The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

Introducing the Story

Literary Focus: Unreliable Narrator

Reading Skills: Drawing Conclusions

Feature Menu

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. . . .

The Cask of AmontilladoIntroducing the Story

Lured away from the festivities of carnival by the promise of a fine wine, Fortunato takes an ill-fated journey into the depths of Montresor’s family catacombs.

Are you willing to follow along as Fortunato is led through the dark, dank tunnels by a madman bent on revenge?

[End of Section]

Writers sometimes assume a persona—a mask or a voice for a first-person narrator.

When you read a story told by a first-person narrator, always ask yourself if you can trust the narrator.

The Cask of AmontilladoLiterary Focus: Unreliable Narrator

An unreliable narrator may not always know the whole truth or may purposely choose to deceive us.

The Cask of AmontilladoLiterary Focus: Unreliable Narrator

• actions

• statements

• voice—distinctive style of speaking

• diction—word choice

• tone—attitude

To determine whether a narrator is reliable or not, pay attention to his or her

[End of Section]

When you read a story, you gather evidence and draw conclusions, or make judgments, based on that evidence.

The Cask of AmontilladoReading Skills: Drawing Conclusions

To decide if Poe’s narrator is reliable, look closely

•at what the narrator says and does

•at what Fortunato, the narrator’s enemy, says

[End of Section]