The Cask of Amontillado

劉芯 任桐俊

摘要：This novel，written by Edgar Allan Poe，tells that the protagonist， Montresor takes revenge for Fortunato because Fortunato ever insulted him. At the Carnival， Fortunato who wore motley was drunk in the street. Montresor wanted Fortunao to identify whether the wine is famous. At first， Montresor pretended to refuse Fortunato to taste the wine because Fortunato got drunk. However， Fortunato insisted to identify the wine. So Montresor brought him into the cellar and built a wall. Finally， Fortunato died in the cellar. In this short novel， it is full of death and horror. And the description for environment and characters’ language and psychology better show death and horror. In addition， these also are an indirect show for characters’ final fate.

關鍵詞：die; fate; revenge

Environment

The time that Montresor choose to kill Fortunato is very good. In general， the dark is a symbol of death. The story occurs in the night so this means that the horrific thing will happen. And it indirectly suggests that Fortunato will be killed by Montresor. What’s more， in most of horror fiction authors like to make things happen at night. And without exception， the incident also happens at night in this novel. Apart from this， it is a good chance that Montresor choose to kill Fortunato at the Carnival， because at that time people are enjoying this happy time and they have no time to pay attention to other people. And people’s happiness in the Carnival and Fortunato’s death has a sharp contrast. So that it’s a good chance.

The place that Montresor kill Fortunato is very good. Montresor tempt Fortunato to go to the dim and damp cellar. This environment shows that something bad will happen. Before they don’t go into the cellar， Montresor cares for Fortunato’s health hypocritically. But the wall of cellar is covered with nitre. It means that Montresor has prepared for the plan that Montresor kills Fortunato. Allan Poe writes：” we had passed through long walls of piled skeletons”. The piled skeletons are an obvious implication that he will finally become skeletons. What’s more， the flickering light also gives him a signal that he will die tonight.

Language

Allan Poe applies some implied words to this novel. The first is that the words that Montresor says to Fortunato. For example， when Montresor tells him his motto of “ Nemo me impune lacessit”， he unexpectedly says “Good ”. Montresor obviously tells him that I will punish you because you insulted me. After Fortunato is closed in the cellar， Montresor says this sentence “In pace requiescat”. This tells readers that Fortunato died and he successfully takes revenge for himself. Secondly， Montresor says a barrel of wine with the word” cask”. In fact， cask is “casket”， and casket has the meaning of coffin. Coffin means death. This means that Fortunato will die because of wine. The vaults will become his burial ground. The result is what people expect. Besides， their names have deepened meaning. For example， Fortunato means “fortunate”， but it is ironic that his final fate is unfortunate and his death is extremely badly. Montresor is “monster”. Monster is aggressive， fierce and cruel. In the novel， Montresor plans to take revenge on Fortunato because of Fortunato’s insult for Montresor. And his way for Fortunato also is very cruel. He makes Fortunato gradually die because of lack of air.

Character’s personality

People's personality plays a crucial role in character' fate. So， in the novel， Montresor and Fortunato' personality also is a key factor. Fortunato is a person who is arrogant， self-centered and greedy. When Montresor invite him to taste the wine and pretend to mention another connoisseur， Luchresi to taste if his health do not allow or he have engagement， Fortunato immediately said that Luchresi cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado. This reflects that he is very arrogant and don’t allow that other appreciate someone whose job is same with him and thinks that he is not better than Luchresi. Also he don't consider others feeling when he said like this. So his personality easily spells trouble for himself. Montresor is hypocritical， cruel， vicious and narrow-minded. It seems that Montresor don’t care for Fortunato’s insult. In fact， he bides his time and privately makes a detail plan. And he said that I must not only punish but punish with impunity. So Fortunato is doomed to be killed by Montresor. And maybe Montresor just is one of people who plan to kill Fortunato. What's more， he is so arrogant and self-centered that he don't realize Montresor's plan.

Author adopts to brief narrative style， makes the story reach the climax. In whole novel， Montresor’s revenge for Fortunato reflects dark heart of Montresor and his flaw on personality. And arrogant Fortunato easily fall into Montresor’s trap. But it also indicates that there is two kinds of people in the society-----secret flaw on personality and bright flaw on personality. And the personality like Montresor is more horrible and more evil. Their desire for revenge will destroy their soul and true colors. People like Fortunato easily spell disastrous for himself.