A Cask of Amontillado

Question 1

Themes

Answer 1

• Revenge: Montresor’s meticulous plan to punish Fortunato for perceived insults.
• Pride: Fortunato’s pride in his wine connoisseurship leads to his downfall.
• Deception: Montresor’s manipulation and deceit to lure Fortunato into the catacombs.
• Mortality and Death: The inevitability of death and the horror of being buried alive.

Question 2

Characters

Answer 2

• Montresor: Vengeful, cunning, unreliable narrator, obsessed with retribution.
• Fortunato: Naive, prideful, unsuspecting victim, connoisseur of wine.

Question 3

Structure and Plot

Answer 3

• Exposition: Montresor reveals his intent for revenge against Fortunato.
• Rising Action: Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs with the promise of Amontillado.
• Climax: Montresor chains Fortunato to the wall and begins to brick him in.
• Falling Action: Fortunato’s realization and desperate pleas.
• Resolution: Montresor completes the wall, leaving Fortunato to die; reveals the crime has gone undiscovered for fifty years.

Question 4

Literary Devices

Answer 4

• Irony: Dramatic irony in Fortunato’s name and fate; situational irony in the carnival setting.
• Foreshadowing: Montresor’s words hint at his true intentions; the trowel as a symbol of his plan.
• Symbolism: The catacombs represent death; the Amontillado represents Montresor’s bait.
• Narrative Style: First-person unreliable narrator, creates suspense and ambiguity.