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The cunning and ruthless Montresor narrates the story, seemingly proud of his murderous deed even fifty years later. Even though Montresor remembers the murder of Fortunato in great detail, he does not give any space to whatever trespass Fortunato committed against him, referring to it only as an insult. It is difficult to imagine what sort of insult could merit bricking someone in a tomb to be forgotten. Therefore, we can read Montresor as so prideful as to be fragile. However, Montresor’s pride does not seem entirely self-motivated. Over the course of the story, he talks about his ancient lineage and about his family’s motto promising revenge to those who wrong him. Combining this knowledge with the fact that we never learn his first name, we may discern that Montresor is proud of his family lineage, of the Montresor name. Montressor skillfully and cruelly redresses his injured pride by playing on Fortunato’s. During the entire journey to the vault, he needles Fortunato’s pride by implying him to be in poor health and even suggesting going to a different wine expert. The level of careful planning Montresor puts into his revenge combined with the seemingly trivial nature of the offense makes him a frightening character indeed.
Montresor appears to thoroughly enjoy his murderous actions up until Fortunato stops responding to him altogether. Although he insists, “My heart grew sick — on account of the dampness of the catacombs,” the pause indicated by the em-dash suggests he may be making an excuse. However, it is unclear what exactly takes the fun out of Montresor’s revenge. It’s possible the reality of the finality and horror of his deed has sobered Montresor, much as the reality of his impending doom causes Fortunato to sober up. Perhaps Fortunato so easily resigning himself to his fate has taken the fun out of the work. It’s also possible that Montresor realizes that Fortunato does not seem to understand why Montresor is bricking him up, one of Montresor’s conditions for a successful revenge. This would mean that Montresor has harbored such a vicious, sustained grudge toward someone who has absolutely no idea he has wronged him. The realization that this long planned-for moment appears to come out of nowhere to Fortunato may also take some of the joy out of his vengeance.
