A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH: THE ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER MONTRESOR IN “THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO” SHORT STORY BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

 

A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH: THE ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER MONTRESOR IN THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO SHORT STORY BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Muhammad Faruq Bukhori

13020117140087

Department of English Literature, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia

Email: muhammadfaruqbukhori@students.undip.ac.id

 

Abstract

In this paper, I would like to analyze the psychological aspect in the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. The aim of this paper is to analyze the extrinsic elements contained in the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. I use library research method with Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory; this theory uses the development of character personality formed through the conflict of the human mind. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior is the result of interaction between three components of the mind: the id, the ego, and the superego and Freud believed that there are three levels of the human mind, they are Conscious, preconscious, and Unconscious. This story contains elements of psychological aspect and the character Montresor is indicated to have an unconscious mind based on the conflict with Fortunato.

Keywords: Analysis, Close Reading, Edgar Allan Poe, Psychoanalytic, Sigmund Freud, The Cask of Amontillado

1. Introduction

In literature, the short story is a literary work that is fictional and generally made in printed books. The short story as the name implies is a short story that is concocted as short as possible.

Psychology is the study of people's thoughts, behavior patterns, and habits. Psychology is widely known as a scientific field of science, many disciplines that can be adapted from psychology, such as sports, social, and even literature.

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story from one of Edgar Allan Poe's works. This story is about a man named Montresor who is jealous of his friend Fortunato who always outperforms him in many ways because it bothers him so he plans to kill his friend.

Through this paper, I will discuss and analyze the elements of psychology contained in the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. The focus of psychological studies that I will study here is by examining the behavior of the characters in a short story.

2. Methods

In this research, the writer use library research in collecting data. Library research is one of the research methods used to gather information from a variety of reliable sources in writing papers, or completing a project (George 2008:3). In collecting data I take some procedures such as reading the short story, identify the short story, and read a book, article of a journal that related to my research.

3. Theoretical Framework

3.1 Intrinsic Theories Used

In the intrinsic element of this short story, the writer use symbol and irony in explaining the psychological elements in the short story of The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe.

3.1.1 Irony

Unlike the symbol which means the specific meaning of a word in literary works, Irony is the opposite. The irony is one of the intrinsic elements of a literary work which means an expression of words or sentences that have the opposite meaning (Holman:248). In The Cask of Amontillado, I found the irony of the name Fortunato, Fortunato means if lucky but in this short story Fortunato was not a lucky person but he was trapped in the deadly game of Montresor.

The irony that I can find again in that story is when Montresor greets Fortunato in a carnival by saying, "My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met". Of course, if Fortunato heard that he was happy with what Montresor had said to him, he also thought Montresor was happy to be friends with him, but ironically the intention of Montresor's statement to Fortunato was that he was fortunate that Montresor could meet with Fortunato to take action to kill him at the right time in the crowd.

3.1.2 Symbol

Symbols are one of the intrinsic elements of literary works that contain a certain meaning (Perrine:85). In this short story that I studied, I found the symbol of the name Montressor, the word Montresor means Treasure the meaning of the word is evident from the character of Montresor who has a slick strategy to kill Fortunato and the word Amontillado means is wine this was made clear by Fortunato's desire and purpose to go with Montresor to his place because there was the best wine offer there and it was also explained at the end of the story where Fortunato still wanted Amontillado even though he had not tasted it from Montresor.

3.2 Extrinsic Theories Used

In the extrinsic element of this short story, the writer uses the conscious mind theory by Freud in explaining the psychological elements in the short story of The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe.

3.2.1 Conscious Mind

The conscious mind is one of the three levels of awareness in humans that are described by Freud in his psychoanalytic theory. A conscious mind is a form within that arises from human desires themselves, this conscious mind is able to control the actions and behavior of a person. The conscious mind in this short story arises from the conscious desire of Montressor himself.

3.2.2 Unconscious Mind

In his theory, Freud also mentions the unconscious mind as one of the three levels of thought in humans. As for what is meant by the unconscious mind is a form of subconscious thinking which means someone does something but he accidentally and unconsciously does something.

In the story of The Cask of Amontillado, the character suspected of having an unconscious mind is Fortunato. In the story, Fortunato was unconscious and under the influence of liquor, therefore he was not aware of the surroundings he was in and what he was doing with Montresor.

3.2.3 Preconscious Mind

Davidoff once said in his book Introduction to Psychology that the preconscious mind is a mind that holds all the elements in human beings can be conscious or unconscious. Based on the statement preconscious mind is the mind between conscious and unconscious. In this story, I did not find the text or the elements that found it because preconscious is a transition of mind because it cannot be observed in this short story.

