Comparison of Emily Grierson and Montresor
Miss Emily Grierson and Montresor are very different in the way and reason that they kill. Miss Emily kills out of love while Montresor out of vengeance. Montresor seems to be more mentally sound than Miss Emily and we feel less sympathetic towards him.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor murders Fortunato, a man that he seems to know very well. Montresor is deeply offended by something that Fortunato has done, stating “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” which provoked Montresor to murder him. Montresor’s motive leaves the readers very unsympathetic towards him because he is killing out of hate while Miss Emily kills out of love. Montresor also confesses his crime 50 years later to someone who “so well knows the nature of his soul”.
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, Miss Emily Grierson murders Homer Barron, the man she loves. She killed him because she loved him and did not want him to leave her, which many readers can sympathize with. She never accepts what she did; therefore, she never confesses her crime to anyone.
Both Emily and Montresor commit a planned murder in secrecy and hide the corpse without confessing for decades. The two of them have an excess of pride and entitlement, which is due to their great family names and reputations. Both short stories have elements of gothic horror.
Miss Emily was a much quieter character than Montresor and she was very easy to sympathize with. Montresor seemed very cold hearted and cruel which made him very unlikeable. Miss Emily and Montresor were similar in some of their characteristics even though they were very different.