Characteristics Leading to Fortunato's Death

"The Cask of Amontillado" tells a short story of classic and perfect revenge. The creepy story is about the unfortunate murder of a man named Fortunato, ironically meaning fortunate in Italian. Fortunato was anything but fortunate. He appropriately wears the jester's costume in this story; for, he is foolishly inebriated, deluded, and arrogant. It is these very characteristics that lead to his demise.

Fortunato is addicted to wine, as told by the narrator "He had a weak point - this Fortunato...He prided himself upon his connoisseurship in wine" (166). When Fortunato meets Montresor, he is already intoxicated and thinks the Amontillado can help him take it to the next level. Fortunato ventures into the catacombs with the understanding that the trip will result in free Amontillado. He lets Montresor get him even more drunken while they proceed through the catacombs. Right up until the end, he thinks of only Amontillado. It is Fortunato's addiction or passion of wine that leave him inebriated and vulnerable to Montresor's attack.

Being too trusting can be a weakness - if you hang out with guys like Montresor. Fortunato is easily tricked by Montresor into coming to taste the Amontillado. Fortunato's passion for good wine leaves him susceptible to flattery, flattery which Montresor provides. Montresor says to him, "Come we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed." (167) Fortunato, then, foolishly casts aside his instincts and feelings of fear in a moment after Montresor shows him the trowel. "You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. "But let us proceed to the Amontillado." (169) Fortunato continues into the deep recess. Montresor throws the links of a chain around his waist and padlocks it. Fortunato is "too much astounded to resist"(169), then laughs, believing Montresor's actions are all a joke. Montresor says he made sure Fortunato had no reason to doubt him. Still, Fortunato should know better than to follow a masked man into a catacomb. Has he not ever watched a horror movie?

Finally, Fortunato's arrogance also plays a role in his death. When Montresor suggests that Fortunato not expose himself to the cold of the vaults and that he will have Luchresi taste the wine, Fortunato cannot bear the idea that another might be able to boast of