en, but Mr. Poe's biography dislays a vicissitude and peculiarity of interest such as is rarely met with" (Lowell 7). Most people who have dealt with the problems that Poe dealt with are not able to express themselves in such a way. He possesed a unique talet to project his own experiences to another form in another world (Lowell 7)."In the story, Fortunato states that he had forgotten Montresor's coat of arms. Montresor replied, "A huge human foot d'or, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel." Then Fortunato ask for the motto. Montresor replies, "Nemo me impune lacessit"" (Stepp 55). "This means no one provokes me with impunity" (Symons 315). Is it possible that this could have been Edgar Allan Poe's secret motto of life? To truly see the picture of Poe's life portrayed with this story, you must first understand the ironic double in the coat of arms. Fortunato insults Montresor and Montresor secretly plots to kill him to get his revenge for the insult. The ironic double is shown by the explanation of the coat of arms. The foot might have represented Montresor crushing the serpent, Fortunato, which is sinking his fangs into the foot. The foot could also represent Fortunato stepping on the serpent and the serpent, Montresor, taking revenge by sinking his fangs into the foot. Either way, Montresor is taking revenge on Fortunato for the insult (Stepp 55-56). Through Poe's hard times in life, he may have developed this insane approach to deal with the problems that plagued his life. He could have easily created a mock scenario to represent any of his terrible situations in life where he has been mistreated and wronged in some way. He couldn't act out these feelings in real life without being punished by society, so he created stories such as "The Cask of Amontillado" as a way to relieve himself of the pain and the anger that was inside him. The motto behind the coat of a...
