Douglas Horton once said, “While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself”. Montresor decides to seek revenge from Fortunato in the worst way possible - by death because Fortunato insults his name. When Montresor sought revenge he thought that he was going to get away without a consequence, but he did suffer a consequence, his grave - guilt and regret. In "The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe utilizes situational irony and tone to express the theme that revenge is sometimes a fruitless and damaging experience. For example, Poe uses situational irony to convey Montresor’s feelings about taking revenge on Fortunato. Before Fortunato’s murder, Montresor couldn’t wait to kill him and to get the satisfaction he desires. Just thinking about killing Fortunato made him “smile ... at the thought of [Fortunato’s] ” ultimate death (Poe 61). Leading up to the death, he planned a lot for the murder. He deceives Fortunato and works hard to get him drunk and when Montresor does kill Fortunato he does not feel the satisfaction and fulfillment that he expects. He assumed Fortunato’s death was going to erase any feelings connected to him, but instead he built more feelings from killing him which was the complete opposite of what he wanted. Moreover, Montresor believed that by killing Fortunato he will feel pleased …show more content…
In the beginning, Montresor couldn’t wait for Fortunato’s death and he expects a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction but instead, he got something that was much more damaging than that - guilt. Also, he expressed a tone that was unsettled and that showed that he was sick to his stomach from frivolous murder. Which also isn’t what he expected to feel like after this insignificant murder. He couldn’t even stay in the catacombs. Montresor should’ve understood that nobody gets a profit by investing in