Thursday, May 8, 2014

Are Montresor's two conditions for successful revenge mentioned at the end of the first paragraph fulfilled in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

I believe Montresor fulfills all of his conditions for a
successful revenge upon Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado." The two primary ones
mentioned in the first paragraph are most important to
Montresor.



I
must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution
overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make
himself felt as such to him who has done the
wrong.



Montresor succeeds in
punishing Fortunato with impunity--without being punished himself--and he does not allow
his retribution to expose him. Very importantly, Montresor believes that Fortunato must
be aware that he is being punished for his "thousand injuries." Therefore, death cannot
come suddenly and without notice. Montresor's method is perfect: Fortunato will slowly
die within the walled recess that Montresor has constructed, with the full knowledge
that Montresor is his killer.

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