In the story "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, many themes and messages come up for the reader. There are things such as revenge, kindness, and friendship. But one topic that constantly comes up throughout the story is one of satisfaction. What is the author trying say through the story about satisfaction?
The story's main character, Montresor, obtains satisfaction in the story by seeking a clever revenge on his friend Fortunato for the insults he has received. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge" (page 210). He convinces Fortunato that he has come across the rare Amontillado (a type of wine), which excites Fortunato, as Montresor knew he "prided himself on his connoisseurship, in wine" (page 210). Fortunato yearns to seek the cask so he can see the Amontillado and be satisfied. He quickly insists on descending deep into the wine catacombs, regardless of the health hazardous niter walls. As they venture deeper, the niter constantly makes Fortunato cough, but he doesn't turn back. "'Enough,' he said; 'the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough'" (page 211). Eventually, the two characters come across a hole, where Montresor takes action. "A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite" (page 214). The story ends with Fortunato buried by Montresor.
Allan Poe uses these two characters to send a message to the reader about satisfaction. The message he might be conveying is simply that man will stop at nothing to satisfy his vision. Fortunato ignores the catacombs' hazardous niter and his coughs in order to seek the cask of Amontillado. Montresor even kills his own friend just because of the insults he had received. Both people choose paths that are, in a right mind, amoral decisions. But this actually affects many people once their desire for satisfaction is too great. One has a great deal of difficulty controlling his or her self to choose the correct path when satisfaction controls the mind, and that is what Edgar Allan Poe tries to show the reader through the two characters in "The Cask of Amontillado".