What motivates Montresor to kill Fortunato in The Cask of Amontillado?

While the story contains no explicit mention of a motive, it may be gleaned somewhat from the narrator's choice of words and the dialogue. Montresor's motivation is complicated. It has to do not so much with murdering Fortunato specifically as somehow avenging the decline of his family name and prestige. Our narrator is a deeply insecure man. These insecurities manifest themselves as a desperate need for decisive, bold action, namely murdering Fortunato.

As to the catalytic insult which triggered this whole thing? It most likely was something similar to the conversation the two characters had on their way through the wine vaults:

"The Montresors," I replied, "were a great and numerous family."

"I forget your arms."

Note that Montresor says they were "a great and numerous family." This implies the family has since dwindled and become less important. Montresor may logically feel ashamed or insecure about this, and thus he feels stung by Fortunato's lack of knowledge (or respect for) his family's importance. Fortunato does not know the family's arms or motto and does not seem to revere the Montresor name as Montresor thinks he should. Montresor resents Fortunato's arrogance and reads it as an insult to his entire existence—his name and family history. 

In "The Cask of Amontillado," why does Montresor seek revenge on Fortunato?

The answer to this question can be found in the first few lines of the story itself, and more fully fleshed out with a little bit of inference, or guessing.  Montresor opens the story by stating that he had planned revenge, and he stated that he was upset at Fortunado for two main reasons.  He states:

"THE THOUSAND INJURIES of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge."

So, here he states two reasons:  1.  "Thousand injuries," and 2.  "insult".  So, apparently, Fortunado had inflicted thousands of injuries upon Montresor.  He probably doesn't mean literal physical injuries, probably more injuries to his pride, teasing, taunting, mocking, things of that sort.  So, for some reason that is not clear nor stated in the text, Montresor felt that Fortunado had slighted and injured him over and over again.  We don't know exactly what he did, but can guess that Fortunado probably just made Montresor feel offended or slighted--whether intentionally or simply from being clueless.  The second reason, insult, was probably a more direct insult directed at Montresor, but, they two seem like pretty good pals when the meet to discuss the wine, so Fortunado can't hold too much of a grudge against him.  But, Montresor feels insulted nevertheless, and vows revenge.

The revenge he enacts is cruel and vicious indeed, and one has to wonder whether or not the bumbling Fortunado actually deserved it.  I hope that those thoughts help a bit; good luck!

In "The Cask of Amontillado," why does Montresor seek revenge on Fortunato?

Montresor makes sure that Fortunato is drunk so that there is no chance that Fortunato will be able to foresee or prevent Montresor from carrying out his vicious plan for revenge.

As the pair travel farther and farther underground into the Montresor family catacombs, there are many opportunities for Fortunato to begin to suspect that all is not as it seems. For example, why on earth would Montresor store the amontillado he claims to have purchased so deeply into the vault? This would make it incredibly difficult to access. Or, again, why would Montresor be concealing a trowel—a brick-layer's tool—beneath the folds of his carnival costume? However, Fortunato doesn't realize the strangeness of either circumstance, because is drunk even before they descend into the vaults and grows even drunker as Montresor plies him with wine as they travel. This likely prevents him from realizing that he is putting himself into a strange situation with a man he has insulted, apparently a great many times.

Montresor, in the end, is able to chain Fortunato to the wall before Fortunato realizes what is going on, as all of the wine he has consumed has left his body and his brain sluggish. We can assume that this was likely Montresor's intention.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," why does Montresor seek revenge on Fortunato?

Montresor is the narrator and primary character in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." Montresor feels as if he has been insulted beyond endurance by Fortunato, and he is going to take advantage of the Carnival season to pursue his revenge.

Montresor manages to lure Fortunato to his home, but the burial vault (what Fortunato thinks will be the wine cellar) is damp and Fortunato has a cough. Before they descend the stairs, Montresor offers his guest/victim a glass of Medoc (wine). 

"A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps."

Here I [Montresor] knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row of its fellows that lay upon the mould.

"Drink," I said, presenting him the wine.

He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to me familiarly, while his bells jingled.

"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us."

"And I to your long life."

I can see three reasons for Montresor's offering a drink to Fortunato. The first is the one Montresor suggests, that he does not want Fortunato to succumb to the dampness. This is not a kind gesture, as it seems to Fortunato, but insurance that his victim will not die before Montresor has a chance to kill him. 