3.2.4 Id

Id is one of the three components of personality found in Freud's psychoanalytic theory. This personality is a form of a person's attitude that is driven by pleasure and desire in them. In the story of The Cask of Amontillado the character with the personality of Id is Fortunato who is obsessed with wine or amontillado.

3.2.5 Ego

The ego is 'that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world”. (Freud, 1923:25). From Freud's explanation of the ego, it can be said that the ego is a part of human personality where the ego occurs due to a reason or cause. Ego occurs because of the character that has an unconscious nature where he is aware of what is happening and afflicts himself and others. In this story, the character who has the ego-personality is Montresor where he is told at the beginning of the part he has clear reasons for what he planned to kill Fortunato.

3.2.6 Superego

Superego is part of the level of three aspects of the mind in humans. Superego has a role in self which serves to assess and control themselves to avoid things that are contrary to the moral values ​​in society. In this story, the character suspected of having a superego is Montresor, but that too after he regretted his actions.

4. Analysis of Psychological Aspects

4.1 Analysis of Conscious Mind in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

In this short story, the character Montresor is indicating a conscious mind based on the conflict between Montresor with Fortunato. This conflict happened when Montresor is jealous of Fortunato.

The beginning of the conflict in the story begins with the statement of Montresor who felt hurt because of being suffered by Fortunato.

This can be seen in the following fragment of the story:

 

Fortunato had hurt me a thousand times and I had suffered quietly. But then I learned that he had laughed at my proud name, Montresor, the name of an old and honored family. I promised myself that I would make him pay for this — that I would have revenge. (Allan Poe, 1846:68).

 

In Montresor’s statement above, Montresor shows a conscious mind. This thought results in one's behavior and actions. This is consistent with what Freud said in his psychoanalytic theory Montresor's attitude and behavior turned aggressive and had a desire for revenge against Fortunato. The line “I would have revenge” shows the final decision from Montresor. The decision made by Montresor here is that he is conscious. This is reinforced by Montresor's statement in the second paragraph of this story he said, “I must not suffer as a result of taking my revenge”. The whole theme of the story is revenge in Montresor’s mind.

As I mentioned before, the symbol in the story of The Cask of Amontillado can help me in researching the conscious mind on Montresor's character. I see that there is a part that really supports my statement about the symbol of the name Montresor which means treasure. In this story, Montresor really structured his strategy so agart unknown to Fortunato.

This can be seen in the following fragment of the story:

 

I gave Fortunato no cause to doubt me. I continued to smile in his face, and he did not understand that I was now smiling at the thought of what I planned for him, at the thought of my revenge. (Allan Poe, 1846:68).

Then it can also be seen from the dialogue between Montresor and Fortunato below:

“Fortunato! How are you?”

“Montresor! Good evening, my friend.”

“My dear Fortunato! I am indeed glad that I have met you. I was just thinking of you. For I have been tasting my new wine. I have bought a full cask of a fine wine which they tell me is Amontillado. (Allan Poe, 1846:69).

In carrying out his plan, Montresor was very kind to Fortunato like a close friend but in his deep desire, he wanted an accident for Fortunato. In this story, Fortunato is described as an alcoholic and when he is drunk he is unconscious, therefore Montresor carries out his action by persuading Fortunato to try his best wine. The climax in the story began to be apparent when Fortunato began to fall into the trap of Montresor when Fortunato tried to follow Montresor to his great stone palace.

Look at Fortunato's statement to Montresor below:

“I do not care. Let us go. I’m well enough. The cold is nothing. Amontillado! Someone is playing games with you. And Luchresi! Ha! Luchresi knows nothing about wines, nothing at all.” (Allan Poe, 1846:69).

Then after that, they arrived at the location of Montresor which at that time immediately gave his wine to Fortunato. However, unfortunately, Fortunato did not match his name, he was very unlucky he was caught in a Montresor trap with a wine.

We went on, deeper and deeper into the earth. Finally, we arrived at a vault in which the air was so old and heavy that our lights almost died. Against three of the walls, there were piles of bones higher than our heads. From the fourth wall someone had pulled down all the bones, and they were spread all around us on the ground. In the middle of the wall was an opening into another vault, if I can call it that — a little room about three feet wide, six or seven feet high, and perhaps four feet deep. It was hardly more than a hole in the wall (Allan Poe, 1846:71).

In the Montresor statement in this story, the purpose of the place statement is a grave because this is reinforced by the phrase in the line, "if I can call it that - a little room about three feet wide, six or seven feet high, and perhaps four feet deep". This clearly described as a gravel pit because the size of the grave is exactly like that. Because the condition of Fortunato was very drunk, he was not aware of what was around him. Seeing this situation Montresor with his persuasion told Fortunato to go inside by saying, " Go on, "I said." Go in; the Amontillado is in there ".

