Literature Chapter 4: The Cask of Amontillado Myca Nealon 6/11/13 1.

Montresor cites a "thousand injuries" and an "insult" as his motivation for murdering Fortunato. Given what you learn about the two men during the course of the story, what do you suppose the "injuries" and "insult" might be? Considering the extremeness of his anger and need for revenge, his motivation could go anywhere from be publicly ashamed, to the stealth of a lover. Shame and battle seems the more probable option throughout the story, though. 2. Do you nd Montresor to be a reliable narrator? If not, what makes you distrust his version of events? His version of events are short, shaky, and not well dened. The most you can get out of his beginning narration is that Fortunato hurt him in some way and he will have deep revenge for it. He doesn't seem to be the most reliable narrator in that regard. 3. What is Montresor's concept of personal honor? Is it consistent or inconsistent with the values of contemporary American society? How relevant are the story's ideas about revenge and guilt to present-day society? Explain. Montresor's idea of personal honor is that to regain it, or make things even, revenge is needed to take place. This is still a modern idea with most individuals in American society, more commonly referred to "getting back" at said person. The actual lengths that Montresor went for revenge, however, are not a common method used for revenge. 4. Does Fortunato ever understand why Montresor hates him? What is Fortunato's attitude toward Montresor? Fortunato doesn't seem to understand fully what is going on because he's so drunk by the end of the story, the only time he sobers up is when he realizes he's being buried alive. Even then, Fortunato desperately thinks that this is all a joke and they will walk back up to the party together. 5. What is the signicance of Montresor's family coat of arms and motto? What is the signicance of Fortunato's costume? "No one insults me with impunity", hints at what Fortunato must have done to him in the past, because Montresor clearly repeated it from the heart. Fortunato might have given him a free pass on a crime that deserved punishment, which is probably only part of the need for revenge. The rest seems to be left a mystery. Fortunato's costume makes him the "joker" and adds an unruly sense of unease associated with the ringing bells on his hat. 6. In what ways does Montresor wait fty years to tell his story? Ho would the story be different if he had told it the next morning? If he had told the story the next morning it wouldn't be so cold and impersonal. Also after fty years he's had time to think about exactly how he wanted to lay out the facts, and doesn't seem ashamed to leave anything he did out. 7. In what ways does Montresor manipulate Fortunato? What weaknesses does Montresor exploit? He manipulates Fortunato by telling him he has the nest wine from Spain (Amontillado) down in the catacombs. The wine-lover that Fortunato is, he follows, refusing to go back even though his health begins to fail him in the tombs. His weakness was his own stubbornness and Montresor played it perfectly. 8. Do you think the use of a rst-person point of view makes you more sympathetic toward Montresor than you would be if his story were told by a third-person narrator? Why or why not? No, I wouldn't be. The terms "I and me" were used rarely, and we knew so little about Montresor he might as well have been told by a third-person narrator. Since you know so little about him, all he seems like is a sociopathic killer bent on revenge, and the majority of the sympathy is for Fortunato even though you know he must have done something to Montresor in the past to arouse so much need for blood-thirsty revenge.