The second is the opportunity for Montresor to enjoy a satisfying moment of irony. He gleefully makes a toast to Fortunato's long life, knowing full well that Fortunato has only a short time to live. 

Finally, it serves as an enticement for Fortunato to continue following Montresor. It is a long way to their destination, and Montresor uses the wine as an incentive for the doomed man to keep walking, despite his cough and the dampness of the vaults. 

Why does Montresor hate Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

At the beginning of the short story, Montresor mentions that Fortunato has caused him a "thousand injuries" and insulted his family's prestigious name. Interestingly, Montresor does not elaborate on how Fortunato harmed him a thousand times, but the reader can surmise that Fortunato verbally insulted Montresor publicly or offended his family's name after analyzing Fortunato's character. Montresor describes Fortunato as being respected and feared by his neighbors, friends, and associates. Montresor also characterizes Fortunato as a confident, arrogant man. Once Montresor persuades Fortunato to follow him into his catacombs, Fortunato mentions that the vaults are extensive. Montresor quickly reminds him that his family is "great" and "numerous" before elaborating on his family's coat of arms. Montresor's response reveals his pride in his family's name, which is further evidence that he seeks revenge because Fortunato has offended his family. Overall, Montresor does not directly address why he hates Fortunato, but one can surmise that his hate stems from Fortunato publicly insulting his family's name or verbally abusing him.

Why does Montresor hate Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

The short answer is, we don't really know.

The somewhat longer answer is, we only get sweeping generalities at the start of the story, and then a few times later. We know he says Fortunato had done him a "thousand injuries," but we don't learn what they are. We know he sees Fortunato as having insulted him--but we don't know what the insult is, and Fortunato seems to think they are on good terms. Therefore, we'll have to say that Montressor's insane pride was hurt, and that's all we know.

Why does Montresor hate Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Fortunato may not really believe that Montresor is playing a joke on him when he chains him to the rock wall and begins to wall him in. Montresor says that Fortunato is a man to be respected and even feared. In desperation, Fortunato may be trying to implant some doubt in Montresor's mind and at the same time may be giving him an excuse to relent and release him. Fortunato says that this entrapment is an excellent jest but asks if they shouldn't be going because Lady Fortunato and his guests are expecting them. If Montresor thought that Fortunato would be missed that very night, he might be afraid of a search party tracking Fortunato to his (Montresor's) palazzo or at least establishing that Fortunato was with Montresor when last seen. Fortunato wants Montresor to believe that people in the crowded streets have recognized them both and assumed they were both headed for Fortunato's palazzo, where a big party was in progress. But Montresor had taken the precaution of establishing that Fortunato had no "engagement," was not expected anywhere, when he first encountered him.So Fortunato's ploy does not succeed. However, Fortunato shows that he is sober, that he is clever, and that he is a man to be respected and even feared. If he ever got out of those chains he would show Montresor that he knew it was no jest but attempted murder. He might report Montresor to the authorities, but more likely he would have taken his private vengeance by having Montresor killed.

Why does Montresor hate Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Quite simply--no, Fortunato does not understand why Montresor hates him. In fact, he does not even realize that Montresor dislikes him or intends to harm him. If he had known Montresor's true feelings, he would most likely have never accompanied Montresor into a secluded area. Similarly, when the effects of Fortunato's intoxication have worn off, he still believes that Montresor's encasing him in the wall is a joke. Even when Fortunato is able to utter his last words,

“For the love of God, Montresor!”

Poe implies that Fortunato is begging Montresor to end the prank. His words do not indicate that he has realized Montresor's true feelings for him or understands the motivation behind the narrator's actions.

Why does Montresor hate Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montresor wants revenge against Fortunato for some imaginary insult.

It is important to remember that Montresor does not have a real reason for killing Fortunato.  Montresor is a madman, and the reasons he wants to kill Fortunato are all imaginary.  Poe makes sure that we realize this with his very first sentence.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged …

The hyperbole is our first clue.  A thousand injuries?  Really?  Isn’t that a little extreme?  You can’t really do a thousand terrible things to a person, especially without him noticing.  Montresor probably imagines these, or turns minor slights and insults into crimes worthy of prosecution.

