In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado," Montresor plays with his prey like a cat does before the kill. One of the ways he plays with Fortunato is to make comments that foreshadow his death, which Montresor has premeditated. He does this when Fortunato scoffs that he will not die of a cough—a comment which Montresor grimly agrees with. He also does this when Fortunato tries to assert his superiority by pointing out that Montresor is not a Freemason. Here is the quote:
"I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand. I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement—a grotesque one.
'You do not comprehend?' he said.
'Not I,' I replied.
'Then you...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
are not of the brotherhood.'
'How?'
'You are not of the masons.'
'Yes, yes,' I said; 'yes, yes.'
'You? Impossible! A mason?'
'A mason,' I replied.
'A sign,' he said, 'a sign.'
'It is this, I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the folds of my roquelaire.
'You jest,' he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces."
Poe uses an antanaclasis here—which is a rhetorical device that means to repeat a word or phrase but with a different meaning each time. When Fortunato uses the word mason, he is referring to the fraternal society known as Freemasons. This group originally regulated the qualifications of stonemasons, classifying them as apprentices, journeymen, fellows, and master masons. It evolved from its inception in the 14th century into a secret society similar to the Knights Templar or the Illuminati. They have initiation rites and secret handshakes. There is a lot of mystery surrounding what they actually do, and there are many conspiracy theories.
In Poe's story, Fortunato displays the secret symbol (in this case, a gesticulation, or hand gesture) to point out that he is part of something prestigious, and Montresor is not. It is clear from his initial confusion that Montresor is not part of the group. When Fortunato calls him out on his ignorance of the sign, Montresor claims he is a mason. He has an entirely different definition of the word. Rather than the secret society, Montresor is referring to the work he will soon do, acting as a stonemason to bury his adversary alive.
Remember that Montresor's family motto is 'Neme me impune lacissit,' which is Latin for no one provokes me with impunity. In this exchange, Fortunato is deliberately provoking Montresor, but Montresor refuses to let him gain superiority over him, so he claims to know exactly what Fortunato is talking about and produces the trowel he will use to kill him as evidence. In Fortunato's drunken state, he assumes Montresor is joking. Readers soon find out that he is not.
The use of the word "mason" in this short story is a pun, a play on words. Most of our English words have more than one meaning, allowing a writer to tell us something more about a story and its characters through the use of a pun. In this case, Fortunato is referring to the "Masons", a brotherhood of men to which Fortunato belongs. Montresor's reference to the word "mason" indicates a person who builds using brick and mortar. This foreshadows Montresor's act of entrapping Fortunato within a wall made of brick and mortar. Montresor looks at the trowel within his coat, a tool used to smooth the mortar between the bricks.