The narrator of "The Cask of Amontillado" wants revenge against his friend and fellow nobleman, Fortunato, because Fortunato has insulted him in some fashion. The exact details of this transgression are never named within the text; rather, the narrator only asserts, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge." With a soon-to-be murderer acting as our sole perspective in this story, it is hard to discern whether or not this insult was as grave as is implied. Is this a matter of actual slander? Or is the narrator simply paranoid, bloodthirsty, or mad? We are never given any definitive answer... That being said, Fortunato certainly does not seem to think he has committed any wrongdoings, as he greets the narrator "with excessive warmth."
Nonetheless, the narrator assures us that "[a]t length [he] would be avenged," and proclaims proudly, "I must not only punish but punish with impunity" for "[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."
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