The Cask Of Amontillado Theme Essay

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“I will hurt you for this. I don’t know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you’ll know the debt is paid.” (George R.R. Martin) Sometimes, through conflict, comes exposure to a side of man that is far darker than the face. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, he uses an eerie, scary mood to depict the evil that is sometimes brought out of men by issues as simple as revenge, along with our delusional belief in innocence despite all evidence to the contrary. This is shown through two key characters; the evil(Montresor) and the delusional(Fortunato). After Montresor is insulted by the pompous Fortunato, his need for revenge reaches the …show more content…
When asked his family motto, Montresor replies, “‘Nemo me impune lacessit.’ ‘Good’ he said.”(Poe, 4) In Latin, this phrase translates to “no one provokes me with impunity.” For Fortunato, who has insulted Montresor, this is a direct warning that he won’t escape unscathed. Even with this prior warning, Fortunato can’t believe the fate that has befallen him. “‘The Amontillado!’ ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment.”(Poe, 6) At this point, Fortunato is locked deep in the catacombs. Despite being clearly trapped, Fortunato still has trouble believing Montresor is not his friend; he even believes for a short time that Montresor is just joking with him. “Ha!ha!ha!--he!he!he!-- a very good joke indeed--an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo--he!he!he!-- over our wine--he!he!he!” (Poe, 7) This is his last attempt to understand a situation that he hadn’t been able to discern up to this moment. By the time Fortunato finally came to understand Montresor’s true intentions, it was too

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