Montresor wants to not get caught.  He explains that he has to get away with the murder, or he will not really be avenged.  Since the telling of the story is fifty years after the event, he must have succeeded.

Another reason that we know that Fortunato did not really do something terrible enough to Montresor to justify being killed is that he agrees to go with Montresor into the catacombs.  If you had wronged a person in some terrible way, you would not go underground with him at night without witnesses.

Montresor is able to easily convince Fortunato to go into the catacombs with him by telling him he has a cask of valuable Amontillado wine that he needs his opinion of.  When he offers to show it to Luchesi instead, Fortunato protests.

“Come, let us go."

"Whither?"

"To your vaults."

"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive you have an engagement. Luchresi--"

"I have no engagement; --come."

Montresor makes other arguments that he should not go, such as the fact that it will not be good for his cold, but Fortunato insists.  He willingly goes underground with Montresor because he does not know that the man is his enemy.

If Fortunato had really done something to Montresor, it would be a very different story.  This one is the tale of a crazy guy killing another guy for no reason.  He is a psychopath, because he believes that he is right.  Montresor really thinks that Fortunato deserves to die and has no problem with killing him as long as he gets away with it.

Why does Montresor hate Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

The text is being narrated by Montresor himself, but the reader does not realize that until toward the end of the story.  Sadly though, Montresor never gives the reader any specifics about why he does not like Fortunato.  The opening lines of the story indicate that the two men are more than mere acquaintances.

THE THOUSAND INJURIES of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, . . .

A "thousand injuries" is likely hyperbole, but only using 10% of that number is 100.  I have never been injured in any way 100 times by a mere acquaintance.  When the men meet during the festival, Montresor greets Fortunato in a very friendly manner, so it's clear that Fortunato doesn't consider Montresor an enemy.  

I said to him—“My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts.”

Going back to the opening line, Montresor admits his reason for wanting to kill Fortunato.  

THE THOUSAND INJURIES of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.

Montresor apparently doesn't have any problems with being hurt 1000 times, but he takes grave offense to being insulted a single time.  That's why Montresor doesn't like Fortunato.  The reader never finds out what the insult was though.   

Why does Montresor kill Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

At the beginning of the story, Montresor says that he has endured a "thousand injuries" because of Fortunato and that Fortunato had "ventured upon insult." The implication here is that Montresor has been many times annoyed by something that Fortunato has said or done, and the final straw seems to have been this latest insult. Perhaps Montresor feels that Fortunato has in some way dishonored him. Montresor also says, later in the story, that the motto on his family crest is "Nemo me impune lacessit," which is Latin for "no one harms me without punishment." A family crest is a symbol representing the honor of a family name. This then seems to support the idea that Fortunato has in some way dishonored Montresor or at least that Montresor thinks this to be the case.

Montresor doesn't explicitly offer any more reasons for killing Fortunato than those rather cryptic reasons given above. We have a vague sense that Montresor feels as if he has ben dishonored, but nothing more than that. However, at another point in the story, he says something which perhaps points to the real reason for the murder. He says to Fortunato:

your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter.

This quotation suggests that Montresor is jealous of Fortunato, as implied by the repetition of "You are" and by the comparisons he makes between the two of them. Fortunato is respected and admired, and, by implication, Montresor is not. Fortunato is happy, and Montresor "once [. . .] was" but is no longer. Fortunato is a man who would be missed, whereas for Montresor it would be "no matter."

This quotation then seems to point to the real reason behind the murder and explains why Montresor only otherwise alludes vaguely to "injuries" and "insults." It is easier for him to pretend that the murder is a deserved retaliation for such "injuries" and "insults," than it is for him to admit, even to himself, that it is merely an act of jealousy and bitterness.

Why did Montresor choose an elaborate revenge instead of simply killing Fortunato?

No doubt Montresor could have stabbed Fortunato with his rapier after he had lured him underground. In fact, Montresor may have been planning to do exactly that, if necessary. Once Fortunato was in the catacombs his doom was sealed. But Montresor would have still had to dispose of the body. And he knew where he wanted to conceal it. If he stabbed Fortunato to death he would have had to drag the body all the way to the place where he finally sealed him up. It was much easier to have his victim walk there himself, and the horrible death Montresor inflicts on Fortunato helps achieve the feeling of sweet revenge he is seeking.

