Professor Natasha Hurley

English 204.1 E

Oct 16th, 2001

The literary device of narrative distance is important to the telling of "A Cask of Amontillado", written by Edgar Allen Poe.  It establishes

the space between the character's view of the events of the story and our perception of his views, which allows us to gain greater insight

into the character's psychology through dramatic irony.
 

Narrative distance is the distance between the narrating "I" and the experiencing "I" (Clark, 2) and the use of the first person narrative

narrows the distance so that we do not gain an unbiased point of view into the events occurring. This prevents us from being able to judge

the events and our focus is drawn to the narrator instead, allowing us to examine him and his ideas.  If another narrative voice was used

we would not be able to gain the same insight into Montresor's plans to kill Fortunato and the effect that the events have on him.
 

Another way that narrative distance is set in "A Cask of Amontillado" is by the use of an undefined audience. Montresor speaks to a

reader saying "You, who know the nature of my soul" (75), leaving us to speculate as to whom he is addressing.  If we knew that he is

confessing to relieve himself of the guilt, then we are more likely to accept his version of the events as truth.  The evidence, however,

leads towards the idea that Montresor is telling of the events without wanting to truly admit to the burden of guilt he is carrying and this

suggests that he still does not want to admit to the full implications of his actions. This is an example of dramatic irony, wherein we have

an understanding of the narrator of which he himself is not even aware.
 

The telling of this story is set in the past tense, with Montresor telling us how much time has passed by referring to the remains of

Fortunato and how "For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them" (80).  The idea that so much time has passed since the event

sets a narrative distance of time, which brings us to believe that his perception of the events have changed with so many years passed.

With this we can better judge his intentions not only at the time of the murder, but also how it compares to his reflections of those events

now, and perhaps most importantly the inconsistencies between the two perspectives.  This gives evidence to the theme of dramatic irony.
 

One of the earliest insights we gain into Montresor is when he declares that Fortunato had caused him "a thousand injuries" (75) before

this most recent insult and that he had "borne them best [he] could" (75).  The narrator speaks as though he truly believes that Fortunato

deserves to be punished for insulting him, insuating that Fortunato purposefully caused him injury.  This is proves inconsistent when

Fortunato meets the narrator at the carnival and willingly goes along with him to his home for some wine.  If Fortunato were truly a man

who meant to cause him injury, he would not be as willing to go alone with Montresor to the deep catacombs in search of wine.  As a

result, we understand that Fortunato is a man who is obviously fond of Montresor and has no reason to suspect he is going to come to

harm, which suggests to us his innocence.   The idea that after the amount of time that has passed, Montresor still feels the need to state

that his actions were justified, suggests that he may be aware that he was killing and innocent man and is deceiving himself to prevent

himself from having a heavier burden of guilt to carry.
 

We also learn very early in the story that Montresor is an accomplished liar.  We are told of his intent to deceive Fortunato and "neither

by word or deed had [Montresor] given Fortunato cause to doubt [his] good will" (75).  Later in the story he also tells us of how he lied to

his servants, telling them he would be out for the evening, anticipating that it would "ensure their disappearance, one and all, as soon as

[his] back was turned" (77).  We also learn that he is very manipulative, playing on the weakness of Fortunato.  He slyly convinces

Fortunato to come with him by suggesting that Luchresi would be able to help him to determine if the wine was truly Amontillado; "As

you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi.  If anyone has a critical turn it is he" (76).  From this we are able to learn more of his

deceitful nature and are then able to compare that to how he has rationalized the killing of Fortunato to himself.
 

The idea that the narrator is lying to himself is the primary example of dramatic irony in this story.  From the beginning of the story,

Montresor explains to the reader that his motive for killing Fortunato was because of an insult he was given by Fortunato.  His family

motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit" (78) and Montresor will get revenge for the insult.  We are able to determine that Montresor, despite

his smile at the thought of "[Fortunato's] immolation" (76), actually has a fondness for Fortunato and in many instances in the story refers

to him as "my friend".  With this knowledge we are able to understand that his motive for this is not to avenge a terrible wrong, as he may

want to believe, but we see that it is jealousy that is the real motive for the murder.  This is heard in when he refers to Fortunato as "a

man to be respected and feared" (76) contrasted to his family who "were a great a numerous family" (77), suggesting his family is no

longer as proud as once they were.  He also shows his envy by saying "You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; are happy as once I

was" (77).
 

Montresor says early in the story that "A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when

the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done wrong" (75).  He suggests that revenge will be had when Fortunato

knows that Montresor intends to kill him and why it is being done, however, when Montresor has Fortunato chained inside a crypt as the

wall is being mortared closed, he waits for the confirmation that Fortunato understands what is being done and that confirmation never

comes.  Montresor kills Fortunato without even knowing if his standards of revenge were ever met.  We realize that fifty years later, and

while Montresor is an old man and has had many years to reflect on those events, he still cannot admit to himself that revenge was not

had.  He still claims that his "heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so" (80) and what made his heart pain

wasn't the sudden realization that not only had he killed an innocent man but had not gotten revenge as he wanted.
 

It is through the use of narrative distance between the narrator and his audience that we are removed from the situation and can observe

the element of dramatic irony to learn more about Montresor and his internal conflict with his guilt and his pride.  It is through the use of

narrative distance between the time of the occurring events and the time of the narration that we are able to examine the intentions of

Montresor as he killed Fortunato, how he views those events in retrospect and the inconsistencies between them.   This allows us to gain

greater insight into the story and we are able question the nature of revenge, guilt, and the conscience.
 
 

Clark, Bruce.  “First Person Narration.” http://english.ttu.edu/clarke/First-personNarration.htm , Paragraph 2

Poe, Edgar Allen.  “A Cask of Amontillado.”  Norton Introduction to Literature - shorter 7th ed.  Ed, Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter.
                    New York: W. W. Norton & Co. 1998.  75-80