Montresor, the Lying Psycopath

Remembering details, coupled with the act of consuming alcohol never go well together. Alcohol, when consumed, affects the cerebrum, which is the part of the brain responsible for motor movements, balance, and coordination. After the cerebrum has been partially shutdown, alcohol has an effect on the hippocampus, slowing down encoding, and has the potential to completely turn off the hippocampus. This part of your brain is used for creating lasting images and emotions known as MEMORY. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, the narrator, Montresor, consumes a large quantity of wine and in doing so, makes it extremely difficult for me to believe his story on the murder of Fortunato.

Montresor states while guiding Fortunato through the catacombs, “My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc” (129), and right away destroys any notion of remembering the murder with such vivid detail as he has presented. Details can easily be imagined and presented in a convincing matter, but when we know of the consumption of alcohol during Montresor’s encoding period, there leaves little doubt of his lack of integrity. In addition, we are never told of exactly what Fortunato had done to Montresor to bring about this lethal plot. The beginning lines pronounce, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” (127). This insult had to be the worst thing that could possibly be spoken to bring about a desire to kill the speaker, and I simply don’t believe this is the reason for the wasting of Fortunato. Finally, Montresor describes Fortunato literally sucking down a bottle of “De Grave” when he says, “He emptied it at a breath” (129). This Fortunato character was described as a connoisseur of wine, and I know by my parents’ own actions that wine is to be sipped and enjoyed due to its rich flavor and scent. Someone who takes pride in wine would not quickly swallow a bottle of wine, regardless of the make.

Having said all this, I do not believe Montresor, or his murderous tail of Fortunato. In fact, I believe Montresor to be a psychopath for the simple reason that he does not ever regret his actions. “My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so” (131). Details can be thought up, but the loopholes in this story cause credibility to be “thrown out the window.”

Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Cask of Amontillado”. The Norton Introduction To Literature. Allison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, Kelly J. Mays.-9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005.