Skip to main content

How does Fortunato become locked in the chains so easily?

Edgar Allan Poe, the creator of the story, has made it easy for Montresor to chain Fortunato to the granite wall and easy to build a stone wall to conceal him. Here is how Montresor describes the crypt and the chains.



Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior crypt or recess, in depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven...A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. 



Fortunato is in a "crypt or recess" only four feet deep and three feet wide. Its height is only about the same height as a man. Montresor only has to build a small wall of stones in order to conceal his victim. This enables Poe to finish the story quickly. It also explains how Montresor is able to build a stone wall when he cannot have had much experience. The stone wall only has to be three feet wide and six or seven feet high.


The chains must have been there for more than a century. The iron staples holding the chains to the rock wall behind Fortunato are only about two feet apart, and one chain is described as short. The padlock may be attached to a much shorter chain. It is an old-fashioned padlock that has to be locked with a key and not snapped shut like our modern padlocks. Fortunato would be pinned against the rock wall behind him. It should only take a matter of seconds to wrap the short chain around his waist and lock the padlock at the tightest link so that the victim would have hardly any freedom of movement.


Poe has specified that the crypt or recess is about four feet deep. This depth is necessary to prevent Fortunato from reaching out and pushing against the stone wall, either while Montresor is building it or after Montresor leaves and the mortar is still wet. Fortunato's arms would only be three feet long at most. He might try to touch the masonry but find it frustratingly just out of reach.


Poe has made Montresor's work as easy as possible. Since Fortunato is drunk, it is understandable that Montresor could wrap one short chain around his waist with one hand and insert the padlock with the other before his victim realized what was happening.


The reader understands that Montresor wants to kill Fortunato but does not understand how Montresor intends to do it until he has chained his victim to the rock wall and has shut the padlock. At this point Poe achieves the "single effect" he intended. After this effect of horror is achieved, Poe would want to finish his story as quickly as possible. No doubt this explains why the crypt or recess is so small--only about three feet wide and six or seven feet high. Montresor can finish the wall-building quickly and describe the whole process in only a few sentences. 



I hastened to make an end of my labour. I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more