False Impunity: The Cask of Amontillado

In The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, the character Montresor becomes obsessed with achieving impunity after a well-prepared crime. Throughout the short story Montresor is consistently reassuring himself that he is doing the right thing but in reality he is going to damn himself in the eyes of God and men. Montresor will face torment to the end of his days as a result of the malicious murder of Fortunato. There are many instances in the story that foreshadow the terror that Montresor will encompass because of his foul deed.

The reader is introduced to Montresor and immediately witnesses his course of action for the evening: "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had bourne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge" (1592). Montresor is obsessed with revenge because he believes his honor was treaded on by Fortunato, an action that is unforgivable and dire in the mind of Montresor. It is at this time that he states his wish: "I must not only punish but punish with impunity" (1593). Montresor is trying to convince himself that he should be able to avoid punishment himself because he is only delivering the punishment that Fortunato rightly deserves. Montresor discusses his obsession in detail and the reader should get the feeling that Montresor is attempting to convince himself that he is dealing out justice. The only problem is that no crime will go without impunity and Montresor is no different from anybody else in this case.

Montresor continually attempts to convince himself that he is doing justice and that the matter is truly out of his hands. This is shown by the way Montresor will dress himself in the vaults: "and putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a roquelaire closely about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo" (1594). Montresor has dressed himself up in the garb of an executioner and is simply doing his duty to the country. Platizky notes that live burial was once a practiced form of capital punishment, a "rite of social purification," in Europe and that Foruntato's crime is the fact that Montresor lost all that was important to him: status, love, and most importantly respect (207). The final walk to his palazzo could be seen in the same light as an executioner from the middle ages walking his "criminal" to meet his end up on a dais. The only problem with this thinking is that no one is around to witness and agree that Fortunato's murder was just. Montresor must live alone with what he is about to do suffer the consequences if he is unjust.

It is Montresor's pride that convinces himself that he is not murdering but acting out justice. Montresor demonstrates the evils of pride because this is what truly allows him to believe he can murder with impunity. Fortunato appears to represent fortune itself and this is what Montresor despises because his lineage no longer has the fortune it deserves: " 'The Montresors' I replied, 'were a great and numerous family' " (1595). This loss of fortune and greatness has permanently wounded Montresor like gash that will never heal and slowly destroy what is left of a man. It seems that Poe wants his readers to recognize the evils of pride and that it could lead to madness if taken to far.

Montresor's evil deed is done when he begins to wall in Fortunato. The incident that is the final insult on Montresor's pride is afflicted on him when Fortunato asks if Montresor is a mason: " 'You are not of the masons' 'Yes, yes' I said; 'yes, yes' 'You? Impossible! A mason?' " (1595). Montresor proceed to pull out a trowel and is again the butt of a joke for Fortunato, but Montresor is laughing inside because he is holding his weapon of choice he will use to bury Fortunato. By burying Fortunato, Montresor is only repressing the problem he has and is unwilling to face. It is this reason that Montresor will never have impunity from his crime; Montresor is unable to deal with his problems so he will repress them and keep them inside like the catacombs in his house.

Gruesser suggests that Montresor also damns himself in the eyes of God by murdering Fortunato and this is another case of the false impunity that Montresor believes he has because he will be damned in the afterlife (131) and face his final judgement: " 'For the love of God, Montresor!' ' Yes,' I said, "for the love of God!' " (1597). Gruesser notes that Montresor defies God at this point thus sentencing himself to damnation (131).

At the end of the story it is seen that fifty years after the murder Montresor still does not have his impunity: "For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!" (1597). The later of the quote means "may he rest in peace!" and it is this line that show that Montresor has not had peace since the burial and that Fortunato has not rested on tormenting Montresor's soul. Montresor will never find impunity in this life or in the after life because he had only been able to convince himself that he was just in his actions.

In The Cask of Amontillado Poe demonstrates that there is no crime that can be committed with impunity. Whether it is torment to one's mind or eternal damnation in the afterlife, Poe provides Montresor as the perfect example of what happens when one believes they can get away with murder. Poe also wants readers to beware of overbearing pride and what it will do to a person, that it may even drive a person to the horrible act of murder. Impunity does not exist in this world because even though one may be free of physical punishment in this world, the mind and soul are forever going to torment one's self.

Works Cited

Gruesser, John. "Poe's The Cask of Amontillado." Explicator 56 (Spring 1998): 129 - 131.

Platizky, Roger. "Poe's The Cask of Amontillado." Explicator 57 (Summer 1999): 206 - 210.

Poe, Edgar Allen. The Cask of Amontillado. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6^th Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.