Home Reading Report No.

4
The Cask of Amontillado
Written by: Edgar Allan Poe

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Ivan James C. Sialana Ms. Susane Tabalda
Author’s Background:

Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an
American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and
short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as
a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature as a
whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. He is
also generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further
credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. Poe was the first
well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a
financially difficult life and career.

Poe was born in Boston, the second child of actors David and Elizabeth "Eliza" Poe. His
father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. Edgar
Allan Poe’s stature as a major figure in world literature is primarily based on his
ingenious and profound short stories, poems, and critical theories. Regarded in literary
histories and handbooks as the architect of the modern short story, Poe was also the
principal forerunner of the “art for art’s sake” movement in 19th-century European
literature. Whereas earlier critics predominantly concerned themselves with moral or
ideological generalities, Poe focused his criticism on the specifics of style and
construction that contributed to a work’s effectiveness or failure. In his own work, he
demonstrated a brilliant command of language and technique as well as an inspired and
original imagination. Poe’s poetry and short stories greatly influenced the French
Symbolists of the late 19th century, who in turn altered the direction of modern
literature.  

Poe died at age 40, drunk in a gutter in Baltimore, a victim of his debauched lifestyle.
On his fourth day at the hospital, Poe again grew confused and belligerent then quieted
and died on Oct. 7, 1849.
Setting:

The Cask of Amontillado takes place in Italy during Carnevale: a festive time in the
country. We start there, at night, in the madness, but are then taken back to the home of
Montressor, more specifically, into the catacombs/wine cellars below. The setting is
described as dark and damp, with niter climbing the walls and a mix of casks of wine
and bones littering the area. The men carry flambeaux, creating the idea of darkness
with only the small light of fire guiding the way. The Carnevale setting provides irony of
a horror story taking place in such a festive and unlikely backdrop. The setting in “The
Cask of Amontillado” has a special purpose: to suggest freedom or confinement, in
harmony or opposition to the freedom or confinement of the characters. This is called
the “Gothic Interior.” Most people go back and forth between feeling free and feeling
trapped. The Gothic Interior is meant to make us hyperaware of these emotions through
careful attention to the setting.

Characters:

Montresor

Montresor is the "I" who narrates the story, telling an unseen listener or reader about his
killing of Fortunato fifty years before. Montresor is a wealthy man from an established
family, who lives in a large "palazzo'' with a staff of servants. He speaks eloquently and
easily drops Latin and French phrases into his speech. He has been nursing a grudge
against his friend Fortunato, who has committed several unnamed offenses against him,
and has been coldly planning his revenge. 

Fortunato

Fortunato is an Italian friend of Montresor's, and his sworn enemy, whom Montresor has
planned to ‘‘punish with impunity". Although Montresor's explains that Fortunato has
committed a "thousand injuries’’ and a final "insult," no details of these offenses are
given. Fortunato displays no uneasiness in Montresor's company, and is unaware that
his friend is plotting against him. Fortunato, a respected and feared man, is a proud
connoisseur of fine wine, and, at least on the night of the story, he clouds his senses
and judgment by drinking too much of it.

Luchesi

Like Fortunato, he is a connoisseur of fine wines—a fact Montresor exploits to convince

Fortunato to leave the carnival. Fortunato evidently believes that Luchesi’s expertise
cannot match his own: “And as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from
Amontillado."
Plot Summary:

The narrator, Montresor, opens the story by stating that he has been irreparably insulted
by his acquaintance, Fortunato, and that he seeks revenge. He wants to exact this
revenge, however, in a measured way, without placing himself at risk. He decides to
use Fortunato’s fondness for wine against him. During the carnival season, Montresor,
wearing a mask of black silk, approaches Fortunato. He tells Fortunato that he has
acquired something that could pass for Amontillado, a light Spanish sherry. Fortunato
(Italian for “fortunate”) wears the multicolored costume of the jester, including a cone
cap with bells. Montresor tells Fortunato that if he is too busy, he will ask a man named
Luchesi to taste it. Fortunato apparently considers Luchesi a competitor and claims that
this man could not tell Amontillado from other types of sherry. Fortunato is anxious to
taste the wine and to determine for Montresor whether or not it is truly Amontillado.
Fortunato insists that they go to Montresor’s vaults.

Montresor has strategically planned for this meeting by sending his servants away to
the carnival. The two men descend into the damp vaults, which are covered with nitre,
or saltpeter, a whitish mineral. Apparently aggravated by the nitre, Fortunato begins to
cough. The narrator keeps offering to bring Fortunato back home, but Fortunato
refuses. Instead, he accepts wine as the antidote to his cough. The men continue to
explore the deep vaults, which are full of the dead bodies of the Montresor family. Later
in their journey, Fortunato makes a hand movement that is a secret sign of the Masons,
an exclusive fraternal organization. Montresor does not recognize this hand signal,
though he claims that he is a Mason. When Fortunato asks for proof, Montresor shows
him his trowel, the implication being that Montresor is an actual stonemason. Fortunato
says that he must be jesting, and the two men continue onward. The men walk into a
crypt, where human bones decorate three of the four walls. The bones from the fourth
wall have been thrown down on the ground. Fortunato, now heavily intoxicated, goes to
the back of the recess. Montresor then suddenly chains the slow-footed Fortunato to a
stone.

