In The Cask of Amontillado, how can I make Montressor the good guy, not the insane lunatic? My paper is supposed to be on irony and it would be ironic if he was the good guy all along and only carrying out his family motto. Thanks

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2000

Answers

Kiersten,

Honestly Kiersten, its interesting to me that your paper is intended to portray Montresor in a positive light for that is precisely my interpretation from as early as age 15 when I read this tale for the first time. I am now 53 and, frankly, I have yet to appreciate this tale from any other perspective.

I do not mean to say that I would view Montresors deliberate and preconceived actions as anything other than murder in the first degree. Were this offense to have taken place today, here, I would most likely vote for conviction myself if I served on a jury. But! then it did not. The setting appears to be in the late 18th century to early 19th century, most likely somewhere in the forested mountains and valleys of Southern Austria or Northern Italy. At least, I like to think it did.

However, neither do I attempt to moralize the justice or injustice of Montresors actions. It is merely a tale after all, a wonderfully written and enthralling tale of vengeance upon a pompous and arrogant buffoon whose only source of social respect was fear and who lived a life utterly lacking in innocence.

I provided a student some of my own interpretations in an earlier thread on this forum at:

http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002h4O and I will send you a copy via e-mail to ensure it is received.

I would also urge you to read another summary from a differing perspective regarding this story. It is written by Ms. Martha Womack and can be found at: http://www.poedecoder.com/

Accept my best wishes and please, let me know how it goes.

Regards,

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2000