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The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe: Summary | Neb English Notes
The Cask of Amontillado
MAIN SUMMARY
The Cask of Amontillado
The story begins with the main narrator Montresor telling his reminiscence to someone. He says that he is much infuriated due to his insult by Fortunato. According to him he was seriously insulted by his friend Fortunato and seeks revenge at any cost. He plans to take his revenge in a very measured way without placing himself at any kind of risk. Montresor plans to use Fortunato's fondness for wine against him. During carnival season, Montresor, wearing a black silk mask, approaches Fortunato.
Later, Montresor informs Fortunato about his special item. According to him, he has got something special that is similar to Amontillado, a kind of Spanish sherry. Fortunato is in a multicoloured dress of the jester along with a cone cap and bells. He asks Fortunato if he is not free to taste his wine, and he will proceed to ask Luchesi for this task. But Fortunato considers Luchesi as his competitor and claims that Luchesi is unable to know the type of wine. He says that Luchesi couldn't tell Amontillado from other types of sherry. He thinks himself a great expert, so he dismisses Luchesi's ability to tell Amontillado apart. Fortunato is quite anxious to taste the Montresor's wine. For Montresor, he is ready to determine whether the wine is truly Amontillado or not. To have a taste of the particular wine, Fortunato wants to move Montresor's vaults.
Montresor has strategically prepared everything for this particular meeting. He sends his servants away to the carnival. Both Montresor and Fortunato go down into the damp catacombs. These catacombs are filled with a whitish mineral called nitre or saltpetre. The nitre inside the catacombs irritates Fortunato much. It makes him start coughing. Montresor suggests him to go back home, but Fortunato refuses his suggestion. He opts for wine to soothe his cough. Both of them keep exploring the deep catacombs, where the Montresor family's dead bodies are kept.
Fortunato seems too curious about Montresor's family motto. He sees the coat of arms depicting a foot crushing a serpent. Montresor mentions his family motto. When Fortunato asks him about the motto of his family, Montresor replies "Nemo me impune lacessit". This motto means that if anybody tries to harm the Montresor family, they will surely take revenge on it.
Montresor provides him with drinks to soothe his cough. After being intoxicated, Fortunato starts acting in a very silly way. He makes jingling noises with all his moves. He accuses Montresor of not being a mason. Montresor insists saying that he is a mason. He also shows him a trowel, a small, flattened shovel-like tool.
When they move further into the deepest part of the vaults, they discover a small tomb that is filled with human bones. In this space, there's a hollowed-out section. This section is about four feet deep, three feet wide and seven feet high. Montresor urges the intoxicated Fortunato to enter the hollow space. As Fortunato once enters inside, Montresor chains him up there.
Fortunato is still asking for the Amontillado while Montresor brings in stone and mortar. However, once Montresor starts building a wall at the entrance of the small area, Fortunato sobers up quickly. Montresor describes the sounds he hears as he builds, the jingling of Fortunato's bells and the clanking of the chains.
When the wall is about halfway built by Montresor, Fortunato starts screaming. Montresor also makes fun of him. A bit later, Fortunato calms down and tries to brush it off as a joke. He has some hope left to survive. But Montresor plays with him just for a moment. Fortunato soon realizes it's serious not a joke. He desperately cries, 'For the love of God, Montresor,' and Montresor keeps on echoing his words. Everything goes silent later on.
Montresor wants to hear Fortunato's pleading voice. He wants him to keep on begging. He gets very annoyed and tries to provoke him by calling out. But Fortunato stays silent. To make him react in some way, Montresor throws a torch into the last open space left. He hears the sound of jingling bells. Montresor says that his 'heart grew sick' but only 'because of the dampness of the catacombs'. He finishes building the wall and even mentions that these events happened fifty years ago. He ends his reminiscence by saying 'rest in peace'.
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