He can leave his victim to suffer for a long time. There is plenty of water dripping down from the ceiling, so Fortunato would not die of thirst. Most likely he would die of hunger, which could take as long as a month. There were many feudal lords who disposed of enemies in similar ways. They would simply have a man thrown into what was called an "oubliette" and drop the heavy stone trapdoor back into place, leaving the wretch to starve to death in complete darkness and eventually turn into a skeleton. The chains that Montresor uses to pin Fortunato against the wall had probably been there for many years and had been used for the same purpose before. 

“Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi—”

Montresor is so confident that he can kill Fortunato once they are down below the palazzo that several times he even suggests turning back. But he has his victim hooked. If Fortunato had shaken off his intoxication and actually followed Montresor's advice about turning back, that was when Montresor would have had to stab him to death with the rapier concealed under his cloak. It is significant that Montresor mentions the rapier a number of times but never uses it except at the end to feel around inside the niche. Montresor could not have been sure of getting Fortunato all the way to that niche. It was becoming more and more difficult to believe that anyone would have stored a huge cask of wine so far away from the bottom of the cellar stairs. If Fortunato had not been drunk when Montresor encountered him on the street, and if Montresor had not kept him drunk, the man surely would have balked. He would have become suspicious and even alarmed. He would have wanted to get out of that stygian tunnel and breathe some fresh air. That was why Montresor equipped himself with a concealed rapier. A rapier is a thin sword, easier to conceal than a sabre, for example. Poe specifies that Fortunato is dressed in a "tight-fitting" costume:

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

Poe probably had several reasons for giving this character such a costume. One of them was that it would show that Fortunato was unarmed. So he had no way of defending himself should Montresor attack him with his rapier. Montresor has apparently thought of everything.

Why did Montresor choose an elaborate revenge instead of simply killing Fortunato?

Montressor answers this question for us when he explains what revenge means to him:

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.

A stabbing or something else would have gotten the job done, but Montressor wants to play a cat and mouse game with Fortunato, toying with him before killing him.  He intends to "make himself felt" in a most delicious (to him) way before Fortunato dies. 

Why did Montresor choose an elaborate revenge instead of simply killing Fortunato?

Well first of all, it wouldn't have made a good story.  If Poe would have just said, "I hated Fortunado; I swore revenge, so I stabbed him!!!  Ha ha ha!",  it doesn't make for a very good story.  Then, we need to consider the author himself, and some commonalities in his stories.  First of all, he likes to have a rather baffling and potentially crazy or insane narrator (consider "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat") that goes to great lengths to cover up their crime and not be discovered; all three of these stories have the narrator entombing the deceased (either in walls or floors) and then trying to cover it up and get away with it.

Along the lines of getting away with it, if he had just stabbed him, there is the chance he could be caught.  Instead, why not encase him in the depths of the city, underground, where no one really goes, and where no one would find him?  This is much more safe and would allow Montresor to continue with the knowledge that he was the only one in the entire world that knew what had happened to Fortunado.  This type of control over his enemy had to appeal to him, considering "the thousand injuries" that he had suffered at the hands of Fortunado.

One last thing to consider is the narrator's state of mind.  He is certainly quite insidious and villianous.  He takes great satisfaction in the long journey into the depths of the catacombs; he thoroughly enjoys entombing his victim.  In fact, at one point when Fortunado was struggling to escape, "The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down."  Montresor sits down to listen to Fortunado's demise with sincere enjoyment and pleasure.  This is a man who probably liked to pull the legs off of bug victims one by one just for the enjoyment of seeing the bug struggle.  He is a bit sadist, and so the catcomb scenario worked much better for his enjoyment of suffering than a quick stab would have done.

Why did Montresor choose an elaborate revenge instead of simply killing Fortunato?

Perhaps the next-to-last sentence of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," answers this question best:

For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them (the body). 

Although running Fortunato through with a sword might have been a swifter solution, Montressor still had to get rid of the body. Rather than drag the bloody body into the catacombs, Montressor simply lured Fortunato to the exact spot that he wished him to finally rest. By chaining Fortunato to the wall, Montressor could work at his own pace without the worry of escape. It may have been a bit complicated, but it turned out to be a perfect crime.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," why does Montresor make sure Fortunato has drunk a lot of wine?

