The Cask of Amontillado

About the book

Montresor recalls an encounter with Fortunato during carnival, when public celebration provides cover for a much more private purpose. A proposed tasting of rare wine draws the two men away from the streets and into the vaults beneath a family home. Poe gives the narrator control of the account while leaving the injury that supposedly justifies his actions troublingly undefined. Polite concern, jokes, and gestures acquire a second meaning as the setting grows more confined. The story's brevity makes its arrangement of details especially important: almost nothing appears merely decorative. Its horror emerges from the calm organisation of resentment and from a voice that treats another person's vulnerability as an opportunity. Reading closely means listening for what the narrator cannot make his composure explain.

• Revenge
• Narrative control
• Pride

Why read it

For a short, exacting demonstration of how tone and withheld context can make a story disturbing.

English text