The Cask of Amontidillo

The Cask of Amontillado

"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." With these ferverous words from the introductory paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado, the story of Montresor's revenge begins. Poe repeatedly stresses the need for revenge due to bitterness and resentment in Montresor's character towards Fortunato, but more importantly, stress is placed on revenge by which the victim realizes their injustice towards the redresser. Unfortunately, it seems that Montresor is denied this pure and encompassing revenge when his victim, Fortunato, during his last few minutes with Montresor, believes that his actions are a huge charade, and not the actions of a man scorned and seeking revenge. Although in burying Fortunato alive, Montresor is able to physically accomplish what he ultimately desired, he is left with an air of insatisfaction judging by his own definition of true and justified revenge. Poe shows the resentment Montresor feels towards Fortunato from the very first sentence of the story with, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge." It is never specified what this injury was to Montresor, but it was so obviously so heinous that Fortunato was not to be spared. Later in the story, Montresor implores Fortunato half-heartedly, "Come, we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was." once again showing strong resentment towards the unsuspecting Fortunato, whom he clearly blames for his present lower status. We soon see foreshadowing of Fortunato's impending doom when the issue of Montresor's shield of arms is brought into the conversation as "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.". Even more appropriate is Montresor's family motto, translated as, "No one wounds me with impunity". Such a visual depiction and mental conviction due to family honor and history creates all the more impetus in Montresor to carry out the punishment that Fortunato deserves for wronging him, and more likely the family honor. When Montresor finally captures Fortunato in the catacombs, the climax of his precisely calculated deed, he revels in the sound of Fortunato's chains rattling, and "that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones". However, his satisfaction soon turns to apprehension when suddenly "a succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back". He hesitates at this moment, when his revenge is sweetest, when he should bask in the suffering of his "enemy", and finds himself contemplating the shrill screams of his captive! He does eventually compose himself and takes a few more moments of pleasure from his captive's struggles, but his apprehension returns just as he places the