The Cast of Amontillado

The Cast of Amontillado

The story is narrated in the first person; hence, the reader doesn’t recognize the name of the narrator until at the end of the story. The narrator states that Fortunato has upset him. Consequently, he strives to get revenge. He meets Fortunato (dressed in comic clothes), he was very drunk by then. The narrator tells Fortunato that he has found Amontillado (a rare brandy), Fortunato becomes interested in seeing the drink. The narrator took Fortunato to the underground graveyard so that they can have the Amontillado. Ultimately, Fortunato gets into the man-sized shack, which was a part of a wall. The narrator cuffs him and then close Fortunato on the wall using bricks. He psychologically torments Fortunato until he begs for mercy; this is the point where Fortunato mentions the name of the narrator; he calls him “Montresor.” Montresor filled the hole with bricks where Fortunato died in. In the end, Montresor states that the act occurred fifty years ago, and there is nobody who has ever found out. The narrator does not explain further what happened after this incident. This essay is going to be based on the various events that occurred after Montresor killed Fortunato.

…Montresor glared as he tried to wake up, rubbing his eyes and spreading the arms above his head as he enforced himself to get out of the bed.

His Lifetime wound up stiffer throughout the past years. Montresor was again disturbed by violations and activities he once engaged himself in the past years. He began to experience illusion from every direction; he only saw a man enclosed with dirt around his basement (the man who was his friend once). The feeling deepened once he remembered the grief and struggle that Fortunato’s wife underwent before embarking back to her healthy life. Is it possible for a person to genuinely move on, though? Can a person feel complete again after such happenings? Montresor wondered whether a person could move on after undergoing such grief. Montresor could once engage in a personal dialogue; he sometimes stated that “do not discuss Fortunato as if he is dead, he might arise and make things to return to normality.” Montresor tried to express his optimism in a weak voice full of moods of misery.  One ever knew what Montresor feared, though, he felt a burden for being accountable for the Fortunato’s premature death.

“Receive my apologies sir,” one of the employees claimed, her head was dangling as she stared despairingly at her attire. The second servant was right there, exhaling weakly as he frowned at the first servant. None of the servants understood the Montresor’s hopefulness of Fortunato coming back again from death.

Elizabeth’s Story

“Do not say sorry to the person that slaughtered Fortunato.” “Montresor forced us to move out of the house after the death of Fortunato. I was the last individual to see Montresor move Fortunato on the grimy grounds, taking him to the basement. A basement that none of us has ever stepped foot on for a long period,” Elizabeth looked scornfully at Montresor. “You not only killed Fortunato that day… but also you executed his spouse. You destroyed hopes. Her future. Her dreams. Her…all.”

The room turned musty, Montresor and Elizabeth were unable to breathe. The room became silent, a deafening stillness. It seemed like both Montresor and Elizabeth just stood there in the room, waiting for the servants to mention something-anything. After staying there for a while, no one seemed to have anything to mention. They were all short of words. Montresor strained to speak. However, he did not have anything to say. His secrets (which were among his deepest secrets that he was not willing to share with anyone) have been disclosed, and it was not a secret anymore. Finally, he opened his mouth only to find that he had nothing to say; he moved out of the room and left Elizabeth with the servants.

“Why did you do it?” Elizabeth questioned Montresor as he was moving outside. She couldn’t believe the actions of Montresor since she considered him as one of her best friends.

“There is no one who can believe you,” Montresor replied.

Montresor appeared to have terminated his conversation with Elizabeth since none of them appeared to have anything to mention. Hence they both remained with the truth for a long period. However, nothing can remain undisclosed for a long period.

Several years later

The story of Margret (Montresor’s wife)

“Beloved?” Margret inquired, affectionately looking at her children. He grinned brightly, pounced his children up, and took them to the table while servant finalized setting rest of the silverware.

“What occurred in the basement?” she asked curiously, spiraling towards him as he was turning away.

“Why did you ask that?” he responded in a lasting voice. It was apparent to Margret that the question took him back just as it did to Margret.

“It is because we have not gone down there for a while. I was concerned about knowing why,” she responded inquisitively.

“There is nothing to look there. It is old, dark, and dirty; it was the best option to evade it.” He smiled while speaking.

“Just enough,” She responded.

“Are you fine? Montresor, are you all right?” Margret inquired.

Montresor was unable to answer this question. He felt…altered. He could barely breathe, his bones were relaxed, and the chest was tight. It is an awful feeling-being unable to breath…having very little control over his body. The death of Fortunato haunted him. It was during the death of Montresor that screams of horror echoed through his pictures and psyche of that day, clawed his eyes like never before. He looked at the Margret direct in the eyes and stated that “I have committed an evil act.” Margret stared at him, full of shock, dread, and fear. His vision disappeared as he was looking at his wife, who was full of shock.

However, it was lastly over; there was nothing more that she could do. She wept while looking at Montresor without wincing. She was not sure the next step to take in life; she even did not recognize herself anymore. All she recognized was that pain never truly ends….and that is amongst the vilest feelings ever.