Examples Of Betrayal In The Cask Of Amontillado

In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, vengeance is served. Two friends; Montresor and Fortunato, destinies are determined in two ways revenge and murder. In the story, Poe uses a feeling of betrayal to build a mysterious and seductive character. In fact, throughout the story, the reader slowly realizes that Montresor is an unreliable narrator; that whatever insult Fortunato committed is probably imagined or exaggerated. It is certain that Fortunato has no idea of Montresor's anger, and this makes the story even more tragic and frightening. This piece of gothic literature and horror is a classic example of Poe’s style of writing. The story gives some sense of suspense through the use of foreshadowing, irony and symbolism. The seemingly happy jangling of the …show more content…
The festival gives Montresor the perfect opportunity not only to appear undercover, but to locate his victim and lure him into his deadly cave. The horror atmosphere increases much more as Montresor describes his descent with Fortunato into the vaults. Although the subject matter of Poe's story is a murder, "The Cask of Amontillado" is not a tale of findings. There is no investigation of Montresor's crime and only the criminal himself explains in details how he committed the murder 50 years later. He never faces criminal punishment for his evil behavior. The mystery is in Montresor's reason for murder. His motive is uncertain other than the vague "thousand injuries that he has suffered at the hands of Fortunato" to which he refers. And it shows that he is not a reliable narrator because of his tendency to exaggerate terribly. Montresor tries to convince the reader that his intentions are honorable in an effort to uphold his family motto "Nemo me impune lacessit" (No one insults me with