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Protagonist - character presented with the problem; Montresor
Antagonist - character presenting the problem; Fortunato
"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I be...
"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge."
Explains the nature of the conflict, establishes setting and characters, and background
A man named Montresor offers wine (located in his catacombs) to his friend Fortunato at a carnival at night in Italy. Fortunato does not feel well but agrees to the wine.
The character whose point of view the story is told from. He is not described explicitly, although we know from context that he is proud, vengeful, and deceptive. However, he never portrays himself in a bad light. In Romance language, Montresor means "to show fate."
Because Montressor is the narrator, we only know that Fortunato has somehow offended Montressor. We also know he is possibly addicted to wine, insensitive, and possibly too proud. In Latin, Fortunato means "fortunate, blessed, happy."
Montresor beleives Fortunato has insulted him previously and desires revenge against him.
No evidence is ever presented in the book
Appears to Fort. to be a genuine sincere friend
Fortunato claims to have wine, showing some arrogance that Montresor hates, furthering his motive to murder Fortunato (Cecil).
Series of events leading up to the climax
Montresor leads a drunk Fortunato down into his catacombs where they supposedly go to find the wine.
Fortunato keeps coughing because of the "nitre" in the vaults (potassium nitrate, salt) but he refuses to turn back even when Montresor encourages him to
They discuss Mont's family crest:
"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpant rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel."
Fortunato - snake that bit Montresor
Montresor - huge foot that smashes the snake (Fort.)
Climax
The most intense part in the narrative
When they reach the vault, Montresor chains a drunk Fortunato to the hole in the wall and begins to bury him alive by sealing up the hole with bricks
Contains events that are less intense and usually lead toward resolution of the conflict and a stable situation
Fortunato begins to shout and cry for him to stop but as Montresor continues on building the wall to seal him in, he falls quiet
"dénouement" (unraveling), resolution of the conflict, is not always a happy ending
Montresor leaves Fortunato behind in the catacombs and walks away, claiming no one has touched them for 50 years.