Montresor is insane, vengeful, cunning, deceitful, and murderous.
Montresor is not in his right mind. He is some kind of psychopath, imagining things that are not real. He imagines that Fortunato has insulted him. He actually describes a “thousand injuries.” These are not the words of a sane man.
Montresor is also vengeful. This is not a good combination. He wants to make sure that he punishes Fortunato for his imagined wrongs, and he has to get away with it.
At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.
To this end, Montresor devises a plan. He is very cunning, even if he is crazy. He tells Fortunato that he has a special cask of wine that he needs his opinion on. He plans to get him underground and then make his move.
Montresor tricks Fortunato into going into the crypt. He makes sure that Fortunato won’t say no by offering to show another man the wine instead. He pretends to care about Fortunato’s health. This reverse-psychology manipulation works very well. Fortunato takes the bait.
Finally, Montresor kills Fortunato by bricking him into the wall. Fortunato cannot believe it at first. He thinks it is a joke.
No answer. I called again --
"Fortunato!"
No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells.
Since Montresor is telling the story fifty years later, we know that he got away with it. Apparently no one suspected Montresor in Fortunato’s disappearance, and it does not seem as if anyone found the body. Montresor murdered with impunity.
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