freedom lend to a malefic tone Poe’s story, which is further build by extensive use of irony.