"My Ideology of Revenge." By Montressor
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" is a story of revenge. One that deals with
a premeditated philosophy of retribution. This is set forth by the main character and narrator,
Montressor. One thing remains unclear as the story concludes. Did Montressor indeed follow his
own theory of retribution as he carried out his plan, which leads to the death of Fortunato? Or
did Montressor get caught up in the moment of executing his plan that he failed to follow one of
his key concepts? The tone of the story is set as Montressor tells us his philosophy. The first
being "a wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.". The second idea being
"it is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has
Let us look at a man who described his pain as "a thousand injuries". He is a man that is
full of hatred and disgust. He wants nothing more than to let his wrath be felt, on the man who
has imposed those injuries. Although it is never said exactly what his injuries were, it must have
been very severe. One way of telling so would be the fact of the language used. "A thousand
injuries" seems an awful amount of pain to me.
This brings us to our little philosophy debate. It is obvious that Montressor has had some
time to think this through. First the wrong was done unto him. Then his mind had some
considerable time as to plan what would be his retaliatory embarkment. "I must not only punish,
but punish with impunity.", is one way of letting you see that much thought has come into play.
To be able to pull a plan off and not only be able to execute it, but to do so with perfection in
itself says so much. Something along the lines of much thought has gone into plan of action.
Now we can focus our attention onto Montressor
...