Look at the following passage at the end of the story below when Fortunato talks to Montresor who is slowly killing him:

 

As I said this I lifted the last stone from the ground. “Montresor! For the love of God!!”

“Yes. For the love of God!”

I heard no answer. “Fortunato!” I cried. “Fortunato.” I heard only a soft, low sound, a half-cry of fear. (Allan Poe, 1846:71).

 

At the end of the story, Montresor only needs to complete his desire by burying Fortunato until Fortunato is killed. However, before the two of them still had time to speak until finally the voice of Fortunato became quiet and no longer heard by Montresor.

4.2 Analysis of Unconscious Mind in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

From my findings, the character who has an unconscious mind is Fortunato. In the story, Fortunato was tricked by Montresor with a favorite wine because under the influence of liquor he becomes unconscious and difficult to realize when walking or thinking. Look at the following passage below:

Fortunato’s step was not sure, because of the wine he had been

drinking. He looked uncertainly around him, trying to see through

the thick darkness which pushed in around us. (Allan Poe, 1846:70).

In the fragment of the story above, at that time Fortunato was unconscious and Montresor saw the incident where Fortunato was also struggling. In the beginning, Fortunato's mind was conscious but became unconscious because it was influenced by Montresor's wine. This is also reinforced by the statement, "Fortunato took it and drank it all without stopping for a breath. He laughed, and threw the empty bottle over his shoulder". The statement was clear that the influence of liquor disturbed Fortunato's mind and consciousness.

4.4 Analysis of Id in Character of Fortunato

In this story, the character with the personality of Id is Fortunato. Id is the personality of a person who is driven by his desires or desires. Here it is told that Fortunato really wanted Amontillado (wine), he was a drink addict and he really loved it. Even because of his fondness, Fortunato came to know which types of wine were the best. Then in another part Montresor buys the best wine and then he meets Fortunato and tells it, hearing that Fortunato was shocked and said, “Amontillado! Quite impossible ". The intention of being surprised from the look on Fortunato's face was that he was amazed by the type of wine and he wanted to taste it.

Look at the following dialogue between Fortunato and Montresor below:

“Ho! — Come. Let us go.”

“Go where?”

“To your vaults. To taste the wine.” (Allan Poe, 1846:69).

 

In the dialog above, Id from Fortunato is he still wants to see and taste Amontillado no matter what. This was confirmed again by Fortunato by saying, "I don't care. Let us go I’m well enough. The cold is nothing ". Then Fortunato sped up his steps and held onto Montresor to take him to the Montresor place where he kept Amontillado.

 

4.4 Analysis of Ego in Character of Fortunato

The first time Montresor's ego appeared when he felt jealous and sick of Fortunato's behavior impinging on Montresor. Montresor's Ego made him think of how he could be free from this sick and until he found the last resort for his thinking is to kill Fortunato. Earlier in the paragraph, the Montresor story states, "I would make him pay for this”. The basis for Montresor's expression began at the beginning of the story where he felt hurt by Fortunato, with good reason he also wanted to reciprocate Fortunato's actions to himself. From his statement clearly shows the strong ego of Montresor.

Look at the following passage at the end of the story where Montresor is going to kill Fortunato at that time, “I continued working. I could hear him pulling at the chain, shaking it wildly. Only a few stones remained to put in their place”. It was then that Montresor's ego grew stronger by ignoring what Fortunato said, he continued to carry out his cruel actions.

4.5 Analysis of Superego in Character of Montresor

As I have explained above, the superego is part of the three aspects of Freud's psychoanalytic personality based on existing moral values. In this story, the Montresor superego appears when he has finished burying Fortunato. Then Montresor said in his heart, “My heart grew sick….. May he rest in peace”. He felt guilty and increasingly ill until he realized that this grudge could not solve his inner problems. Montresor also prayed for Fortunato to remain in peace.

5. Conclusion

After reading the story and analyzing the intrinsic and extrinsic elements in order to support research on psychology in this story I can conclude that this poem entitled The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe that Montressor was aware of what he was doing (killing Fortunato). Montressor with his evil mind planned to trap Fortunato and kill him. At this time the role of the conscious mind of Montressor arises due to the ego of its deepest desires. The cause of Montresor became so because it was based on his hatred of Fortunato. Montresor is unable to think of good morality if he is going to commit a heinous act. The emergence of Montresor's conscious mind and unconscious mind made Fortunato both ironic in this story. The two characters in this story also have Id and ego personalities. Fortunato's Id can be seen from its seriousness to be able to taste the Amontillado from Montresor in any way. Montresor's Ego arises from his heartache from seeing Fortunato and plans to repay him by killing Fortunato.

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