Montresor understands Fortunato's weakness, which is the connoisseurship of wine, and uses his weakness against him when he initially meets his enemy during the carnival. When Montresor befriends Fortunato, he has been drinking excessively throughout the day and is visibly intoxicated. After Montresor explains to Fortunato that he has purchased a pipe of Amontillado to lure him into his family's catacombs, the intoxicated Fortunato follows Montresor's lead.

When the two men enter the vaults of Montresor's palazzo, Montresor continually offers Fortunato Medoc and De Grave wine, which he proceeds to drink quickly as he travels towards the apparent pipe of Amontillado. Montresor offers Fortunato wine while they are inside the catacombs to make sure he remains intoxicated. Montresor is aware that alcohol severely impairs judgment and desires to catch Fortunato off guard once they reach the end of the vaults.

By making Fortunato drink wine, Montresor ensures that his enemy is intoxicated, which gives him the upper hand. When they reach the niche in the back wall with the shackles attached to it, the drunk Fortunato is defenseless and cannot prevent Montresor from restraining him.

Why does Montresor kill Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Edgar Allan Poe creates the portrait of a man obsessed. As a first-person narrator, Montresor aims to get the reader he directly addresses on his side by stating that this reader knows "the nature of my soul." This implies as well that he assumes the addressee will know at least some of what constitute the "thousand injuries" that Fortunato has inflicted on him. Montresor does not state, and perhaps believes that the reader already knows, what the territory of "insult" is into which Fortunato has crossed.

We never learn exactly what tipped Montresor over the edge from resentment to premeditated murder. While we do learn by the end that he achieved his goal of revenge, he phrases his intentions as reactions to the other man's offenses. The end result must be complete destruction: "immolation."

By leaving the exact "wrong" unstated, Poe encourages his reader to think of insults they have born and thus to empathize with the wronged man, rather than simply judge him as a cold-blooded killer.

Why does Montresor kill Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montressor claims that the "thousand injuries" he has sustained from Fortunato have created his animosity toward the other man, but that he has patiently endured these insults. When Fortunato ventures into insulting behavior, Montressor swears revenge.  The reader never finds out exactly what Fortunato has done, and it's possible, due to Poe's penchant for unreliable narrators, that Montressor is not being entirely honest in his confession, or that the slight is entirely in Montressor's imagination. Whatever Fortunato has done, Montressor's sense of family honor demands that he avenge himself. His family crest perfectly illustrates this, as it is a serpent with its fangs buried in the heel of the very foot which crushes it, with the Latin motto, "nemo me impune lacessit": no one may attack me with impunity. In other words, no one insults me and gets away with it!

Why does Montresor kill Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

You know, it never really says.  In "The Cask of Amontillado" all we know is that Montresor has some sort of gripe with Fortunato and wants to see the man dead.  Not only that, he wants to see him dead bad enough that he invents an elaborate scenario in which to entomb him behind a wall forever.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.

We don't know what the insult was that made Montresor so angry, but oddly enough, it doesn't really matter.  The heart of the story is that this nobleman was so insulted by it that he wants to kill someone he considers a friend. And to entomb him behind a wall, where he will slowly starve to death and degenerate into madness?  What could a friend (or an enemy, for that matter) do to you that would make you act in such a way?

Fortunato doesn't seem to suspect anything, either, willingly going into the catacombs with him.  So whatever Fortunato does, he must not realize he has done it, as he does not seem suspicious that foul play is afoot.

Poe seems to do this a lot...think of "Tell Tale Heart."  The only reason given for why the guy in that story wants to kill the old man is because he has a gross eye.  Otherwise, he likes the old man.  My point is that Poe seems less concerned with the specifics causing a lot of his stories and more concerned with a dramatic outcome.

Here's kind of a cool picture from the scene: HERE.

Why did Montresor choose to kill Fortunato in his basement?

The murder of Fortunato took place, not in Montressor's basement, but in the catacombs, family crypts, of Montressor's family.  This site was perfect for his crime for several reasons; the first of these is that it was his family crypt.  I don't know about you, but to be perfectly honest, I can't think of anyone who just decides to take a walk in their family crypt!  Therefore, it is not likely that anyone would stumble upon the murder scene; another benefit is that Montresor himself has access and can keep an eye on the scene whenever needed.  Finally, there is the point to be made that no one could hear Fortunato when he screams, which I suspect he did for as long as he had the strength.  These are the basic reasons that Montressor chose to kill his enemy in his family crypt.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," why does Montresor feel as though he has the right to take matters into his own hands and kill Fortunato?

