The Cask of Amontillado

In his short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe detachedly develops the theme of murderous revenge. Wronged numerous times by Fortunato, Montresor (who narrates in first person) invites him to his wine cellar to get his opinion on whether a new shipment of wine he has purchased is actually Amontillado. After leading him deep underground, Montresor chains Fortunato to a wall and builds a brick wall in front of him, leaving him to die. At the end of the story, we learn that his body has been undisturbed for half a century.

The universality of this story is contained in the theme of revenge. The idea of exacting revenge upon someone when wronged by them is not limited to any particular honor code, culture, or continent. In taking his revenge, Poe’s narrator is extremely careful and methodical, being sure not to give “Fortunato cause to doubt [his] good-will,” unlike the passionate spontaneity that seems common for most vengeful attacks and outbursts. The timelessness of revenge makes this worth including on my list.

"I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!"

While there are countless stories about revenge, this short story is exceptionally well-written. In a review of Twice Told Tales, Poe discussed the purpose and construction of a short story, writing that “In the whole composition, there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design (Pugh).” In writing “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe clearly followed his own dictum as even the very first sentence identifies revenge as the content of the story as the narrator vows revenge when Fortunato ventured from injury to insult. Towards the middle of the short story, Poe uses foreshadowing as Fortunato and Montresor discuss the arms and motto of the Montresors, the former depicting a foot crushing a serpent and the latter the phrase “Nemo me impune lacessit,” which translated from the Latin means “No one wounds me with impunity (Poe).” Poe succeeds in maintaining a suspenseful tone throughout the short story and creating both a single and singular effect in the reader.

This short story addresses the critical thinking and Christian elements of the general education objectives. The theme of revenge is something that, as Christians, we should approach differently. While Montresor himself seeks revenge, we are called to turn the other cheek and leave judgment to the Almighty. It is important for us to understand the desire for revenge, such as that presented in this story, in order to overcome it. Every student at SNU should read this story because it demonstrates an extremely well-written short story and challenges us to think about our own views of revenge.

I chose this story because it was a short story that sparked my interest in the genre. Reading it in my 8^th grade English class, I was amazed that something as old as a 19^th century work could be as suspenseful as a John Grisham or Robert Ludlum novel. To me, Poe is the master of the short story, and no list of short stories of superior merit could be complete without at least one of his works.

Works Cited:

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask of Amontillado." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 552-557.

Pugh, Griffith T. "Poe: An Induction." The English Journal (1956): 509-552.

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