Montresor begins to wall up the entrance to this small crypt, thereby trapping Fortunato
inside. Fortunato screams confusedly as Montresor builds the first layer of the wall. The
alcohol soon wears off and Fortunato moans, terrified and helpless. As the layers
continue to rise, Fortunato falls silent. Fortunato laughs as if Montresor is playing a joke
on him, but Montresor is not joking. At last, after a final plea, “For the love of God,
Montresor!” Fortunato stops answering Montresor, who then twice calls out his enemy’s
name. After no response, Montresor claims that his heart feels sick because of the
dampness of the catacombs. He fits the last stone into place and plasters the wall
closed, his actions accompanied only by the jingling of Fortunato’s bells. He finally
repositions the bones on the fourth wall. He then narrates that the events happened 50
years prior and concludes by saying “May he rest in peace”.
The exposition from The Cask of Amontillado is when Montresor describes his
disgusted feeling for Fortunato and the want of revenge.

The rising action of The Cask of Amontillado is when Montresor brings fortunate to his

catacombs to taste his Amontillado, an expensive type of wine. During this time
Fortunato is slightly intoxicated and not completely aware to what is taking place around
him.

The climax of the story is when Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall of the
catacombs. Montresor then ignores the screams of Fortunato for mercy. This is a
picture of Fortunato being chained to the wall, and a wall being built in front of him.

The falling action of The Cask of Amontillado is when Fortunato stops screaming, and

Montresor only hears the jingling of the bells on his costume when he throws his torch
into the catacombs.

The resolution occurs when Montresor finishes telling the story of the murder of
Fortunato by saying that Fortunato has remained within the bricked in room in the cellar
undisturbed for the past 50 years. It is also the denouement of Fortunato himself.

Conflict:

The main conflict in "The Cask of Amontillado" is an external man vs. man between the
protagonist Montresor and the antagonist Fortunato. In some way, Fortunato had been
causing injuries to Montresor, which were able to be bourn, but then Fortunato insulted
him and he began to devise a plan to get revenge. The conflict is resolved when
Montresor kills Fortunato by walling him up alive inside the Montresor family catacombs.

Point of View:

First Person (Central Narrator)

Montresor is our vile narrator. He is dedicated to his own point of view, which is cold,
merciless, brutal, conniving, and vengeful. He doesn’t mind telling us about his torture
and murder of Fortunato; indeed, he thinks what he did was the just, right way to handle
the situation. Consistent in voice, Montresor uses a sadistic and manipulative tone that
creates dramatic irony. He is an unreliable narrator because his story tries to justify his
crime.
Themes:

Freedom and Confinement

For one character to be free, another must die. Most of the story takes place in a vast
and incredibly foul smelling catacomb, or underground graveyard. Freedom becomes
less and less of a possibility as the characters move into smaller and smaller crypts,
each one more disgusting than the last. Such confinement makes both the readers and
the characters appreciate the importance of fresh air. Hopefully, it makes us think more
deeply about what makes us feel trapped, and what makes us feel free.

Betrayal

Betrayal drives the action in “The Cask of Amontillado." One character’s betrayal starts
a hideous chain of retribution, enacted below ground in a mass grave. Behind all this
revenge and death, the story is about trust. Without trust there can be no betrayal. The
story has much to do with the lengths human being will go to feel better when they feel
betrayed – and the tragedy that comes when those lengths hit murderous extremes.

Drugs and Alcohol

The only drug we see in “The Cask of Amontillado” is wine. But there are many other
drugs circulating between the lines. “Drugs,” in this story, can be anything the
characters want badly enough to do awful or foolish things for. The story’s author, Edgar
Allan Poe, struggled with drugs and alcohol. His struggle is woven into this complicated
narrative, which can be read as a gruesome tale of addiction.

Mortality

“The Cask of Amontillado” has a scary fixation on death, corpses, and bones. Edgar
Allan Poe’s last short story is a precise and compact expression of anxieties concerning
mortality. But in the end, we all feel a little happier to be alive.

Foolishness and Folly

In “The Cask of Amontillado” foolishness and folly can cost you your life. The story
amplifies human foolishness and folly to extremes so hideous and cruel they become
vices. By the end of the story, their combined silliness culminates in tragedy and pain
for them both. The tragedy is what makes us think more profoundly about their foolish
ways. This is in the chances that we can avoid ending up, even in some way like them.
Symbolism:
The Vault

As Montresor guides Fortunato to the vault where he supposedly is storing the

Amontillado, he guides him through a literal place of death. This is the Montresor family
crypt, where members of the family are buried. There is an actual mound of bones in
this catacomb. There is wine here, but it is also a place of death, and bringing Fortunato
here foreshadows his fate.

The Montresor Coat of Arms

The Montresor family has both a coat of arms and a family motto. These details are
significant in themselves. The coat of arms and family motto also have specific
meanings. The coat of arms is a golden foot on a field of blue, crushing a serpent that is
biting the heel of the foot. A golden foot underscores the family's self-perception.
Crushing the snake indicates how central revenge is to their family.

