So his mind is made up to go to the vaults. .
As soon as he tells Montresor this, Montresor immediately brings up Luchresi again, therefore hurting his pride even more. He also brings him up in order to test how much Fortunato really wants the Amontillado. He tests him again when he says .
"My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold, with which I perceive you are afflicted.".
However, Fortunato insists and they soon end up in the catacombs. He is very impatient as he hunts for the drink and Montresor makes him more and more desperate. By flattering him: "You are a man to be missed," challenging him: "Come, we will go back; your health is precious" and insulting him: "Besides, there is Luchresi.".
The reason Montresor can manipulate him so well is because he knows him well. Fortunato doesn't know Montresor very well, because Montresor is a lot more of an introvert. Throughout the story he is calm and does not reveal anything to Fortunato. He manages to conceal everything subtly even though he had borne "the thousand injuries of Fortunato". To use such an expression "thousand injuries," the narrator must really hate him. And he is very subtle in his hatred. He never loses his temper. He keeps it a secret, which he and the reader share. Both he and the reader laugh when he mocks Fortunato with remarks like: .
"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.
The revenge completely disregards the presence of the basic human instinct which thrives on the manipulation and destruction of others, for the moment of satisfaction. In Edgar Allan Poe's story, "The Cask of Amontillado" is a story about revenge, telling the story from Montressor's point of view. ... In Poe's story, "The Cask of Amontillado," has many significance. ...
The Cask of Amontillado. ... However in the short story "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allan Poe writes in the first person point of view from the perspective of Montresor, the diabolic narrator of this tale, who vowed revenge against Fortunato and has developed the perfect plan for retribution, only lacking the cooperation of Fortunato. ... The devil playing in "The Cask of Amontillado" is the narrator of this story. ... In fact, Montresor could care less about Fortunato's health; he is just concerned about his own advantage of manipulation by luring him deeper into the catacomb...
Poe's extraordinary manipulation of rhythm and sound is particularly evident in The Bells, a poem that seems to echo with the chiming of metallic instruments, and The Sleeper, which reproduces the state of drowsiness. ... In his short story, The Cask of Amontillado, he uses details of horror and repulsion to create the setting. ... In the Cask of Amontillado, Poe's descriptions of underground rooms, space, and sound help establish the atmosphere and the surroundings. ...
His stories, once dismissed as kind of gothic thrillers are now being analyzed for their self-conscious manipulation of narrative devices and their darkly view of reality, and Poe is beginning to be recognized as a master of fictional technique and a precursor of the modernist vision (Bloom 67). ... Nevertheless, the timelessness of and attractions to Poe's work is evident in the fact that many people can still recite portions of Poe's famous poem "The Raven" and vividly remember such tales as "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Cask of Amontillado." ...