illustration of Fortunato standing in motley behind a mostly completed brick wall with a skull superimposed on the wall where his face should be

The Cask of Amontillado

by Edgar Allan Poe

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Conflict and Freytag's Pyramid in "The Cask of Amontillado"

Summary:

"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe centers on the conflict between Montresor and Fortunato, driven by Montresor's desire for revenge over unspecified insults. The main external conflict is Montresor versus Fortunato, culminating in the latter's demise in the catacombs. Internally, Montresor struggles with guilt and the need for a perfect crime. The story explores themes of revenge and deception, with Montresor manipulating Fortunato's pride to achieve his sinister goal.

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What are the conflicts in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

The major conflicts are revenge and forgiveness. Montresor feels he must kill Fortunato in his lust for revenge. He dreams of the many ways that he can accomplish this, and relishes the idea of Fortunato realizing his death is at the hands of Montresor.

Yet, fifty years later, Montresor is still struggling with his success in killing him. It seems he is showing contrition for his crime, and since Fortunato is dead, it must be that he is pleading to God for forgiveness.

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The internal conflict in "The Cask of Amontillado" besets Montresor and may be described as the conflict of character against self, while the external conflict is a subtle one between Montresor and Fortunato and may be described as character against character.

Montresor's internal conflict has two aspects and has developed because he has received an unspecified "thousand injuries" and an insufferable "insult" from Fortunato, who...

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seems completely unaware of (or blindly calloused to) all this injury and insult. One aspect of Montresor's internal conflict concerns bearing with the affront and insult until his "vowed revenge" might be enacted: "I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge." The conflict here stems from feigning "good will" and deferring punishment. 

The other aspect of his internal conflict concerns devising the perfect plan of revenge that might deflect any "idea of risk" away from himself: Montresor wanted a plan of such a nature that would ensure he wouldn't get caught: "I must not only punish but punish with impunity." The conflict here comprises thinking, thinking, thinking of the perfect way to punish him and protect himself. Both aspects of Montresor's internal conflict are nicely illustrated by this line:

I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.

In this conflict, Montresor's internal focus was on bearing up and finding just the right plan to deliver at just the right time in just the right way so as to punish, to be the acknowledged avenger and to escape "retribution" for his deed.

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's external conflict, the subtle conflict between Montresor and Fortunato, was subtle because Montresor must keep up the subterfuge of "good will" so that he might win Fortunato's cooperation in his plan of vengeance. The plan necessitated luring Fortunato, under the guise of friendship, to a deep, dark place of entombment where Montresor could ridicule Fortunato (with the proffered Amontillado) and be rid of him in a manner that would properly assuage his desire for vengeance after having been wronged. That plan, the story tells us, was to wall Fortunato up alive, then walk away as his own "heart grew sick on account of the dampness of the catacombs." In one stroke, Montresor has thus conquered his foe and his external conflict.

I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones.

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It's Montressor (the narrator and protagonist) vs. Fortunato (the victim and antagonist).

The problem is...we don't know what Fortunato has done, if anything, to initiate the conflict.  Montressor says that he has born a "thousand injuries."  The reader, therefore, must deduce that, since Fortunato so willingly goes into the catacombs with Montressor and does not pick up on all the signs of his impending doom, that the "thousand injuries" must have been either invented or so trivial that an otherwise sane person would have not taken offense to them.

This is a revenge story, similar to the one in Othello between Iago and Othello.  There too we do not know the reason Iago seeks revenge on his lord.  So, in each story, the motive is questionable.  It may be that Iago and Montressor are simply vice characters: they represent what Coleridge called a "motiveless malignancy."  These narrators are pure evil to the core, but they are so charming about it so as not to breed suspicion.

It is also evident that Montressor comes from an honor culture, one that prides itself on family and personal repuation.  Fortunato might have been from a family that had done the Montressors wrong in the past, and only now is the narrator seeking revenge.

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In the first paragraph of the story Montresor states:

At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled—but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk.

This defines the problem or conflict. It is solely a question of executing his planned revenge. The whole story is about how Montresor lures Fortunato underground, walls him up, and leaves him to die. Montresor's conflict, or problem, is with his intended victim. He has to plan his revenge carefully and then execute it perfectly. His conflict is with a boisterous drunkard who has to be kept intoxicated and cunningly manipulated every step of the way to his place of execution. The conflict is resolved when Montresor finally guides Fortunato into the narrow recess, wraps the chains around his waist, and fastens the padlock.

Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess.

This is the climax. Fortunato is as good as dead. The conflict which began when Montresor encountered Fortunato up on the street is now resolved.

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One definition of the term "complication" is that it is "A series of difficulties forming the central action in a narrative."  If we use this definition, I would say that the main complication is how Montresor gets Fortunato to follow him down into the cellar where Montresor will wall him up and kill him.

Montresor has his plan for how to kill Fortunato slowly.  But first he has to get him down into the cellar.  How he gets Fortunato there makes up most of the story.  So I would say that that is the complication.

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The only problem in “The Cask of Amontillado” is to lure Fortunato down into the catacombs where Montresor can leave him entombed. That is what the story is about. Being the last person seen with Fortunato would be Montresor’s biggest concern. Poe deliberately made this problem more complicated by deciding to dress the intended victim in such a way as to attract maximum notice.

He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.

Everybody would remember seeing Fortunato. He even has bells on his cap which jingle with every step. But by making this boisterous exhibitionist so conspicuous, Poe distracts all attention from his companion. Some revelers will remember that Fortunato had a companion, but no one will be able to identify him. Montresor is wearing a black cloak and a black mask. He is like a shadow of the other man.

