In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado,” the narrator, Montresor, is a shrewd and calculating man. An example of this can be seen in his manipulation of his servants on the night he is putting into action his plan to gain revenge against his perceived enemy.
Montresor seems to be a person of some wealth and standing. And even though he alludes to his family perhaps not being as great or having the same standing it...
In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado,” the narrator, Montresor, is a shrewd and calculating man. An example of this can be seen in his manipulation of his servants on the night he is putting into action his plan to gain revenge against his perceived enemy.
Montresor seems to be a person of some wealth and standing. And even though he alludes to his family perhaps not being as great or having the same standing it once did, he still appears to have servants who work for him. In order to make sure that his attendants will not spoil his plot for revenge against Fortunato, Montresor manipulates them into being absent from his house:
There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.
In telling them he will be gone and ordering them to remain in the house, despite the ongoing carnival, he knows that they will all disobey him and leave. He understands that they will believe that, in his absence, they can get away with not following his directions. He views them as pieces to be played in his game, and he uses what he knows about their nature to further his plan.
This is an example of the essence of Montresor. He sees his attendants as people whom he can manipulate and control, and he does so to his benefit. He also sees them as a kind of minor antagonist to his plans, a problem to be eliminated.
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