Examples Of Pride In The Cask Of Amontillado

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Pride, the original and most serious of all the seven deadly sins. The first sin ever to be recorded in the Scripture but also the first human sin. Lucifer, Adam and Eve; all guilty. Pride causes shame, loss of wisdom, destruction, and ruin. All feelings very familiar to events such as Lucifer’s rebellion and fall, Adam and Eve’s descent from innocent obedience to guilty disobedience and Montresor’s revenge upon Fortunato in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado.” These can all be seen as possible outcomes to what Dante defines as "love of self-perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor." Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” revolves around two characters, Montresor and Fortunato. The story starts by stating…show more content…
If it wasn’t dramatic enough that Poe symbolically named the doomed character Fortunato, meaning one of great fortune, Montresor seems to mean the complete opposite of what he says at all times and this serves to keep you, the reader on your toes as he narrates the details of his retaliation. He clearly does not care about Fortunato’s health or wellbeing, yet ironically he speaks in a genuinely concerned, worried and kindhearted manner when speaking to Fortunato. Several times did he show himself to be concerned towards the poor and sickly Fortunato; even offering to turn back since the dampness of the catacombs could only worsen his illness. Fortunato however, out of pride responds with “Let us go, nevertheless” (109) and “Enough,’…’ the cough is a mere nothing, it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough” (110). He cannot acknowledge any physical weakness for he knew that this would interfere with his wine tasting experience that would so righteously restore his credibility and pride when compared to Luchesi. He must prove that Montresor was taken advantage of and he must prove that he was superior at wine tasting than anyone. We can also see another example of verbal irony when Fortunato calls Luchesi “Ignoramus” (112) when it is truly him who has been completely ignorant of what has been and will happen to him. Montresor knew that such challenge to Fortunato’s pride would make him unable to withdraw from such offer so he led him to the crypt where he had planned to bury him alive and said “Proceed,’… ‘herein is the Amontillado” (112). He continues to play with Fortunato’s sense of pride while employing an extensive use of irony as he walks him to his very own death. The pride of both Montresor and Fortunato led them to this very moment where Montresor’s pride causes him to commit murder and Fortunato’s unfortunate, tragic and foreshadowed fate is
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