This is another area where we can totally identify with Montresor. Critics have been arguing for a hundred years over whether Montresor is confessing his sins or bragging about his crimes. And this is something we can all relate to. Other times, we know what we did is wrong, and we wish somebody would find out so we can somehow try to make things right. In both cases, we would love to tell somebody. When we brag, we want somebody to pat us on the back. When we confess, we want forgiveness; we want to be free of the burden of our secrets.
And sometimes, we may not even know whether we are bragging or confessing until after we tell. Finally, every line and comment contributes to the totality or unity of effect that Poe sought to achieve. The plot is quite simple.
The first-person narrator, whom we later discover to be named Montresor, announces immediately that someone named Fortunato has injured him repeatedly and has recently insulted him. Montresor can stand no more; he vows revenge upon Fortunato. The remainder of the story deals with Montresor's methods of entrapping Fortunato and effecting his revenge upon the unfortunate Fortunato.
Foremost is the fact that Montresor has never let Fortunato know of his hatred. Accordingly, one evening during carnival time, a time when much frivolity and celebration would be taking place, Montresor set his fiendish, mad plan into motion with full confidence that he would never be discovered.
In fact, at the end of the story, we, the readers, are certain that his atrocity will never be discovered. Knowing that Fortunato considered himself a great expert, or connoisseur, of fine wines, and especially a devotee of a sherry known as Amontillado, Montresor flattered him by obsequiously asking his opinion on a newly acquired cask of Amontillado.
He tantalized Fortunato with the rare liquor, even pretending that his vaults where the wine was stored had too much dampness and "nitre" for Fortunato's afffiction. However, Fortunato was determined to taste the wine and insisted on being taken to Montresor's home. Montresor complied while wrapping himself in a cloak to make sure that he would not be recognized.
Earlier, he had let all of the servants off for the night, using the excuse of the carnival; in this way he would avoid arousing Fortunato's suspicions and would also prevent anyone from witnessing the atrocity he planned to commit. Apparently, Montresor had been planning this revenge for a long time and, ironically, had chosen carnival time as the setting for this most horrible type of crime.
Amid the gaiety of the carnival, he was sure he would avoid any possibility of being detected. As they descended into the vaults, Fortunato walked unsteadily and the "bells upon his cap jingled" as they descended, creating a further carnival atmosphere or a joyous time, a time which will ironically end soon with the living death of the unfortunate Fortunato.
As they passed deeper into the vaults, the nitre caused Fortunato to cough constantly, but he was drunkenly determined to continue. At one point, however, Montresor paused and offered Fortunato a bottle of Medoc wine to help ward off the cold and the fumes of the nitre. This seemingly kind act, of course, carries undertones of the most vicious irony, since what appears to be an act of kindness is only an act performed to keep the victim alive long enough to get him to the niche where he will be buried alive.
Fortunato drank the Medoc and once again became boisterous and once more "his bells jingled. This statement, at the time of the story's setting, would be yet one more of the many blatant insults for which Montresor hates Fortunato. He states that his family's coat of arms has on it "a huge human foot d'or [foot of gold], in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel" and that the family motto is " Nemo me impune lacessit " No one attacks me with impunity.
Thus, both the motto and the coat of arms imply that the entire Montresor family history is filled with acts of revenge. As the two men proceeded further along the tunnels, the cold and the nitre fumes increased, and Fortunato asked for another drink. Therefore, Poe uses point of view to develop characterization in antagonists and protagonists which establishes the common. The overall mood of the Cask of Amontillado is based on a multitude of different attributes. These attributes are setting, sounds, rhythm of language, and the narrator's thoughts, feelings, and actions.
The Cask of Amontillado has a very dark and spooky setting. The majority of the story takes place in the catacombs of the home of Montresor, the narrator. This gives the story a creepy atmosphere. The sounds affecting the mood are painful moaning, creepy laughing, and the clattering of bones and stones. An unreliable character is a character, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. Montresor leads Fortunato into the Paris catacombs where the corps of many lays, tricking him into thinking he will be tasting the finest wine.
Poe mainly focuses on the characterization in his three short stories through the use of unreliable narrator. Poe discusses the guilty feeling and psychological.
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