THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 14

How can a cask of wine teach us to be less easily manipulated?

Subject:  Persuasion - Montresor’s Revenge

Event:  Publication of Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” 1846

Elegant persuasion is when the other person thought it was their idea. -Marshall Sylver

On this day in 1846 Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” was published in the New England Weekly Review.

Imagine you were talking with an elderly gentleman -- named Montresor -- who confesses to you that 50 years ago he got away with murder.   He is telling you the story in first person as it happened.  This is the set-up of Poe's great short story.

Although the story is a chilling tale of murder, it is also a lesson in the art of persuasion, specifically the dark side of persuasion.

Montresor begins by identifying his motive, but he is vague, saying only that “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.”  The setting of the story is Italy during the carnival season, and Montresor tells the reader that his goal was not only to punish Fortunato but also to “punish with impunity.”

To succeed, he must lure Fortunato into the catacombs beneath his home, and he must do so in a way that raises no suspicion in Fortunato’s mind.  Like any effective persuader, Montresor knows his audience and appeals to his interest instead of his own.  Montresor knows that Fortunato’s weakness is wine.  When the two meet in the street, Montresor has already imbibed much of his favorite drink and is dressed in the motley of Carnival.  

                                                                    Image by Ann B. from Pixabay 

At this point Montresor baits his trap, telling Fortunato that he has acquired a cask of what he thinks is amontillado, a prized variety of sherry wine. Rather than directly appealing to Fortunato’s expertise, Montresor claims he is going to consult another wine expert -- Luchresi -- to confirm that his purchase truly is amontillado.  This is the perfect trap for Fortunato, for it pits his own expertise against another expert, making him not just willing to go with Montresor but demanding to accompany him to the catacombs where the wine is supposedly stored.

As the two descend into the catacombs, Fortunado begins to cough.  Montresor further puts Fortunato at ease by showing concern for his cough, saying they should turn around and go back.  When Montresor again tells Fortunato that he would be happy to employ the competing wine expert, Fortunato is more determined than ever to continue the descent into the catacombs. 

In the dark, damp catacombs they arrive at a crypt, littered with the skulls and bones of Montresor’s ancestors.  Montresor directs Fortunato to a recess in the crypt’s walls; however, instead of a cask, all that Fortunado sees is a granite wall with chains hanging from it.  Before Fortunato realizes it, Montresor wraps the chain around his waist and secures it to the stone wall.

Still under the influence of alcohol, Fortunato looks confused as Montresor begins to build a wall brick by brick, sealing Fortunato in the dark recess.  Only as the final bricks are being put in place does Fortunato, in horror, realize his fate.

In the story’s final lines, Montresor boasts of how he added Fortunato’s bones to those of his ancestors in his family crypt:   “For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them.”

                                        Edgar Allan Poe - Image by WikiImages from Pixabay 

Poe’s story is a warning to any reader of the dark side of persuasion.  By understanding the full story, readers can become more alert to how malevolent actors might use psychology and emotion to manipulate them.  The story is full of irony, but perhaps the greatest one is the story’s title: “The Cask of Amontillado.”  Although the cask of wine exists only in the characters' minds, it is the chief object of Fortunato’s undoing and Montresor’s successful plot.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How can understanding Montresor’s psychological manipulation of Fortunato help us be less susceptible to being duped. 

Challenge - The Catbird Seat:  Coincidentally another classic short story about manipulative persuasion was published on this day in 1942.  James Thurber’s classic story “The Catbird Seat” begins like Poe’s tale does with a murder plot, but the plot shifts midway to a more comedic resolution.  Read the story and pay particular attention to how the narrator’s understanding of his target helps him accomplish his goal.

Sources:

1-Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849. The Cask of Amontillado. Charlottesville, Va. : Boulder, Colo. : University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center ; NetLibrary, 1993.