Catharsis is a powerful feeling that can dictate actions and feelings beyond logic. It is also a dangerous feeling as it can cause actions based on vengeance, intense emotions, or even trivial slights that may be interpreted in a certain way. In The Cask of Amontillado the author, Edgar Allan Poe, stuns audiences by telling a simple story of a murder from one man to another. The killing is justified according to the main character by a slight or insult the victim made to the murderer. As a first time reader, it evoked so much emotion and terror out of me and led to comparisons of other more modern expressions of seeking revenge.
The two main characters in the story are ironically named, Fortunato and Montresor. Fortunato is an acquaintance of the man Montresor and as the reader is told, slighted his friend in some way. The two men run into one another at a carnival and Fortunato is inebriated wearing a jester’s costume. After some small talk, he is led by Montresor into the catacombs with a promise of a rare drink, amontillado. Once down there it becomes known to the reader that Montresor has led Fortunato to his death and in there chains him and leaves him to die. The original reading of this story left me confused and intrigued. How a man could justify the killing of another man has always vexed me, let alone in a barbaric and inhumane way that Fortunato was left to die. The first striking characteristic was the idea of a way a man should die. The fact that he was left chained to the side of a wall in a catacomb tells the reader what the assailant thought of his victim. It is a tortuous way to die, leaving the audience to believe that he must have had something larger than a slight towards the victim. Entombing his victim also leaves open the idea that the murder can revisit the scene. Montresor is not seeking a justification or public humiliation at the expense of Fortunato, he has a vendetta against the man is actively seeking to quench the blood lust in his own heart. It brought me to modern examples that are similar to the feelings Montresor felt.
In the movies Gladiator and Patriot the two main characters are enthralled for their hunt of justice and revenge leading them into lives that they were far removed from. In Gladiator, a general of a Roman legion makes an enemy out of the Caesar, who has the general’s family killed and his title stripped from him. He spends the rest of his life waiting and plotting to kill the Caesar and eventually accomplishes his task. Similarly in the movie Patriot an American farmer during the Revolutionary War has one of his sons killed brutally by a British soldier. After his death, the farmer picks back up his fighting ways and brings together a group of men who decimate the British supply lines, moral, and personal. It leads to a fight scene on the battle field between the American farmer and the British soldier. In the scene the reasons why the American is fighting are restated, because of the death of his sons. After killing the British soldier the troops press on and the Americans begin to rebuild their lives. The similarities are present in the all out determination to seek their vengeance. Beyond that the reasons are different in all three stories, as well as the way the men receive satisfaction and justice.
The stories immediately jumped to mind because of the main characters dealing with controversy. The idea that a man would do whatever it takes to get the vindication that he feels is needed in a situation is a trait that has mixed reviews. Although it can be a respectable one by some, it may also be seen as immature and immoral to others. The reason I bring up the comparisons to the movies, is to show that immaturity and lack of morals in Montresor. The man not only killed a man, albeit a fool, but he also did so in a calculated way. Montresor knew exactly what he wanted to do and how he was going to mock Fortunato as he was laying the last brick to the coffin. I believe in just and righteous rage as it pertains to family and loved ones, but that blind egocentric killing was a way to avoid the maturity that it takes to overcome that obstacle. Men are defined by their actions, but even more so by their reactions.
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