Carnival of Revenge

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” it is shown that revenge can take many forms. The human sense of worth and well being can sometimes be a fragile thing, and dire consequences can often result when the balance is upset. The theme is revenge - with an undercurrent of deception - but here it is taken too far. Regardless of a person’s actions even if they are negative; no one person has a right to take another’s life. Fortunato had numerously insulted the narrator, but this does not justify the narrator’s actions whatsoever. The very fist line of the text illuminates the narrator’s intense obsession with revenge. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” (539 / old edition) It becomes apparent that the narrator’s fragile personality cannot bear any longer the perceived slights and offenses of his supposed dear friend, Fortunato. In the view of the narrator, revenge was not only justified, but long over due. In this story, the narrator has been plotting sweet revenge with the intention of doing away with Fortunato; he uses cunning and subterfuge to convince Fortunato nothing is wrong. The hostility is one sided only, with Fortunato none the wiser – indeed, the “carnival jester” thinks all is well. By using these methods the narrator is able to lure Frotunato to his doom. This story illustrates the powerful human emotion of revenge. Poe is a master at this genre, and this is one of his finest examples of a psychological thriller.