In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" the narrator, Montresor, vows revenge against Fortunato for some undefined insult. Montresor says,
At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails...
In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" the narrator, Montresor, vows revenge against Fortunato for some undefined insult. Montresor says,
At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
Montresor has made up his mind to put into effect a very diabolical plot where he will lure Fortunato into the underground vaults of his estate and kill the man by entombing him in the wall of the catacomb.
Montresor says that in order to be truly "avenged" he must not only kill his victim but also get away with the deed ("A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser"). Another prerequisite for true vengeance in Montresor's mind is that Fortunato must know exactly what is happening to him and who his murderer is (It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who he has done the wrong).
In the end, Montresor's plan works to perfection. Fortunato knows exactly what has happened and who is responsible. Montresor also gets away with the crime as indicated in the next to last line of the story when, referring to the bones, Montresor says, "For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them."
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