The paradox here is that Fortunato shows by his hand gesture that he is a member of

the Anti- Masonic organization, but when Montresor shows the trowel, he shows he is a
mason. 
 Vocabulary:

1. Azure- of a deep somewhat purplish blue color; bright blue in color like a
cloudless sky
Ex: As he went outside, he glanced at the birds flying and the clouds in the azure
sky.
2. Catacomb- an underground tunnel with recesses where bodies were buried
Ex: After he killed his enemy, he threw him immediately into the catacomb so that
no one could ever gain suspicion on him.
3. Connoisseurship- love of or expert taste for something, especially fine art; one
who understands the details, technique, or principles of an art and
is competent to act as a critical judge
Ex: Connoisseurship has spread from wine and olive oil to chocolate, cheeses,
pickles, hams, cupcakes.
4. Circumscribe- draw a figure around another, touching it at points but not cutting it
Ex: The circle is circumscribed by a square.
5. Gesticulation- a gesture, especially a dramatic one, used instead of speaking or
to emphasize one's words
Ex: She dresses with taste, and her manner is perfectly easy and
her gesticulation is appropriate and graceful.
6. Promiscuous- having or involving many sexual partners; not restricted to one
sexual partner or few sexual partners
Ex: Katherine’s husband is promiscuous and he hangs out with a lot of women
all night long but she doesn’t have a clue about it.
7. Virtuoso- a person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit; someone
who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
Ex: Lebron James showcased a virtuoso performance in Game 6 of the 2020
NBA Finals to help his team clinch the title.
8. Clamor- a loud and confused noise, especially that of people shouting
vehemently; shout loudly and insistently
Ex: As soon as the people learn about the little boy’s murder, they are going to
clamor for justice.
9. Aperture- an opening or open space through which something can pass
through
Ex: Since it was a little dark in the room, I left an aperture in the curtain so that
the sunlight would enter and give some light.
10. Impunity- exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious
consequences of an action
Ex: He got away with impunity from jurisdiction even after he committed a
hideous crime just because he was the son of the mayor in the city.
Comprehension Questions:

1. What kind of people are Montresor and Fortunato? Compare and contrast
these characters.
Ans. Montresor is a manipulative and vengeful person and he plans to take
his revenge on the ones he thinks had hurt him in the past. Through his acts,
words and thoughts, we can observe that he is determined to carry out his
plan of vengeance. These actions lead to the death of Fortunato who is
narrated as a man who wronged him. Montresor indicated that Fortunato was
a man who had injured him and hurt him badly upon numerous times. But he
never said what Fortunato had done to him. Montresor is the villain or the
antagonist in the story who goes up against Fortunato who is the main
protagonist. Even though Fortunato is the main character, it does not mean
that he was flawless. He was addicted to wine and he could not control it. His
addiction to wine led him vulnerable to Montresor’s planned attack. He was
also shown as an insensitive man because he could not notice at all that
Montresor was mad at him. He was also proud and greedy which might be
the reason why Montresor or anyone else could despise him. Lastly, he was
too trusting with people he considered friends.

2. What brought about the fate of Fortunato? Do you think his death was entirely
Montresor’s fault? Justify your answer.
Ans. It was mostly Montresor’s fault for killing Fortunato just because he had
insulted him. But Fortunato also had his fair share of mistakes and he also
was responsible for his own death. Montresor did not narrate how Fortunato
insulted, injured or hurt him in any way. One might wonder whether it was true
or was he imagining it all. However, we do know that Fortunato was an
alcoholic and a wine addict and that by observing through his actions, we may
conclude that he also was too high on himself. He was insensitive and very
trusting to Montresor who was planning to kill him all along but he could not
gain a clue about it. But still, it was mostly Montresor’s fault for having a
temper tantrum just because he was injured and somehow insulted but then
killed Montresor in the end.

3. Describe the importance of the description of the characters in the

development of the story.
Ans. Characters are what make a story great and exciting due to their
different traits and characteristics. Their actions give tension and intensify the
story as the plot develops. We read stories and watch movies to learn about
different things and lessons and how people may react to different
 experiences. If we can relate and connect to the characters present in the
story, then we can understand the story even more and also helps us
internalize what the character is going through and how they solve their
various problems. The choices, thoughts, words and actions done by the
characters help us learn more about how the plot has developed into different
stages of the story. The protagonists and antagonists in the story help us
relate to the emotional state of the story and as a result, we can understand
the plot even more.

4. Do you believe Montresor’s revenge was justified? Why do you say so?
Ans. For me, it was not justified at all. Well, if we look at Montresor, he
seemed to be justified in what he was doing and he thought it was all right.
Revenge may be justified only if the one you take it on really did hurt you
without a valid cause. He did narrate that Fortunato was a greedy and
boastful man and that he injured and insulted him a couple of times. But did
he really tell us what Fortunato did to him? He did not tell us at all. It is still
believable that Fortunato did emotionally and physically injure him, but that is
not enough reason to kill a man and it is not justified at all costs.