Monday, December 3, 2012
"You, who so well know the nature of my soul..."
In Poe's classic short story "The Cask of Amontillado," the narrator addresses a famous or infamous "You." Whom do you think he is addressing? Why and how does your judgment affect your overall interpretation of the story and the motivations of the narrator? Please complete the post in at least 10 thoughtful sentences.
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I think that the narrator is addressing God in the story. There is much evidence to support this. First of all, who else would know "so well the nature of my soul"? What character could it have been? Certainly not Fortunado. Also, it seems to me that Montressor feels some regret for what he did at the end of the story. I don't think he would confide in any mortal, who could get him in trouble or thrown in jail. Thirdly, there are other religious allusions in this story, such as the wine, alluding to Jesus's blood, and the cave, where Fortunado is dead, like Jesus. I think God is the most plausible explanation as to who he is talking to.
ReplyDeleteI think Montresor is adressing God and/or possibly himself at the same time. I believe he is talking to God because there are a lot of parallels to religion in this story already. An example is the wine, which is a constant theme, and could also be interpreted to have some connotation to jesus, and the blood of jesus. Also, at the end of the story, the last exchange of words between Montresor and Fortunato involves "the love of God". At the same time, I think Montresor is talking to himself, because he does not seem sane. The fact that he is planning on killing on someone and seems so psychologically disturbed throughout the whole process, makes me think that it wouldn't seem random if he was talking to himself the whole time.
ReplyDeleteI personally think he is addressing God in this story. The quote "you, who so well know the nature of my soul" made God a likely option, because obviously, God would know his soul very well. Additionally, in his last line "for the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them", the need to specify "mortal" seemed to suggest he was talking to a non-mortal.Since he was talking to God, I felt like he tried to make excuses and downplay what happened, which makes him an unreliable narrator. Near the end of the story, the way he tells it, how he "hearkened in vain for a reply" after responding to Fortunato, and how he "grew impatient", made it seem like he was surprised Fortunato had died. Obviously, he had led Fortunato to his death and chained him up on purpose, so I doubt he was actually surprised. There were other instances in the story where he tried to downplay what he did, possibly to avoid punishment from God. It seemed as though the point of this story could have been to tell his side of the story and prove his innocence to God. This may not even be the full story, as he could have left some things out to make himself seem more innocent. Because of this, I don't completely believe that the events happened exactly the way he told us they did. (That, and he would obviously have to be insane to murder someone.)
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ReplyDeleteAs we discussed in class, I believe that Montresor is addressing God and himself concurrently. The whole piece is structured as some sort of confession, suggesting that he'd be talking to a priest or God. However, as others have mentioned, the person to know "so well the nature of my soul" would most likely be God. He seems to be confessing his regret in his bad actions toward Fortunato. Also, there are other religious references in the text, such as the wine, that would help suggest that Montresor was talking to a religious figure. The use of the phrase "no mortal has disturbed them" in the last line also suggests that he might be talking to someone immortal.
ReplyDeleteBased on his actions, Montresor seems to be psychologically unwell, which would explain him talking to himself. Additionally, another person to "so well the nature of [his] soul" would be himself. This strongly affects my interpretation of the story. In my opinion, the story could be interpreted many ways based on who the "you" is that Montresor is referring to.
In the story, I believe that Montresor is addressing god. There are many clues that lead me to this conclusion. First of all, there were already many religious references. The way that blood and wine are similar, and the other religious undertones in the story, leads me to a religious figure. But once I reached that conclusion there were more things I had to factor, the line that states “you who so well know the nature of my sole” leads me to the belief that it is a supernatural being. In Christianity, which seems to be the religion that this was written about, god is the main supernatural figure, so that is why I think he is talking to god. Furthermore, I believe the reason he is talking to god is because he is trying to make an excuse for what had happened so that he could get into heaven. The last line of the story reads “For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them.” Because he is recalling these events so much later, it seems as though it would be about the time that he would be dying. That is why I believe he is talking to god and that the reason he is talking to god is to get into heaven.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Montresor is talking to his conscience. In class, we talked about how he might have been mentally unstable, for one, because he killed someone. He does this for some reason he doesn't tell us. That reason may have been irrational, at least to us, and he knows that, therefore he doesn't let us onto that secret. This mental instability, I think, would lead him to go beyond talking to someone he cannot see who may or may not be listening, and talk to himself. His conscience is part of himself and from observing and trying to advise him about his actions most certainly knows the nature of his soul. I think that he comes to some realization at the end when Fortunato does not reply, a sort of sobering up, and then is haunted by his acts. The hauntings drive him insane to the point where he confesses to himself, seeking inner advice. This inner advice would possibly console him and possibly allow for self discovery and him to recover.
