There are a number of themes that stand out in this short story and they include vengeance, disloyalty, and unlawful death. The story is narrated by Monstresor and it has been developed around the day when he decided to take revenge on Fortunato. The anecdote that the author uses in the story includes a murder that was committed in secret and was mainly driven by the feelings of the protagonist offended by the behavior of Fortunato.
Despite the fact that the past engagements by Fortunato are well known to the reader, they greatly affected Montresor to the level that he accurately planned how he would carry out his revenge. The audience is provided with some context and this includes the observation made by Montresor about his family. In the past, his was great but this changed with time.
Also, he felt that the remarks made by Fortunato were belittling about the exclusion of Montresor from Freemasonry. Montresor wished Fortunato deceased. The themes that stand out through the story, including betrayal, murder, and revenge seem to the audience to be oaths that amplify the position taken by Montresor
Duplicity drives most of the actions of characters in the short story. The betrayal of one character is the cause of a revolting series of retribution. Betrayal can be seen essentially to be disloyal or false to the rest of the characters or even to the characters themselves. The scenes are full of emotional baggage and fallout that are associated with betrayal. This is evident in the relationship between Fortunato and Montresor. The author states, “It has to be understood that neither by deed nor world had I offered Fortunato reasons to doubt my good will” (Poe 144).
Montresor despises Fortunato secretly and he is eagerly waiting for the day when he will have his revenge. As the days move on, the hatred keeps on growing. As Fortunato death is being plotted, he is clueless about the entire plan. The author writes, “He did not know that my smiling was to the thought of immolation” (Poe 144) and by this, the author is made fully aware of the contempt portrayed by Montresor towards Fortunato. At this point, it appears that the day when Fortunato will die will be the ecstatic day in the life of Montresor. This scene further elaborates the theme of revenge in the short story.
The author brings out vengeance in this story to be something sweet. A life well lived is the best possible revenge. The act of settling scores is among the strongest and passionate human feelings like friendship and love. In this short story, the main character is seen claiming that he had been insulted irreparably by Fortunato, who was supposed to be his acquaintance. The author writes “The thousands of injuries that had been caused by Fortunato I had stomached as much as I could, but at the point when he ventured on insult, I swore revenge” (Poe 144).
The main character at this point felt that he had tolerated disrespectful actions by Fortunato long enough to the level that he became weary of it. His desire was to extract revenge because he felt he needed to restore his honor before other characters. However, he had to achieve this in a manner that he could not be in any risk. Montresor went ahead to plan for the death of Fortunato strategically by having his servants go away to the carnival scheduled at night.
Montresor was aware that wine was one of the favorites of Fortunato and hence he capitalized on his weakness. When he met Fortunato later the same evening, be duped him to come and authenticate the wine he had purchased but was not sure about it. Being an avid consumer of alcohol, Fortunato did not think otherwise but accompany him to his vaults to look at it. This scene resulted in the theme of murder in the short story.
The scene resulted in the setting up of a jury to decide if Montresor was innocent or guilty. The jury consisted of twelve citizens. Montresor decides to be his own jury and therefore deliver justice in his own case. This scene brings out the minor theme foolishness; how human beings can result in extremes so cruel and hideous that they get to point of killing. The author writes, “A succession of shrill and loud screams, suddenly bursting from the chain form throat, appeared to violently thrust me back” (Poe 147).
Montresor had informed Fortunato that the bottle of wine was kept on the wall that was exposed in the small recess. He then surprised Fortunato and chained him to a stone as he continued to seal the minute crypt entrance layer by layer. At that point, the alcohol had worn off and this left Fortunato in panic moaning helplessly. When Montresor was almost finishing sealing the entrance, Fortunato laughs making a joke of the whole situation but this does not seem to bother Montresor. Fortunato then tried to plead with Montresor to give him in vain. Montresor placed the last stone and plastered the wall after which he said “rest in peace” (Poe 148).
The actions by Montresor were caused by the feeling that he had been hurt by Fortunato. He then went ahead to do what according to him was the best solution, revenge. In this case, he was his own judge. Montresor settled on carrying out revenge secretly to avoid having to go through legal retribution channels. The law is not applied in this case where Montresor is the jury, the judge, and the executioner. Although most of the readers might have considered Montresor to be insane, the manner in which he executed his plans proved otherwise. The point at which Fortunato was assassinated was not discovered for more than fifty years.
Behind the themes of death and revenge in the short story, the idea of trust comes up. Betrayal is only witnessed when there is lack of trust. This story highlights the issues of how much people are willing to go to feel better after being betrayed and what happens when such actions get to murderous extremes
Work Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849. The Cask of Amontillado. Charlottesville, Va. : Boulder, Colo. :University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center ; NetLibrary, 1993. Print.
