The Cask of Amontillado Response

The “single effect” generated from Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is a sense of unease.The main reason for which is the calculated nature of Montresor and the satisfaction he gets from watching his unsuspecting victim Fortunato suffer. Montresor is methodical and cruel, he has all of the items already acquired by the time he meets with Fortunato on the street, “Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche.” Montresor had previously placed materials in the catacomb for this very purpose, the whole event is premeditated and every step from luring Fortunato down through the nitre covered halls knowing Fortunato is already ill with some respiratory illness down, to the placement of the bricks conceal within the pile of bones is intentional. Another line that makes me anxious is when Montresor states “I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.” Montresor thinks he is perfectly justified in his actions and, therefore, in his mind he is undeserving of any legal ramifications or other consequences that may result from killing Fortunato. The lack of remorse Montresor displays creeps me out.

The setting of the catacombs in “The Cask of Amontillado ‘’ also helps establish an eerie tone, as Montresor describes the skeletons embedded within the walls and bones strewn about the floor. I tense up imagining the dank passageways, the stale air, and the narrow, claustrophobic spaces. Another reason the text was so ominous was the foreshadowing. One example that alluded to Montresor’s plan was the line “’You? Impossible! A mason?’ ‘A mason,’ I replied. ‘A sign,’ he said, ‘a sign.’ ‘It is this,’ I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaire a trowel.’” In this dialogue Montresor reveals the shove with which he will later use to entomb Fortunato. By adding seemingly insignificant details then later revealing their greater meaning Poe creates a level of dread for the readers as they come to understand Montresor intentions and the truth behind his prior actions.