ReplyDeleteI think that "You" in the story of "The Cask of Amontillado" is actually God. One reason that I think that "You" is God is because wine is mentioned various time during the story. In Catholicism, wine represents the blood of Christ. Fortunato didn't want to admit that Luchresi might be more of a wine expert than he was (In my opinion, he wanted to know more about the blood of Christ) Wine wasn't the only hint that made me think "You" was God. Another statement in the story was "You, who so well know the nature of my soul....." Due to the fact that I'm Catholic, I believe that God is the only person who can judge and know our souls very well. I think that in this story Montresor is kind of confessing his murder towards God. In class, many people said that they thought that Montresor felt no remorse, but I actually feel as if he did due to the confession. This is why I believe that "You" was God in this story.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, I believe the “you” that Montresor is addressing is himself. One of the opening lines in the story says, “You, who so well know the nature of my soul.” Who would know the nature of Montresor’s soul better than himself? Throughout the story, it is made very clear that Montressor is undeniably crazy. The way that he lures Fortunato into the catacombs to murder him proves his true insanity. His lunacy shows that it is quite plausible that he would be confessing a murder he committed to himself. In fact, it is even possible that he believed his confession to himself would clear his conscience a bit. Montresor’s portrayal of himself as a partial protagonist makes sense when you think of him confessing to himself because he would see the good in himself and it would justify the murder. Montresor’s madness explains his reason to address himself as “you” in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
ReplyDeleteI think that the author is addressing somewhat sarcastically/insanely addressing himself. This is because he has to almost admit his crime to himself before he can admit it to the public. He can only come to some form of realization when he can get his head around the fact that he murdered someone. I say sarcastically because it fits with the tone of the rest of the story as well as the fact that Montresor is, in fact, insane. Throughout the story he calls Fortunato his "friend" in a tone that I took to be sarcastic because Montresor did seem to have a clear idea of how he felt about Fortunato : in a negative way. I believe that he says "You who so well knows the nature of my soul..." in that same insane, sarcastic manner. He takes the whole murder so calmly, which is what leads me to believe that he doesn't take the murder to seriously or at least as seriously as someone sane might take it. He does definitely feel some confusion or possibly some internal conflict, but I believe that someone that so blatantly is somewhat mentally confused is capable and almost inclined to do something such as writing an account of their crime to themselves. I also think that Montresor may not have originally meant to write this account of the murder in order to somehow come to terms with his crime. I do however, believe that that could be the ultimate outcome.
ReplyDeleteI think that Montresor was addressing himself in this story. The whole story is surrounded by himself trying to confess to the things that occurred. He is writing his experience down thats why he has so many little details. He is trying to get rid of some of the regret he is feeling. In the end when he said you are the one who knows my soul best he is referring to himself. He is talking about how he knows himself best, not anyone else. Also Montresor seems to be a little bit crazy. This is a way for him to calm down from the day. I don't think there is a way to figure out who he is actually talking to, but I do think that the story is revolved around who it is, because it will reveal if he is being truthful about the murder as a whole or not.
ReplyDeleteI believe that when Montresor says “You, who so well know the nature of my soul,” he is addressing himself. To me, it is almost as if he is writing this confession down in some sort of journal for his purposes. This belief that he is addressing himself definitely changed my view of the story. I think that he wants people to know of this murder, because he believed it was very skillful and cunning. It is like he wants somebody to find this journal/confession someday so he will be remembered for his genius plan, and the whole ordeal wouldn’t have been a waste. Which is why he writes it in such a casual manner, why there is a lack of guilt, why he adds in that he was congenial to Fortunato, why he keeps asking if Fortunato is all right, so that it seems less cold-blooded and more an act of brilliance. But, of course, he can’t come out and confess to the public because he will obviously be punished. Yet he writes “You, who so well know the nature of my soul,” when addressing himself to make it seem like more of a random confession that he feels the need to write down rather than him actually wanting people to recognize it. These points could also support the theory that he is insane.
