Does Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado" die from starvation or was he burned alive?

Question

I always thought it was the first option, but then in 8th grade we read it, and both teachers said he was burned alive.

Now, we're reading it again, and I looked it up on sparksnotes as a quick review after I read it, and it didn't mention anything about burning or fire.

What do you think?

Answer 1

I wonder if your teacher said he was burried alive not burned alive. There is no fire mentioned as a possible cause of death in Poe's short story. One can assume he dies of starvation or dehydration since he was burried alive.

Answer 2

Fortunato Cask Of Amontillado

Answer 3

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

Study Guides:

http://litsum.com/cask-of-amontillado/contents.php
http://thecaskofamontillado.info/index.html
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/eapoe/bl-eapoe-caskofamon.htm
http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/cask/

Answer 4

So actually he couldve really died from either one because there was a mention of a fire. It didnt say "fire" but it says:
"No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells."
So montresor does set him on fire but fotunato couldve died from either a fire or suffocation. Its really a matter of time. It says that all he heard was the bells so he could have died of suffocation and the torch hit the hat with the bells and thats why thts all he heard or it could be that he was alive when the torch was put in and the sound was simply his last struggling before the fore killed him.

Answer 5

He wasn't buried alive. He was chained to a wall in a crypt and then enclosed behind another wall. Dehydration seems quite likely, especially because he was inebriated. How long would it have taken him to die of suffocation because of a lack of oxygen though, down in the vaults, especially since he already had a severe cough and was having a hard time breathing?

Answer 6

He was chained to the wall and the other guy (i forget his name) completes a mortared wall. Fortunado is entombed alive and left to his fate, he either dies of thirst or starves to death. The former is more likely. I never noticed anything about fire.

Answer 7

It seems that no one paid attention to the last line of the second paragraph: "I continued, as was my in to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my to smile now was at the thought of his immolation." Immolation means to kill by fire. He threw a torch in there before he put the last brick in place.

Answer 8

Heather is right. Presumably he died (would die) of starvation or lack of water or even suffocation because of being immured alive.

Answer 9

there wasn't anything about burning or fire. he was buried alive... or you know entombed in the creepiest way imaginable. so he presumably died of hunger or thirst. or a heart attack. there wasn't any fire.

Answer 10

It is kind of the same thing. Pax - C