& # 8217 ; s Revenge Essay, Research Paper

Retaliation

Retaliation is the calculated act of bring downing hurt in

return for hurt. Revenge besides is the shade that haunts one

adult male & # 8217 ; s psyche for about 50 old ages in Edgar Allen Poe & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; The

Cask of Amontillado. & # 8221 ; Is retribution truly satisfied by

Montersor in Poe & # 8217 ; s narrative? No, non merely is it non satisfied,

but besides ironically he damns himself for all infinity!

At the beginning Montersor gives us his two standards

for retaliation: & # 8220 ; A incorrect & # 8221 ; he says & # 8220 ; is unredressed when

requital overtakes its redresser. It is every bit

unredresse [ vitamin D ] when the retaliator fails to do himself

felt as such to him who has done the wrong. & # 8221 ;

( Harris 335 )

Are these two standards met? & # 8220 ; No requital seems to over

take Montresor & # 8221 ; ( Harris 335 ) . But, that is merely how it

seems. From the oncoming of the narrative & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; the storyteller

[ Montresor ] suffers from a guilty scruples & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; ( Gruesser

1 ) , which means that Montersor did endure. Poe besides makes no

indicant that Montersor of all time told Fortunato why he is

put to deathing this & # 8220 ; motiveless evil & # 8221 ; ( Harris 335 ) . Therefore,

neither of Montresor & # 8217 ; s demands of retribution are

accounted for. In world Montersor permits himself to be

transformed from household retaliator into a inhuman slaying.

& # 8220 ; He [ Montresor ] count [ s ] on God & # 8217 ; s judgement as the concluding

instrument of his retaliation. He kill [ s ] his enemy by taking

him into wickednesss of pride, amour propre and inebriation & # 8221 ; ( Cooney

195 ) . Here Montersor fails besides. When Fortunato poses a last

supplication for clemency to his liquidator and his God, & # 8220 ; & # 8217 ; For the love

God, Montersor! & # 8217 ; & # 8216 ; Yes, & # 8217 ; I said, & # 8216 ; for the love of God & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( Poe

153 ) . & # 8220 ; To this, Montersor [ is ] deaf and when the supplication

receive [ s ] a merciful hearing in Eden, Montersor & # 8217 ; s

ploies backfire [ s ] . Fortunato, lucky as his name

suggests [ is ] saved ; Montersor damned & # 8221 ; ( Cooney 196 ) . This is

reiterated by Gruesser when he writes & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; traveling through with

the slaying, Montersor boldly defies God, cursing himself for

all time. & # 8221 ; Cooney besides states that Montersor misses the

& lt ;< br />

sarcasm at the beginning of his ain confession, & # 8220 ; You who so

good cognize the nature of my psyche & # 8221 ; ( Poe 149 ) . This implies that

he has been squealing to this & # 8220 ; priest & # 8221 ; for rather a piece,

but has non been squealing all of his wickednesss ; this in bend

makes all of Montersor & # 8217 ; s confessions in vain. Cooney besides

portions with us that because of these false confessions

alternatively of being instruments of redemption they become

instruments of damnation. & # 8220 ; Here, certainly, is the sarcasm of a

confession without penitence, an sarcasm that makes the

full program duplicate back upon the actor & # 8221 ; ( Cooney 196 ) . So now

non merely does he hold the blood of Fortunato on his custodies,

but the wrath of God on his caput.

In Poe & # 8217 ; s last line & # 8220 ; In gait requiescat, & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; let him rest

in peace, & # 8221 ; Montresor prays for the psyche of Fortunato, but as

with the relation of his confession Montersor realizes that

he does non carry through his retribution on any degree. He did

non even achieve the sole demands for his ain trade name of

requital. And now must confront his ain psyche and God because,

& # 8220 ; Even now, when on his deathbed Montersor confesses all his

wickednesss, he is deluded in believing himself forgiven & # 8221 ; ( Cooney

196 ) . Still, unluckily, with this little supplication and

confession, for all infinity Montersor will be remembered as

a heartless, sadistic executioner.

Bibliography

Cooney, James. & # 8220 ; The Cask of Amontillado & # 8221 ; : Some Further

Ironies. & # 8221 ; Surveies in Short Fiction. 11 ( 1974 ) :

195-196.

Gruesser, John. & # 8220 ; Poe & # 8217 ; s & # 8216 ; The Cask of Amontillado & # 8217 ; . & # 8221 ;

Explicator. Spring. 1998: 129-30. EBSCOHost.

Available.

hypertext transfer protocol: //ehostvgw3.epnet.com/print2.a & # 8230 ; itToPrint

=7 & A ; image1.x=30 & A ; image.1y=12. 24 Oct. 2000.

Harris, Kathryn Montgomery. & # 8220 ; Ironic Revenge In Poe & # 8217 ; s

& # 8216 ; The Cask or Amontillado & # 8217 ; . & # 8221 ; Surveies in Short

Fiction. 6 ( 1969 ) : 333-335.

Poe, Edgar Allen. & # 8220 ; The Cask Of Amontillado. & # 8221 ; Literature

and the Writing Process. Elizabeth Mcmanhan, Susan

Ten. Day, and Robert Funk. 5th erectile dysfunction. Upper Saddler

River, NJ: Prentic Hall, 1999. 149-53.