An Analysis of Edgar Allen Poe's "Cask of Amontillado"

On a day to day basis, individuals exploit influence and manipulation to abuse other individuals for personal gain. Whether in the classroom or the office, individuals will do whatever it takes to stay ahead in life. In Edgar Allen Poeís Cask of Amontillado, Poe utilizes descriptive terminology and actions to illustrate Montresorís pattern of influence and manipulation to lure Fortunato to his death. Montresorís misleading actions, lure Fortunato into a trap on the basis of revenge. Within the story, Fortunato is not fortunate avoiding Montresorís deceiving words that follows a plan of retribution.

Within Poe's Cask of Amontillado, Montresor employs deceiving words to lure Fortunato into a trap on the basis of revenge. Montresor's pattern of influence and manipulation occurs frequently, while Fortunato is oblivious to Montresor's true intentions. Immediately Poe establishes a plot of revenge through Montresor's dialogue, "My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts." Montresor's deceptive actions lure Fortunato to buy into the plan of revenge. Also within this quote, Montresor's intentions of revealed through ". . . I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts." Fortunato is describe as a ". . .connoisseur in wine." Montresor is aware of this weakness and applies this to the plot of revenge. Exploiting his power of manipulation, Montresor tries to prevent Fortunato from attempting to go to where the wine is through adding, "My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp, They are encrusted with nitre." By describing the conditions, Fortunato does not distinguish the environment as a threat, exemplifying Montresor's influence. Immediately, Fortunato replies by saying, "Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado."

Also within Poe's Cask of Amontillado, Montresor employs deceptive actions to lure Fortunato into a trap on the basis of revenge. Montresor's pattern of influence and manipulation occurs frequently, while Fortunato is oblivious to Montresorís intentions. Shortly after Montresor and Fortunato exchange the previously stated dialogue Montresor reveals, "There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned." Unaware that Montresor has made these arrangements, Fortunato continues the fall into the pit of deception of Montresor's revenge. Putting Fortunator in his resting place, Montresor's final plot is described as "in instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row of its fellows that lay upon the mould. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key, I stepped back from the recess." Motresor's actions put an end to Fortunato

On a day to day basis, individuals exploit influence and manipulation to abuse other individuals for personal gain. Whether in the classroom or the office, individuals will do whatever it takes to stay ahead in life. In Edgar Allen Poe's Cask of Amontillado, Poe utilizes descriptive terminology and actions to illustrate Montresorís pattern of influence and manipulation to lure Fortunato to his death. Montresorís misleading actions, lure Fortunato into a trap on the basis of revenge. Within the story, Fortunato is not fortunate when avoiding Montresorís deceiving words that follows a plan of retribution.

Poe, Edgar Allen. "Cask of Amontillado" Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E, Jacobs. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2007.