Analysis of Elena Baraban's Article

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The Man Behind the Crime in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe The story of “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe has left its readers confused for centuries. Poe writes about two men in 1846, Italy. Montresor has deceived Fortunato by luring him deep into the catacombs. Montresor then continues to chain Fortunato to a wall and preform masonry by inclosing him in a chamber of bones and bricks. The motive for this murder has been left unanswered for many years although it has been harkened after by many scholars. Elena Baraban’s article The Motive for Murder in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, questions the motives behind the murder and attempts to answer the unsolved mystery of this compelling story. This essay will compare the Edgar Allan Poe’s short story with Baraban’s assumptions to make a determination about the viability of her argument. In her article, Baraban states that Montresor feels no guilt for the crime of murdering Fortunato. Following Baraban’s assumption that Montresor is telling this story on his death bed to a priest “...it is clear that he has not atoned, for he enjoys himself in the telling too much...” (Charles May qtd. in Baraban 48-49). Baraban contrasts Dostoevsky’s heroic character, Raskolnikov, from Crime and Punishment to Poe’s character, Montresor, by saying “...unlike Raskolnikov, Montresor is perfectly calm and rational in his account...[and] never expresses pity for his enemy or feels remorse for what he did...” (Baraban 49). It is clear, that Montresor still feels satisfaction from his heinous deed even after fifty years. At the end of the article, Baraban makes an excellent point when she states that Montresor “maliciously subverts his role as a repentant sinner when he says “in pace requiescat!” (“May he rest in peace”) in regard to Fortunato” ( Baraban 57). By Montresor saying this, he is

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