Thursday, January 29, 2015

According to Montresor, what makes the perfect crime?

For Montresor, the perfect crime -- or, more specifically, the perfect revenge -- requires that the avenger not get caught.  He says, "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."  In other words, he must punish his enemy, Fortunato, in such a way that...

For Montresor, the perfect crime -- or, more specifically, the perfect revenge -- requires that the avenger not get caught.  He says, "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."  In other words, he must punish his enemy, Fortunato, in such a way that he cannot be caught and punished in return for it because when the revenge actually ends up hurting the person who's already been wounded, and thus needed to seek revenge, revenge has not actually be accomplished.  Further, he says the revenge is also incomplete when the one seeking revenge does not make it known to his victim that the revenge is punishment from him for some earlier slight.  So, the victim must understand who is injuring him or the revenge doesn't really count.

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