The Case of Amontillado

The Case of Amontillado

In the story “The Case of Amontillado,” Montresor takes his time to describe his family’s coat of arms and their motto to Fortunato. The picture of the coat of arms shows a golden foot crushing a snake. The snake has its fags at the heel of the foot. The motto on the coat of arms is written in Latin. The motto translated to English, “no one punishes me and gets away with it.” Put whatever harm you do to me, I will do the same or worse to you. It is more of a warning that an art piece. The coat of arms and the motto is more than an art piece for Montresor’s family; it symbolizes the family culture of the Montresor’s; it is a foreshadow of the events that are about to happen.

The story starts with a monologue, Montresor recalls the number of times Fortunato has wronged him. What can be described as the worst sin is the moment Fortunato laughed and the name Montresor? That was like dragging the family name through the mud. The narrator contemplates that at some point, Fortunato will have to pay for his insults. Just like in the coat of arms, the snake has its fangs embedded on the heel of the foot. Fortunato had insulted the name Montresor for long. The second scene is the foot crushing the snake. The interpretation for this is the Montresor will not lay back and let someone step over them continuously. Montresor is vengeful, though he does not show it. The coat of arms symbolizes the idea that I will not strike unless I am provoked.

The second interpretation of the coat of arms is that the spirit of vengeful has been part of the Montresor family. Take, for instance, the coat of arms that has been with the family for a generation. We see the sign that the Montresor killed a person at some point. Montresor picks another Medoc among the bones. The second instance is when Montresor starts to search among the bones. It is a clear sign that this chamber has been used before for the same purpose. Going back to the coat of arms, we see the golden foot crushing the snake. We can conclude that the snake will not survive from being trampled upon. This symbolizes that once a Montresor acts on his revenge, the victim has little to no chances of survival.

The coat of arms symbolizes the idea of an eye for an eye. But, Fortunato is too drunk to connect the dots. He takes the coat of arms as any family souvenir. The coat of arms and the motto predicts what happens to individuals who wrong the Montresor. At the start, we learn that Fortunato had hurt Montresor for a long time. Revenge was inevitable in such a case. The only way out of it is to exert revenge individuals identified to be oppressors. The motto on the court of arms makes it clear, don’t expect to get away with the bad you have done to the Montresor’s.

The court of arms and the motto sheds more light on the theme of forgiveness and revenge. Going by the look of events, the Montresor’s do not have empathy or sympathy. The room down the palace is well designed to chain individuals that have abused the name Montresor’s family name. In our case, Montresor does not have forgiveness even slightly. He takes some time to plot how to kill his victim. He details it so precisely; we see him sending the workers of the palace home. He does not want any distraction in executing his plan. Montresor goes out to hunt and lure his victim to the chambers. Up until now, we can see that the main character is predetermined to kill. He is vengeful, and he intends to complete his quest to the end.

From the court of arms and the motto, we can gather the theme of disloyal and betrayal. The character Montresor is a traitor and a false friend. Though Fortunato has tarnished his family name, Montresor pretends to be smiling. At the back of the mind, he is plotting how to avenge him. Later, when Montresor meets him, he addresses him as my good friend. We both know that not right. From the motto, “no one punishes me and gets away with it,” we can be clouded that it does not matter who wronged the family. In the end, they will suffer the wrath of vengeance. Montresor is a pretender and a traitor. Leaving your friend to die and mocking him is not a sign of good friendships. When he exerts revenge, Montresor is a cruel person. He laughs as he is sealing the room.

Lastly, the motto and the court of arms plays the role of a warning or foreshadowing. Anyone who tramples the Nobel name of Montresor’s family will face the music. The items are placed in an open view so that everyone can see it. In our case, Fortunato did not see this coming. He was aware that he had hurt Montresor for a while. From the description of the court of arms and the motto, Fortunato could have clicked what he was to expect. Even as they are going down the wine cellar chamber, Fortunato does not figure out the fate awaiting him. We can conclude that Montresor strikes their victim when they list expect.