ReplyDeleteI think Montresor is addressing a stranger. I know that sounds vague, a stranger could be anyone, but it is not the identity of the person who is important, but rather the relationship of this person to Montresor. Now I understand that Montresor is an unreliable narrator, but I think he is a reliable source when it comes to the occurrences of the murder. Perhaps he exaggerated a bit, perhaps someone else would have told the story differently, but such is the nature of human bias, an unavoidable phenomenon. Now the reason I would trust Montresor on his telling of the murder, is because he doesn't hold back much. He doesn't make apologies, he doesn't throw in "but's", he simply tells the story calmly, a story that does not put him in a very good light. If someone is going to lie, they are going to lie for a reason. That reason being that the lie is better than the truth. However, I can't really see how there is a truth worse than what he tells. This is a story about murder after all. Clearly he doesn't care how he appears to this person, who I believe to be a stranger. After all, honesty is easiest when it goes hand in hand with anonymity. A confessional is done in a booth hiding you from both the public and the person you're confessing to, with secrecy identical to many other informal confessions. I think he is a madman yet to comprehend his madness, who has found a stranger willing to listen.
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to and reading the comments of my peers, I have come to think that he is addressing himself. I think it is his way of justifying what he has done to Fortunato. When one does something wrong or unethical, one tends to try and find a right or moral reason for doing so. For example: If I do not do my math homework one night, I might justify it by saying that it was 11:00 pm at night. So I might them say, what is the point of doing my homework if I am not able to pay attention in class the next day. But instead of saying this out loud, I would say it in my head because of the fear that others might convince me otherwise. So this is a simplified version of what Montresor is doing. He feels guilt about killing Fortunato, so he tells himself that Fortunato had done him wrong and that it would only be just to cause Fortunato wrong. Another reason why I think Montresor is addressing himself, is that the person he is addressing knows him very well. Infact, they know him so well that they know "the nature of his soul". I feel that no one can know their own soul better than themselves. The only other possibility could be God, which is a fair argument, but I feel that Montresor is not sane or ethical enough to give reason to anyone but himself.
ReplyDeleteIn deciding to whom Montresor is addressing in The Cask of Amontillado, there are many details you must take into account. There is one aspect which we didn't discuss in class, but I think is very important to understanding the context of the story. In the last paragraph, Poe writes of Fortunado's grave "For the half a century, no mortal has disturbed them." This means that it is fifty years later, and Montresor is still in his house. He has not been caught for his crime. Because of this, and his lack of remorse, I am inclined to say that the letter or story he has written is not serving as any official kind of confession. There are small details in which he tries to rationalize his actions (The first paragraph, for example,) however he seems to rely on the closeness and understanding of the reader, acting as though who ever he may be writing to knows him well enough to understand where he was coming from. If we trust this man at all, (which some people don't,) then I would say he is writing to a close friend or relative. However, if we don't believe he is sane enough to interpret situations and reactions, than I would say he may be speaking to God, and assuming that God doesn't blame him for his crime.