Montresor is acting on an old Italian belief that revenge is an acceptable practice, even if the process of revenge includes the murder of the offending party.  So Montresor's actions against Fortunato are perfectly acceptable in Italian society in this period.  

Montresor is the offended party, Fortunato is the offender, the revenge is required and necessary so that Montresor's family name can be restored and his dead ancestors can once again rest in peace. 

At the end of the story, he utters "rest in peace,"  meaning that once Fortunato has been punished his task is done.  His relatives can return to their eternal slumber.  

In "The Cask of Amontillado," why does Montresor feel as though he has the right to take matters into his own hands and kill Fortunato?

The crimes of Fortunato are no against society but social crimes against Montresor himself. Therefore, there is no other remedy available to Montresor other than forgiveness. Given the motto of his family, "no one injures me without impunity", forgiveness is not an option Montresor considers. The clue to this is in the first line of the story, "A thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge." In those lines, Montresor reveals that Fortunato has "injured him", probably by unkind remarks about his family and its place in society, many times. Montresor says he has remained quiet but Fortunato eventually insulted him and/or his family. Since Montresor is not one who takes an insult lightly, as witnessed by his family's coat of arms, he decides to take revenge.

Does Montresor kill Fortunato for reasons other than revenge in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

It could be contended that Montresor has other motives for wanting to kill Fortunato besides revenge. The following is the third paragraph of Poe’s story quoted in full.

He had a weak point -- this Fortunato -- although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity to practise imposture upon the British and Austrian MILLIONAIRES. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially; I was skilful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.

This may suggest that both Montresor and Fortunato, though aristocrats, earn money in the ancient, decaying city of Venice by dealing in expensive items such as oil paintings, jewelry, antiques, and gourmet wines. They are competitors, and Fortunato’s much-discussed “thousand injuries” may have all been injuries in business dealings. For example, Fortunato may have outbid Montresor for an oil painting and then sold it to a British or Austrian millionaire at a handsome profit. Fortunato is well connected and far more likely than Montresor to know about impoverished upper-class Italians needing to sell off family treasures in order to survive, as well as being more likely to encounter wealthy foreigners able to pay cash for them. So Montresor may be hiding from himself the knowledge that in disposing of Fortunato he would be eliminating his chief competitor.

Montresor is telling his story fifty years after the fact. During that half-century he may have enjoyed a prosperity that was denied him while his friendly enemy Fortunato was alive. We might detect a certain smug complacency in Montresor’s narrative. We might even imagine him enjoying a glass of genuine Amontillado while remembering his successful crime. Fortunato had outsmarted him many times while he was alive, but Montresor outsmarted him on that one memorable evening at the height of the carnival.

Does Montresor kill Fortunato for reasons other than revenge in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montresor is clearly acting with malice aforethought; he has taken steps in advance to set up an elaborate plan for Fortunato's death. However, since he is telling the story, and since he is an unreliable narrator, the reader has only his word that he is committing a justifiable act.

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.
(Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado," eNotes eText)

In other words, he plans for Fortunato's death in a way that cannot come back to harm him. This shows a very logical and detail-oriented mind, not one to commit murder for passion or on impulse. While it is certainly possible that there was no reason for the murder aside from revenge, there is also no evidence that Montresor is lying; the murder has been undiscovered for fifty years, and in retelling the events he has no reason to make up a story. He cannot be punished now, and so he has little reason to be anything but truthful; the story is, in essence, a boast, and so Montresor would take greater pride in telling the truth.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," why did he want to kill Fortunato?

You might be getting the names mixed up; "Amontillado" is the name of the fine wine that the two main characters are going down under the city to fetch.  The two main characters are Fortunado (the unfortunate victim), and Montresor (the narrator who does the killing).  Right in the very beginning of the story, Montresor states his reasons for wanting to kill Fortunado:  "THE THOUSAND INJURIES of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge."