This harlequin costume with the bells is a stroke of genius. Poe solves Montresor’s problem by magnifying it. Imagine trying to steer a drunken man through the crowded streets during the big carnival without being recognized by anyone! Montresor is virtually invisible just because Fortunato is so extremely visible.

After all, he is an important, well-known man. How could he be concealed? Even if he were wearing a different costume, one that concealed his body and face completely, some people would still recognize him as Fortunato. The important point is for Montresor not to be recognized as Montresor. He wants to commit his crime with “impunity.”

Fortunato chose the  costume himself. He does not think of himself as a fool but as a jester. These court buffoons were noted for playing cruel jokes under the protection of noble patrons. No doubt many of the “thousand injuries” Montresor had suffered were in the form of sadistic jibes. It will give him added satisfaction to chain the jester to the wall in his appropriate costume.

Poe specifies that the motley is “tight-fitting.” This is to show that Fortunato is unarmed. Court jesters did not carry weapons. Montresor, on the other hand, has a rapier concealed under his roquelaire. If he can only get Fortunato down the stairs, then his victim’s fate is sealed. If he can’t entice him all the way to the narrow niche where two short chains are fastened to the rock wall, he might be forced to kill him with his rapier and drag him there.

Montresor’s bizarre antics when they are underground, including claiming to be a Mason and showing Fortunato his trowel, are meant to demonstrate Montresor’s vast relief. The hardest part of his problem is solved. Now there are just the two of them alone underground, and Fortunato will never be seen again.

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A man wants to commit a murder but he doesn't want to get caught and punished. That is the main conflict. In any story of this type the conflict would be man against man. Montresor has to commit the murder in such a way that no one will suspect him, including the police and the victim's relatives. The conflict is not resolved until Montresor has succeeded in chaining Fortunato to the granite wall and sealing the entrance to the niche. Thus there is a conflict from beginning to end, as there should be in a short story. Certain problems add to the conflict as the story progresses. Montresor discovers that Fortunato is wearing the most conspicuous sort of a costume on the public streets crowded with people. Fortunato is even wearing a cap with bells that ring with every step he takes. Yet Montresor must not be recognized as the man with him on the last night Fortunato was ever seen alive. Montresor has to plan for the future as well as the present. He  has to steer a boisterous, drunken man to his underground vaults an keep him manageable and unsuspecting up to the very moment he locks the padlock. (This is undoubtedly an old-fashioned padlock that locks with a key and not the kind that snaps shut automatically. A more modern padlock, such as we are familiar with today,would be easier to pry open.) What Montresor is accomplishing is extremely difficult, and it is sufficient for one short story without any additional kinds of conflicts. He not only commits his crime but avoids suspicion. He has committed the perfect crime. One of the biggest problems (conflicts) in committing a murder is disposing of the body. Poe has solved that problem by having Montresor commit the murder in such a way that the body is disposed of at the same time. In fact, Montresor disposes of the body before the victim is even dead.

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Relate each element of Freytag's pyramid to the main conflict in "The Cask of Amontillado."

The conflict in "The Cask of Amontillado" is between Montresor, the protagonist, and Fortunato, the man who he seeks vengeance on. Montresor will not allow Fortunato to continue living "with impunity" after the "insult" he dished out against the protagonist. This battle is man versus man, and that is the sole conflict in the story.

In the exposition, the conflict is set up at a carnival, representing chaos and illusion. It is not even clear if Montresor has found the right victim since he is costumed and drunk, but he lures Fortunato with compliments the reader knows are insincere.

In the rising action, Montresor leads Fortunato to his home and to the underground vaults. The conflict here is whether Fortunato will follow, and whether Montresor will continue with his evil plan.

The climax of the story is when Montressor finally admits to Fortunato, as he shackles him in the dark tomb of his catacombs, that he hates him and seeks harm against him. As Montresor slowly bricks up the chamber, Fortunato pleads for his life and the conflict between the two men has not been resolved. Will Montresor have a change of heart and realize his ghastly plan has already wrought revenge?

The falling action of the story occurs when Fortunato's screaming finally abates. As Montresor walks off, throwing his torch into the catacombs, he hears the last scream.

The story is resolved when Montresor confesses his crime to someone, although it is not clear who, years later. The conflict in this story can also be viewed as internal, as Montresor describes each of his decisions, but through his actions he shows his internal conflict to be inconsequential. It is arguable that he has no internal conflict nor any regrets. This lack of feeling is part of what makes the story so creepy.

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What are some internal and external conflicts in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," the narrator Montresor experiences both external and internal conflicts.  For example, Montrestor opens the story by saying that he has had to bear "a thousand injuries" from his friend Fortunato.  The reader does not learn explicitly what those injuries have been; however, they have been enough to cause a rift (at least from Montresor's perspective) between the two men.  Montrestor has gotten fed up with Fortunato's insults, so he resolves to get revenge.  Based on this external conflict, Montresor also reveals the more important internal conflict with which he struggles.  Later in the story, Montresor discusses his family's coat of arms, and the story implies that Montresor's family is not as wealthy as Fortunato's family.  This detail leads the reader to believe that possibly, Fortunato has insulted Montresor's social standing.  Montresor seems slighted by this comparison of wealth, revealing his inner struggle with feeling ashamed of his family's socioeconomic position.  Montresor cannot come to terms with having his character slighted, and the internal conflict is what really motivates him to carry out revenge.

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