ReplyDeleteIn Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, I believe that Montresor was referring “you” to be either himself in an eccentric way or God. I believe that he was referring to himself by stating the quote, “you, who so well know the nature of my soul"; where you could resemble him talking to himself as the one person who knows how he thinks the best out of all. Throughout the story, it seems as if Montresor is slightly insane or eccentric with the way he thinks or acts. By talking to himself, this could just be another hint of showing his level of insanity. On the other hand, I also believed that he could be referring to God when stating “you”. I thought that this might be after the trap of Fortunato, as he was telling this to God to speak of his sins and acknowledge that he shouldn’t of done it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the narrator was talking to god. The first reason I think that he was talking to god was because in the second sentence that he said, “You, who so well know the nature of my soul” and that is something someone would say to god. Who else would be able to know the nature of his soul? Another thing that points to god is how the story is based around the wine. In Christianity wine represents blood so there is another item that points to god. I think that he was trying to ask for forgiveness and just wanted to get all of his feelings out. He was done being a bad person and just told god exactly what happened to show that he knew that he did a horrible thing. I also think that it was really holding him down because he was able to recall exactly what happened and wanted to be able to let it go.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Montresor is addressing himself. No one can know you better than yourself, by having such a peculiar experience, he has to re-evaluate what happened and who he is. Maybe he is also becoming closer to God while discovering more about himself. In class we talked about the parallel between the wine and the blood of Jesus. This shows a bit of a religious take on the story and though it is a possibility for him to be addressing God or Jesus. I think he may be ashamed and not willing to confess yet. He has to admit his faults to himself first and then share. Addressing himself also fits in with being the protagonist and antagonist simultaneously and fits the twisted story well. He seems mentally challenged to an extent which is odd. Even though he is battling with himself in his head, I think it shows him re-gaining strength as a character to think about his actions and re-tell the story.
ReplyDeleteIn the cask of amontillado I believe Montresor is addresing God as the "you" or possibly himself. I see this story as a sort of confession to god for the murder he commited. One key argument for my claim is when he says “you, who so well know the nature of my soul", it seems like something one would either tell themselves or to god. Also who knows the nature of anyones soul better then god? On the other hand it could easily be himself he is confessing to. In class we discussed how Montresor is in unreliable narrator, meaning that he could easily be changing the story unless we heard it from another party. This led me to believe that many religious people could never lie to god in which case his story may be in fact true. There is also the chance he is changing the story to make him seem less guilty of the crime in his mind. Also, he could be finding a logical reason for his actions. There are equally strong arguments for both sides.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Cask of Amontillado" , I believe that the "You" the narrator is addressing is himself. Because of the class discussion I thought "You" was that this was probably a priest or God ,but after analyzing the end of the text I think he is addressing himself. If it was God , an omniscient and omnipotent entity, why would he need to include all the dialogue that he did? If the narrator is addressing God or a priest and this is a religious confession, why does he not seem a bit remorseful and does not use the words "sin , betrayal" or talk about "falling short of the glory of God."He does not portray himself as a victim of temptation or a cruel monster , but rather simply a person that happened to kill someone. Montresor writes in the last paragraph of the last page that " For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requirscat!" Because half of a century is 50 years and most people live to be 60-80 years old, maybe the narrator is writing this as a deathbed confession. If this theory is true , the last sentence of the text would mean that Montresor is dying or is about to die which also supports that this letter might be a deathbed confession to himself. My judgment doesn't overall affect my interpretation of the story and the motivations of the narrator because if this is a deathbed confession it is heavily biased because the whole point of a deathbed confession is so that you can die with a clear mind which means he probably twisted the story so that he could feel justified in his actions. But contrary to the class discussion , my theory might support that Montresor is not insane. Montresor might have intentionally called his victim his friend in the story so he could feel better about the murder; maybe he places emphasis for being concerned with Forunato's cough so that he could make himself seem more human.At the end of the last page the narrator says his heart "grew sick" which means he is sane enough to tell right from wrong even though he tries to deny those emotions by saying his sickened heart was caused by "the dampness of the catacombs."
ReplyDeleteIn "The Cask of Amontillado", I think that the figure the narrator is referring to is God. I say this because of how throughout the story, Montressor appears to be telling someone his sins, while still incorporating aspects of religion. Montressor also focuses on the symbols of wine and death in how he tells his story; which are related to themes in the bible of the blood of Christ and where his body was stored. Because of the sense of irony it would create, (having someone confess to God to figuratively rolling the stone over his friend's grave.) We also talked in class about how Edgar Allen Poe is obsessed with irony, which leads me to believe this is what he intended to have. Another reason I believe he is talking to God is because of the clothes he is wearing when he seals Fortunato in the catacombs. His clothes are black and masked, suggesting that he is a figure of death. This, once again eludes to a theme of death and God.
