In addition to being the classic unreliable narrator, on the surface, Montresor is a classically unsympathetic character. He got away with what he did without getting into trouble. Montresor is an exaggerated, over-the-top figure. By examining these qualities in his extreme personality, we can better analyze some of the less pleasant aspects of our own.
This is another area where we can totally identify with Montresor. Critics have been arguing for a hundred years over whether Montresor is confessing his sins or bragging about his crimes. And this is something we can all relate to. Other times, we know what we did is wrong, and we wish somebody would find out so we can somehow try to make things right. Also, as he is luring Fortunado into his death, he talks ironically.
The protagonist of the Cask of Amontillado is a classic example of Poe's unreliable narrator, a man who cannot be trusted to tell the objective truth of what is occurring. His unreliability becomes immediately evident in the first paragraph of the story, when he insists on his clarity of mind and attributes his vengeance to some vague experience he once had with Fortunato. In his writings, Poe often sought to capture the state of mind of psychotic characters, and the narrator of this story exhibits leaps of reasoning that more resemble the logic of dreams than they do the thought processes of a normal human being.
Remember me. You who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose however that I gave utterance to a threat. Montresor's unreliability is based on his absence of significant details and persuasive language, irrational emotions, and inhuman memory that he uses to gimmick his audience within the story. 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 wrong.
Montresor then reveals to the audience that Fortunato will indeed receive his revenge, but through extreme punishment and murder. In actuality, Montresor never expresses the pain that Fortunato struck upon him. These vital details are never revealed within the actual story, which is one reason why Montresor can be seen as an unreliable narrator.
Speakers uttering assertions about states of affairs may be ill informed, may err, may be biased or may intentionally want to deceive to be deliberately lying. Skip to Content , Navigation , or Footer. Post-Haste: Weekly Weather: A calm, cold weekend ahead; rain chances increase next week.
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