Two Views on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"

Two Views on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story which refers to the burying alive of a man done out of revenge. One of the two main characters, Montresor states in the first line of the story " The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured insult, I vowed revenge" (Poe, 95). One can see the hatred he felt toward this character Fortunato who is a merry man who has everything he once had. John Gruesser and Nathan Cervo both give two different perspectives on how Montresor's vengeance can be seen from a theological point of view.

In Nathan Cervo's article, "Poe's The Cask of Amontillado," he explains his own view in the relationship between the jesters Montresor makes toward the eliminating of his suspect in relation to St.

Portrait of Edgar Allen Poe (Maryland attorney gen...

English: Edgar Allen Poe, poet and writer, commemo...

English: Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, The Bronx

Andrew's crucifixion. It also speaks about how the thistle in Montresor's code of arms with St. Andrew in the middle and the X-shaped cross could represent the eliminating of Fortunato, who would embody St. Andrew. He then goes on explaining how "the St. Andrew is replaced by a Merry Andrew figure." This is because Fortunato is portrayed as a jolly fellow who had a hat with jingling bells and has a weakness in wines. Another religious point Cervo makes is the reference to " Fortunato belonging to the Scottish Lodge of Latin Freemasonry, the lodge against which popes of the late nineteenth century inveighed." Another reason why Fortunato must be "crossed of." Yet, even though Fortunato is symbolizing St. Andrew, Cervo points out the striking contrast between the moralities between both, for one is a saint who is pure and the other is a...