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ReplyDeleteIn the cask of Amontilladom the person he is addressing is god. When he say "you who knows so well the nature of my soul," I get the impression that he really isn't talking to someone you would call human. Also when he says talks about no mortal has ever disturbed that place in fifty years, I also feel that he is talking to god or someone like him. Another point that I think points to him talking to god is that this entire story is based on finding this really special if not sacred wine and in Christianity wine represents the blood of Jesus Christ. Another thing I think points to him talking to god is that Montressor buries Fortunato in a catacomb which is another allusion to Christianity with Jesus being buried in a catacomb. I think the reason he is talking to God in the first place is that he is admitting to God what he has done and wants to own up to his actions. I also think that he is trying to make himself feel better by letting out I guess a secret he has kept for fifty years. I also think that this secret was ruining his life because not telling anyone for fifty years that you killed someone would ruin anyone. Another thing that adds on to him feeling bad and guilty is that he was able to remember everything in such great detail which obviously means that this experience has haunted him for a long time.
I believe that Montresor is addressing God in this story. He had murdered another person and needed to confess to God. In the first paragraph, he says that "you" "know the nature of my soul so well." It shows that "you" has been following him everywhere, and for me, that person would have to be god. Some might say that the "you" is himself for this reason, but because he seems mentally unstable, I don't think that he truly knows the nature of his soul.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason that I think he's addressing God is the straightforwardness that he speaks in. He makes no attempt to justify himself or hide details. This shows to me that he's talking to someone that he can't lie to. For me, that person would be God.
(Sorry I'm late on this. I had some trouble with Firstclass last night). I think that Montresor is talking to a Priest, confessing his sins. He seemed to want to move on from this event, so he wanted to be relieved of his murder. Although he didn't get caught by authorities, he would've been caught by God. By confessing, he would be free from his previous wrongdoings. This would allow him to move on from this event without any punishment. The important line "You, who so well know the nature of my soul," seems to be directed at the priest. This is him explaining that he had good intentions, but he committed a powerful crime. By talking to the priest, he's evading any consequences of murder.
ReplyDeleteI had originally thought that Montresor was talking to Fortunato. However, after I looked back over the text I have changed my opinion and think that he was talking to god or potentially himself.For example, when Montresor says, "You who so well know the meaning of my soul." That could bring up the possibility that he could actually be talking to himself or god because both know 'the nature of his soul. But, he says, "For the half of a century, no mortal has disturbed them" could indicate that he was talking to go since god is immortal. It would be fitting that Montresor would be using that language. Another reason he could potentially be talking to god would be the way he tells the story. Since hes telling it like he did nothing wrong, it could imply that he is trying to confess. While he technically could be confessing to himself, it would be more logical that he confesses to himself.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading "The Cask of Amontillado", I interpreted that the narrator is addressing God as "You". As I read the story, I felt as if the narrator was writing to someone at a higher power than him. I believe this based on the quote "You, who so well know the nature of my soul..". The narrator believes that God is the only one who truly knows and understands his soul. I think that the story is how the narrator attempts at confessing and justifying his actions. The tone of the story is so eerily calm and unemotional because the narrator is trying to substantiate his sanity to God so he will be able to go to heaven in the afterlife. He is ashamed and remorseful and is trying to make himself seem much more justified than he may be in reality. In addition, there are many religious references throughout the story that hint that the story is written to God. The presence of wine throughout the story represents temptation, and the fact that the narrator got himself, as well as Fortunato, drunk leads me to think that he believes that he fell into the temptation of getting revenge, and that he wasn't in his right mind. Because he feels he wasn't in his right mind, he is telling God all the details of what happened in hopes of being forgiven and accepted into heaven.
ReplyDeleteIinterpreted "The Cask of Amontillado" to be a story about an insane individual talking with a split personality or alter ego. On the first page, he says "You who so know the nature of my soul," when referring to the "You." I believe that the only other person who could know someone so deeply that they know the nature of their soul would be a spouse, which is not mentioned in the story, or an alternate version of oneself that he created, because who knows you better than you? In Fight Club, the narrator creates another personality, "Tyler Durden" and goes through a series of events as if they were two entirely different people. I believe Poe did this as well, although this alter personality did not have anything to do with the murder of Fortunato.
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