The key detail missing from Montrésor’s account of his plot is the misconduct on Fortunato’s part. Just as he is about to put the last stone into place to seal Fortunato off forever Montrésor almost feels bad- but then dismisses it as feeling sick from the dampness of the catacombs. When Montrésor says his 'heart grew sick-on account of the dampness of the catacombs' (Poe 379) I believe he experienced a brief moment of guilt. He then tells us that for the past fifty years no one has found the body. In the last paragraph of the story, Montrésor drops a torch into the remaining opening and finishes sealing the wall. What can you infer about Montrésor’s state of mind when he says that his 'heart grew sick-on account of the dampness of the catacombs.'? Paraphrase the final paragraph of the story. Also, a court fool is something generally associated with a cheery, playful air, which is ironic because Fortunato dies in a cruel, merciless way.ģ. He is easily tricked and killed by Montrésor. First, it is the costume of a court fool- which is (arguably) symbolic of what he is a fool. This could lead someone to question whether or not Montrésor was being truthful about the reason for the murder or if there had been a reason at all.Ģ.What is ironic about the manner in which Fortunato is dressed? Be as specific as you can.įorunato’s outfit is ironic in a few ways. The key detail that is missing from Montrésor’s account of the killing is any proof or specificity as to the insult(s) that he claimed Fortunato had made. But still, Fortunato should know better than to follow a masked man into a catacomb.1.What key detail is missing from Montrésor’s account of his plot against Fortunato? How does this omission raise certain questions about Montrésor himself? Montresor says he made sure Fortunato had no reason to doubt him. Trustīeing too trusting can be a weakness – if you hang out with guys like Montresor. Fortunato either wants to prove that he’s a better wine taster than Luchesi, or he wants to make sure Luchesi doesn’t get his hands on the Amontillado. Maybe Montresor doesn’t need to bring up Luchesi to get Fortunato down in the hole, but it doesn’t hurt. And he just guzzles Montresor’s wine without even saying “thank you.” Because he’s so insensitive, he’s a poor judge of character. Whether he really hurt and insulted Montresor or not, he’s so insensitive, he doesn’t notice that Montresor is mad at him, something any fool can see. His addiction leaves him vulnerable to Montresor’s attack. Plus, he lets Montresor get him get even more drunk down in the catacomb. Right up until the end, he thinks of Amontillado, and only Amontillado. He’s already really drunk when he meets Montresor, and he thinks the Amontillado can help him take it to the next level. Here are a few of them, but we bet you can add to the list. Luckily for us, Fortunato seems to be weak points personified, so his weaknesses are easy to spot. If we can see ourselves in Fortunato, maybe we can learn something from the story. Why would we want to identify Fortunato’s weaknesses? Because, on some level, they probably mirror our own.

If we get hung up on trying to figure out if Fortunato deserved to die that way, we might miss out on one of the story’s biggest riddles: just what are Fortunato’s weak points? Montresor gives us his opinion − Fortunato’s a little too conceited about his knowledge of wine − but that’s not his only fatal flaw. So we can’t really say whether Fortunato’s punishment fits his crime. Part of this is because Montresor is telling us the story, and he doesn’t give us much information on his prey.Īs you surely noticed, Montresor doesn’t tell us how Fortunato hurt him, nor how he insulted him. But, in some ways, he seems even more foreign to the reader than Montresor.

It’s much simpler to relate to the victim than to the victimizer. At first glance, Fortunato seems easier to identify with than Montresor.

Did fortunato deserve to die