Poe's The Cask of Amontillado - Essay Example

Montresor traps Fortunato in his plan by approaching him as a friend. By keeping his identity of an enemy towards Fortunato transparent, Montresor is able to not only minimize risk for himself as he offends Fortunato, but is also able to enjoying taking the micky out of Fortunato. Montresor demonstrates to the audience that he would not be able to complete his vengeance if Fortunato died without identifying his murderer. Although Montresor does not want to reveal his intention of killing Fortunato throughout the plot, yet he does not want it to end without having Fortunato realize that it was nobody else but Montresor who had inflicted the offense upon him and had led him to the point of death.

This makes the play all the more enjoyable for Montresor and certainly, when he accomplishes his goal, the pleasure would be all his! One factor that assists Montresor in presenting his evil in disguise is the knowledge of the enemy’s weaknesses. Leave apart one, Montresor is aware of numerous weaknesses of Fortunato, so that if Fortunato ever manages to escape Montresor’s plan one way, Montresor has other tools to practice his plan instead. The two weaknesses of Fortunato that Montresor knows are wine, self-praise and ego.

In the start of the story, Montresor shows good will for Fortunato. His knowledge of Fortunato’s craving for fine wines enables him to exploit Fortunato. Therefore, he locates Fortunato one evening and encourages him to taste the sample of sherry for him. Montresor knows that Fortunato likes self-praise. Therefore, he is sure that Fortunato would feel praised to learn that somewhere though his invitation, Montresor has acknowledged Fortunato’s exceptional olfactory sense. Thus, by tasting and checking whether the fine wine Montresor has is actually Amontillado, Fortunato would not only have a try at a fine wine, but would also have his nose praised for its exemplary olfaction.

Montresor knows that Fortunato’s ego would be hurt if he let Luches taste the wine for Montresor instead, so Fortunato would never let that happen. Knowing this, Montresor proposes that he would instead ask Luchesi to do the favor since Fortunato is busy. This enables Montresor to impress upon Fortunato that he is clear and positive in his intentions. Montresor does this to make sure that Fortunato does not have the slightest idea of his evilness for him. In an attempt to save his ego, Fortunato accepts the proposal as expected by Montresor.

Montresor makes his invitation even more credible by suggesting Fortunato not to try the wine for it has the tendency to aggravate his cold. But Fortunato, obsessed with his love for wine and ego, keeps insisting that he is there to do the job. Thus, Montresor convinces Fortunato to undergo the task with extreme prudence and shrewdness. Montresor also takes benefit of Fortunato’s weakness of wanting hospitality. Fortunato’s desire for hospitality is also, in a way, linked with his love for ego.

This makes it easier for Montresor to trap Fortunato into his trap. Therefore, as soon as Fortunato coughs while Montresor leads him through the passageway, Montresor suggests Fortunato to take a sip of Medoc wine. Once again, Fortunato’s ego comes in the way when Montresor proposes to fetch Luchesi for the task because of the deteriorating health of Fortunato. On the other hand,