Though Fortunato finally pleads, "For the love of God, Montresor!" until this point his reaction to being walled up alive has been muted, to say the least. He does not seem aware of what's happening, or to care. It defies human reason for even a drunken man to act this way. He may believe at first that the whole thing is a joke, as he says, "An excellent jest! We shall have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo." But when he finally realizes he's being entombed, instead of asking Montresor, "Why are you doing this?" he makes an irrational plea to Fortunato's religious conscience.

The bizarre reactions of Fortunato are a mirror of Montresor's own irrationality. Regardless of whatever "injuries" may have been inflicted upon him, it's an understatement to observe that burying a man alive is an exaggerated and sadistic form of retribution.