The Cask Of Amontillado-The Parodox Of Revenge Essays - Fiction

The Cask Of Amontillado-The Parodox Of Revenge The Paradox of Revenge The Cask of Amontillado raises a question pertaining to the multiple character of the self (Davidson 202); Can harmony of one's self be restored once primal impulses have been acted upon? This question proposes the fantasy of crime without consequence (Stepp 60). Edgar Allan Poe uses first person point of view, vivid symbolism and situational irony to show that because of man's inner self, revenge is ultimately not possible. Edward Davidson suggests that Montresor, the main character of the story, has the power of moving downward from his mind or intellectual being and into his brute or physical self and then return again to his intellectual being with his total self being unimpaired (202). However, Poe tells this story from Montresors point of view. The use of first person narration provides the reader with insight into Montresor's inner struggles. First person narration is Poe's method of insuring the reader understands that Montresor is not successful at this harmony. The thoughts and feelings of Montresor lead the reader to conclude that he is not successful at revenge. Montresor says in telling his story, You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however that I gave utterance to a threat (153). By communicating in this way, the question arises of who Montresor is actually speaking to, and why he is telling this story fifty years later. One can only conclude that it is for one of two reasons: he is either bragging or finally giving confession. As he tells the story, it becomes obvious that he has not yet filled his need to win, and now a half of a century later, is still struggling with his conscience. As Gregory Jay states, Introspection produces a doppelganger who becomes a moral antagonist (84). This is similar to Ken Frieden's theory that a rhetorical moment takes the place of a ghost and the speaker is driven to confess (144). Both of these thoughts are developed because of the fact that Montresor is telling the story himself. The means in which Montresor expresses himself expose his insecurities. When he no longer hears Fortunato crying out, he says, there was a long obstinate silence (156). The personification of the silence by the use of the word obstinate projects the intent on Fortunato, implying that Fortunato is purposely depriving Montresor of satisfaction. But actually, Montresor seeks to escape from his own limitations by imagining them as im posed by outside force (Stepp 61). The force is a surrogate of the self. Every word goes to characterize the narrator, Montresor, and adds to the irony of the story. Fifty years later he is confessing the story and taking particular delight in his cleverness, but is unaware he is revealing a desperate human emptiness. James Gargano makes a general statement about Poes narrators that applies perfectly to The Cask of Amontillado; he says, Poe assuredly knows what the narrator never suspects and what, by the controlled conditions of the tale, he is not meant to suspect--that the narrator is a victim of his own self-torturing obsessions (166). In this way, Montresor is a classic Poe character. Poe's use of symbolism gives the reader the opportunity to see the conflict between Montresor's inner self and his outer being. The deep, dark catacombs below the surface represent the dark self that lies beneath Montresor's surface. In attempting to bury Fortunato alive, Montresor is actually attempting to bury his inner self. He is attempting to destroy a primal evil that has driven him to revenge. On the surface, Montresor seems to have the appearance of a serious and intelligent man, but his alter ego that is symbolically demonstrated through Fortunato, wears the cap and bells of a jester. Walter Stepp notes that there is perfect symmetry of opposition between Montresor and Fortunato and that Montresor had an obsessional wish to demonstrate that 'he is not I' and 'I am not he'(57). The conflict of the selves comes to a horrifying climax as Montresor is trying to build the wall and bury Fortunato alive. For a few brief moments when Fortunato is silent (as is Montresor's evil self) , Montresor's rational mind