Ideology Of Montressor Essay, Research Paper



My Ideology of Revenge. By Montressor

Edgar Allan Poe s The Cask of Amontillado is a story of revenge. One that deals with

a premeditated philosophy of retribution. This is set forth by the main character and narrator,

Montressor. One thing remains unclear as the story concludes. Did Montressor indeed follow his

own theory of retribution as he carried out his plan, which leads to the death of Fortunato? Or

did Montressor get caught up in the moment of executing his plan that he failed to follow one of

his key concepts? The tone of the story is set as Montressor tells us his philosophy. The first

being a wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. . The second idea being

it is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has

done the wrong. .

Let us look at a man who described his pain as a thousand injuries . He is a man that is

full of hatred and disgust. He wants nothing more than to let his wrath be felt, on the man who

has imposed those injuries. Although it is never said exactly what his injuries were, it must have

been very severe. One way of telling so would be the fact of the language used. A thousand

injuries seems an awful amount of pain to me.

This brings us to our little philosophy debate. It is obvious that Montressor has had some

time to think this through. First the wrong was done unto him. Then his mind had some

considerable time as to plan what would be his retaliatory embarkment. I must not only punish,

but punish with impunity. , is one way of letting you see that much thought has come into play.

To be able to pull a plan off and not only be able to execute it, but to do so with perfection in

itself says so much. Something along the lines of much thought has gone into plan of action.

Now we can focus our attention onto Montressor s first notion. As stated by himself, a

wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. . Simply put, if my method of

retaliation is more than the outcome of the harm done, it is said that it is unredressed . This

one, is quite tough to answer. As stated earlier, it is never mentioned as to the cause which has

led Montressor to act in such a manner. We can only speculate and infer as to why. The fact

remains that since we do not know what Fortunato had done to Montressor, who is to say that his

first notion holds truth.

This now brings us to the second notion set forth by Montressor. It is equally

unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the

wrong. . Plainly stated, that if I do not make him(Fortunato), feel the way he made me feel it is

unredressed . This again brings us back to the question, What has Fortunato done to merit these

actions taken by his friend .

We are now at the very heart of the issue. Did Montressor successfully carry out his plan

of revenge, while using his own philosophy of retribution? I have shed some light onto these

questions. I honestly can say that I do not know. This isn t a clear yes or no type of question. I

feel that some more information is needed to answer it. I also believe that Edgar Allen Poe

purposely left this bit of information out. It leaves you to wonder…what did Fortunato do that

induced this madness by Montressor. Good luck in trying to figure it out.