True, most everything said before that was about Montresor discussing the revenge he would take on Fortunato. But it is all said matter-of-factly, businesslike, with little warmth or energy. Most professional commentary on the story indicates that Montresor being pleased and “wringing his hand” is just part of his deceiving Fortunato about his hidden desires for revenge. But the story reveals that it is more than just that. “How’s that?” you ask.
If you’ve ever been in a class where essay writing on literature is taught, you’ve probably said those words yourself or heard someone else say something close to that.
As I’ve demonstrated, the changing OldView-NewView pattern naturally occurs in all stories, short or long. When you learn to recognize that pattern in stories, you can then much more easily see how all the literary devices (“the trees”) are used by the author to support the overall wholeness (“the forest”) of changing OldView-NewView that is always there, in every story.
The dash-dash ( — ) indicates Montresor is adding an afterthought, one in which he tries to turn around the truth of what he has just said—that his heart really was sick at what he had done in killing his friend, Fortunato. Physically speaking, the dampness would make only his lungs sick, not his heart, as any doctor will tell you.
Montresor truly was sick at heart, not of body, as he realized he no longer would have his friend to tease and to torment at his fanciful whim and idle leisure. Yes, Montresor was sick at heart, but it wasn’t because of the dampness of the catacombs. Once he noted his own unhappiness, as soon as he realized his friend was finally dead, even before the walling up was completed, he used only four brisk and businesslike sentences to wrap up the story, with no sense of triumph or glee at having accomplished his revenge.
caponizingzebrine 