Poe- The Cask of Amontillado

"Nemo me impune lacessit" (937) No one harms me unpunished

The statement of this motto is ironic and funny because Fortunato doesn't know what trouble he is in, but the reader does. This ironic theme of secrecy appears throughout the story. The first line of the story foreshadows the rest of the story, and there are many points of foreshadowing, which are both ironic in delivery and capable of giving away the secret to Fortunato if he weren't so caught up in himself.

This man Fortunato has wronged the narrator in some way. In order to get back at Fornuato, the narrator uses the mans vice against him. Fortunato, believing himself to be the best authority on wine insists that he see the Amontillado. The narrator knows how vain and egotistical Fortunato is and uses this against him. Through reverse psychology the narrator teases Fortunato deeper and deeper into his wine cellar. Once again irony rears its head as the wine cellar is also a catacombs with skeletons littered about, ominously foreshadowing Fortunato's own death, though unbeknownst to him. The narrator repeatedly mentions the name of another man, Luchresi, in regards to wine knowledge, which bothers Fortunato because he believes himself the authority on wine and must put down Luchresi in order to maintain his status. The narrator really doesn't care about the wine tasting and really isn't going to get Luchresi, he just uses this to get Fortunato to follow him into the cellar. In the end, Fortunato's arrogance and ego, lead him to his death. Poe masterfully uses irony and foreshadowing to make a story that is both comical and frightening at the same time.