right." Therefore, the redresser is the one who goes about righting the wrong. As such, the first sentence in straightforward language sounds something like this: "A wrong is not set right when the person meant to set it right is overtaken by feelings of retribution." In other words, Montresor is saying that he does not want vengeance to get in the way of justice.

The second sentence means something like "A wrong is not set right if the avenger does not impress upon the transgressor a sense of retribution." Basically, Montresor is contradicting himself but does not want the reader to notice; he wants to portray himself as a just man even though he acts purely out of spite. By the end of the story, it should be quite clear that Montresor acts for himself and himself only.

Montresor states:

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.

What Montresor's words mean, translated into modern language, are as follows. First, if you commit revenge and are caught, it's not really revenge: you haven't truly avenged yourself if you have to pay a price for your revenge. Second, it's not really revenge if the person who has wronged you doesn't know the revenge comes from you. In other words, your victim can't think he accidentally slipped into the lake; he has to know you pushed him.

These two revenge goals explain why Montresor go to such lengths to kill Fortunato secretly, in a place where his body is unlikely ever to be discovered. It also explains why he chains Fortunato to the wall and slowly bricks him in to die. Fortunato cannot possibly make the mistake of thinking what has happened to him is not due to Montresor.

The narrator of "The Cask of Amontillado" wants revenge against his friend and fellow nobleman, Fortunato, because Fortunato has insulted him in some fashion. The exact details of this transgression are never named within the text; rather, the narrator only asserts, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge." With a soon-to-be murderer acting as our sole perspective in this story, it is hard to discern whether or not this insult was as grave as is implied. Is this a matter of actual slander? Or is the narrator simply paranoid, bloodthirsty, or mad? We are never given any definitive answer... That being said, Fortunato certainly does not seem to think he has committed any wrongdoings, as he greets the narrator "with excessive warmth." 

Nonetheless, the narrator assures us that "[a]t length [he] would be avenged," and proclaims proudly, "I must not only punish but punish with impunity" for "[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." 

Why, the ultimate revenge, of course. At least that is Montressor's intention. He lures Fortunato into the catacombs and walls him up there. Motressor thinks that murder is the revenge he seeks; however, this act alone doesn't fully satisfy Montressor's need for vengeance. When Fortunato stops crying out or begging for mercy, Montressor taunts his foe, trying to get him to scream or beg, but instead he is answered with silence except for the jingling of bells on Fortunato's hat. See the excerpt below:

"No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells. My heart grew sick - on account of the dampness of the catacombs."

Notice how Montressor excuses his rushing in the end by saying the dampness of the catacombs made his heart grow sick. But an astute reader will notice the dash-which makes the excuse of the dampness seem almost an afterthought-as if he is trying to convince himself that it was the dampness, and not his own disappointment in Fortunato's reaction, or lack thereof, that made his heart sick. So, even though Montressor's plan is a success, it fails to completely satisfy him. He does not get the ultimate thrill of hearing his enemy shriek in horror or beg for mercy. That is what Montressor was hoping for. So his victory over Fortunato is less fulfilling than he had hoped. Fortunato steals his glory by not reacting to Montressor's cruelty.

He walls him up in the catacombs of Amontillado and leaves him there to die. He has lured his victim deep within the underground wine storage area and tricks him into exploring it further. Here is the conclusion of Poe's horrifying tale:

No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells. My heart grew sick - on account of the dampness of the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my labor. I forced the last stone into its position ; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat !

It is never disclosed, however, why Montressor is so upset with Fortunado. He refers vaguely to a history of insults, and knows the man is a wine snob and a bore, but other than that, the charges are not clear.