We don't know many of the details, but apparently Fortunado had heaped "thousands" of injuries upon the narrator, and horror of horrors, had actually had the audacity to "insult" him.  This prompts Montresor to seek his revenge.  Because we don't know the details, we are left to wonder what in the world could have been so bad to prompt Montresor to the twisted kind of revenge that he finally succeeds with.  So, repeated injury and insult were the reasons he wanted to harm Fortunado.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," what are some obvious reasons that Montresor would kill Fortunato?

There is no way to know the insult because Montresor never says what it is. Personally, I think that Poe left it up in the air because he wanted us to use our imaginations in the matter.  I don’t think it was an important thing, because Fortunado does not remember.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," what are some obvious reasons that Montresor would kill Fortunato?

Be less focused on the "answer" and more focused on justifying the rationale leading to an answer. A number of answers can work if the omnipresent symbolism is heeded and its parts aggregated. Specifically, when analyzing the significance of a symbol, be sure to exhaust everything about it. For example, Montressor put on a "black silk" mask as he was leading Fortunado into the catacombs. At one point in time, executioners would wear these masks before beheading a criminal. Discover what time frame this type of execution was done in and what types of crimes permitted beheading by a masked executioner, thus significantly narrowing the possible "crimes" Fortunado committed against Montressor. Next, examine Christ's "crimes" that ultimately led to his death and move on to exploring other possible symbols. The reader can repeat this process indefinetly (or at least until all symbols are exhausted), closely analyzing and fitting evidence together much like a police detective would do to a crime scene.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," what are some obvious reasons that Montresor would kill Fortunato?

This is a good question for the discussion board since it is a subjective one.

I think this question is subjective and depending on who you ask, you will get all sorts of answers.  I do not believe there are any justifiable reasons for Montresor's murder of Fortunato; however, in Montresor's mind, reasons for murdering Fortunato might include insulting Montresor's family or upbringing, mocking him for some reason, or questioning his knowledge or education.  We do not know what Fortunato supposedly did to Montesor to prompt him to want to murder him; in my opinion, nothing he could have done justified his murder.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," what are some obvious reasons that Montresor would kill Fortunato?

The reason for his actions that Montressor offers the reader is that Fortunato insulted him in some way.  Although the nature of the offense is never disclosed, apparently Montressor believes that it is reason enough to kill him.  Hints about what is to happen are when Montressor talks about his family crest, the foot stepping on a serpent which is in turn biting the foot, and when he mentions that his family motto is "No one insults me with impunity (freedom from punishment)".  Both foreshadow that Montressor intends to take vengeance for the insult.

Does Montresor have a just cause to hate Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

We have no evidence that Montresor has sufficient justification for the level of his intense hatred of Fortunato. First, Montresor is not specific about what Fortunato has done to earn his loathing. All he states, in the first sentence of the story, is:

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.

We get a clue in the story that Fortunato thinks himself superior to Montresor. Fortunato is a mason—he belongs to the Society of Freemasons—and is very surprised when Montresor says he is a mason too. Fortunato responds:

You? Impossible! A mason?

This could be interpreted as a snobbish response, showing that Fortunato doesn't believe Montresor is worthy of being part of the same organization he belongs to. (Montresor, in fact, is not a Freemason. He is making a pun on the word mason: he means he will soon be a wallbuilder, walling in Fortunato.)

We can see why Montresor might be irritated at a person who takes such a superior attitude to him and acts as if he is the better person. However, nothing Montresor tells us or that Fortunato does can lead us to conclude Montresor is justified in cruelly walling him into a cold, damp catacomb to slowly starve to death. It is hard to imagine what Fortunato could possibly have done to warrant such a response. This leads us to conclude that Montresor is mentally unbalanced rather than that Fortunato is deserving of his fate.

What does Montresor think has been done to him that leads him to exact revenge upon Fortunato?

The motive for revenge in the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” is simple insanity. The reader who is looking for a specific cause will find there is really nothing specific indicated beyond Montresor’s madness. He says in the beginning, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had born as best I could.” This is the only reference. However, there are plenty of relevant clues to his madness: “It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season;” the unmerciful way in which he torments Fortunato; pure evil of his plan; the way he mocks Fortunato’s last moments; and the relish with which he tells the tale after 50 years.

Enotes has some great resource material.

http://www.enotes.com/cask-amontillado