... : "And I (drink) to your long life," because we know that Fortunato won't have a long life at all. Sharing this little joke with the narrator makes him more likeable to us and also the fact that he calls us "You, who so well know the nature of my soul." In fact we don't feel pity for Fortunato - we laugh at him. It is not until ... the very end that we take into account just how cruel this joke is. In fact, by calling the reader a person who knows the nature of his soul, he has earned our trust in a manipulative way. So at the end we get the feeling we might have been manipulated as well...

• Word Count: 1196
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand. I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement - a grotesque one" (Poe 476). When Montresor is asked to display a sign of his membership he takes a trowel from beneath his cloak and displays the tool instead. Fortunato assumes that Montresor's action is a joke. Of course the irony here is that Fortunato, a Freemason, will eventually be bricked up behind a wall ... with the use of this trowel. Montresor will play the part of the mason who puts the Freemason to death by masonry. When the characters first meet at the carnival Montre...

• Word Count: 1170
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... encountered a deadly consequence. Montresor was an angry but proud man who felt that what Fortunato did was wrong. He "Vowed revenge" (Poe 543) was made and the execution was implemented in the catacomb vault of his home. Montresor's deep hatred for Fortunato was due to Montresor's feeling of deprivation of being "rich, respected, admired, beloved, you are happy, as ... , Montresor felt that "Fortunato is deprived of everything" (Poe 543). Fifty years later, Montresor is reiterating the encounter by confessing his present obsession of the revenge on Fortunato without the presence of remo...

• Word Count: 522
• Approx Pages: 2

... Fortunato into these chains. He then built a wall to hide his secret from the world. Horrifying sounds filled the catacombs in the story. As the two men went deeper into the catacombs Fortunato began developing a horrible cough. The nitre was thick on the walls and made Fortunato's cough worse as they proceeded. The noise of the chain was very intense. Montresor built a wall of masonry and stone, so Fortunato ... work as he heard "furious vibrations of the chain" that came from within the recess. "A succession of loud shrill screams," came from the chained man. Montresor seemed to be frig...

• Word Count: 684
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... you will severely pay for it. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge" This shows how Montresor's evil identity has come about which also shows psychotic this character can be as well. Fortunato seems like someone who is, at times, cheeky and likes to joke around but Montresor has had enough ... with him. This unjust revenge of death, makes him seem like a modern day gangster. Another technique Edgar Allan Poe uses to convey death in these two short stories is word choice. A good example of this technique is in "...

• Word Count: 750
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... of his membership he is unable to comply in the proper manner. Instead, he presented a trowel taken from beneath his cloak. Fortunato, believing the gesture to be a joke, assumes that Montresor is indeed a member. The irony here is that Fortunato, a Freemason, will eventually be entombed behind a wall built with the use of this trowel. Montresor will stifle the Freemason with masonry. Furthermore, Montresor appears to be ... especially concerned about Fortunato's health. The catacombs are damp and chilly and Fortunato is ill ... ...

• Word Count: 1002
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . (537) To agree with Lewis, I feel what happens in this tale is not just that cruel jokers are destroyed by a cruel joke but that joking itself gives good way to horror, as the cruelty of joke destroys its ability to function as a joke. The appeal of Lewis" article about psychological insight of Poe rings true. I agree that fear and humor are linked together in Poe ... 's tales. I have seen it in hospitals, and at funerals, or even when humor helps pass the time during a threat of a destructive storm or ... of Amontillado, he uses details of horror and repulsion to create the setting. ...

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... turn I is he. He will tell me- (192). In addition to being manipulative and vengeful he also displays some other traits. Montresor addresses Fortunato in the catacombs saying, "your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy as once I was. You are a man to be ... he trusts him because he follows him into the catacombs, and up until the last moments before the last brick is put into place, he still holds onto the idea that Montresor is playing a joke on him. "Ha! Ha! Ha! - he! He! He! - a very good joke, indeed-an excellent jest" (196). Montresor ... is ...

• Word Count: 767
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... turn I is he. He will tell me- (192). In addition to being manipulative and vengeful he also displays some other traits. Montresor addresses Fortunato in the catacombs saying, "your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy as once I was. You are a man to be ... he trusts him because he follows him into the catacombs, and up until the last moments before the last brick is put into place, he still holds onto the idea that Montresor is playing a joke on him. "Ha! Ha! Ha! - he! He! He! - a very good joke, indeed-an excellent jest" (196). Montresor ... is ...

• Word Count: 751
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... wines would push him into insisting that he be the one to test it. Several times the narrator suggests that they turn back but this just feeds Fortunato's determination. Midway through their journey through the catacombs Fortunato makes note of the order of the Masons, a elite society, to which the narrator reveals a trowel. Fortunato takes it as a joke and they continue on. As they reach their destination ... , the narrator tells Fortunato that the wine is stowed inside of a niche at the very end of the catacomb. Once Fortunato is inside of the niche, the narrator secures Fortunato to t...

• Word Count: 412
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... tempted Adam and Eve to commit evil by luring them to a certain place to consume. The story's end brings light on his further light onto his paranoia and guilt. Just as Montresor is about to finish the wall, Fortunato begins to laugh because he believes the whole incident is merely a practical joke. He never knows why he actually has been laid to rest within ... the tombs. This troubles Montresor immensely and it is why he is now telling the world the grim facts of his most heinous crime. The mad and criminally insane often boast about ... their dirty deeds after they have kept it insi...

• Word Count: 1117
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate