Hobbes and Lockes Legitimate Political Authority Essay

Hobbes and Lockes Legitimate Political Authority - Essay Example Similarities and differences between Hobbes and Locke Both Hobbes and Locke agree that the government is a necessity. As reiterated by Hobbes, people form government for purposes of self-preservation. In any society, the creation of government is often perpetuated by fear. However, Hobbes is against limited government and supports absolute sovereignty since limited government is not sufficient in terms of safeguarding citizen’s right to self-preservation. In essence, absolute power as addressed by Hobbes arises when citizens give power to an individual or group of individuals. Consequently, the sovereign has the mandate to, for instance, wage war, impose taxes or declare peace. Hobbes further believes that establishing a government is necessary resorting to the state of nature. Hobbes also maintains that a government plays a role in preserving citizen’s lives (Hobbes, 1994). Locke believes in a government that is established by the people and works for the people. However, such a government does not create absolute soverei gnty as posited by Hobbes. Locke also asserts that the people have a right to change a government that does not respect natural laws and human rights. On the other hand, while Hobbes and Locke recognize the importance of having a government, they differ on the amount of government and ruling respectively (Dunn, 1969). With regards to rights and equality, Hobbes believes in the right of self-preservation. He also reiterates that men are equal in terms of their physical and mental capabilities.

Reflective Review about myself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Reflective Review about myself - Essay Example It is here that my passion for electronics was triggered. Learning a new language was also fun, and then joined school in International school of Frankfurt. Oh! What more could I ask life was fun. After school, I would rush home for music training. I knew how to play piano and play chess with my mum who was and is still a great fan of Manny Pacquio; and they coincidentally share the nationality of Philippines. She could teach me if I did not know how to lose, I would know how to win. After winning a few games, my interest grew for chess as it did for electronics. My mother would beat me in the game of chess and in my early days, I would get very frustrated. But after winning a few games, my interest grew and I became a pro. In school, my interest for electronics would not stop, having met my best friend Odonkor. Later, I would travel to Berlin to visit Volkswagen, and there is where I knew that technology would be part of me because my heart would always be at peace. At home, I would dismantle an electronic only to rebuild again. It would always trigger me in doing it more and more, and in the end I lost count of how many times I would do this. I took this behavior to school where together with one of my friend, Odonkor who became my best friend, would compete to see who would repair a phone or a laptop faster than the other. Oh, how I loved beating him in assembling. I was a great admirer of the Play station games and this was also one reason that I always treasured school holidays, as I would play from morning to dusk; as they say childhood dreams are made of this. My performance in class was awesome as I was always among the top five students in class and would always top in science and mathematics though I did not like languages. I found the subjects boring but I had no choice but to study them. I remember group discussion in class was not my interest and I preferred individual assignment. Though back at home, my parents encouraged

Big Data as an e-Health Service

Big Data as an e-Health Service Abstract: Bigdata in healthcare relates to electronic health records, patients reported outcomes all other data sets.It is not possible to maintain large and complex data with traditional database tools. After many innovation researches done by researchers Big Data is regenerating the health care, business data and finally society as e-Health .The study on bigdata e-health service. In this paper we come to know why the current technologies like STORM, hadoop, MapReduce can’t be applied directly to electronic-health services. It describes the added capabilities required to make the electronic-health services to become more practical. Next this paper provides report on architecture of bigdata e-health services that provides meaning of e-services, management operations and compliance. Keywords: Introduction to big data, different types of technologies of bigdata, advantages of bigdata, applications of big data, solutions of e-health services, big data as a service provider, e-health data operation management. Introduction: What is bigdata? Bigdata consisting of extremely huge amount of data sets which consists all kinds of data and it is difficult to extract. It can be described by the characteristics like variety, velocity, volume and variability. Variety It consists of data like structured, unstructured and semi structured data Structured data consists of databases, small scale health personal records, insurances, data wares, Enterprise Systems(like CRM, ERP etc) Unstructured data consists of analog data, Audio/video streams. Treatment data, research data Semi Structured data consists of XML, E-Mail, EDI. Velocity Velocity depends on time Sensitivity   It also depends on streaming Volume   It may consists of large quantities of files or small files in quantity   for example , now a days single person can have more than one Gmail account. When he wants to login into a gmail accounts the system generates log files . If a person login into gmail account multiple times through his different accounts then , the system generates huge number of log files that is stored in a servers using bigdata. Variability   It shows the inconsistency of data depends on variation of time period .It may be a problem for analyzing the data. Historically Bigdata in health care industries generate huge amount of electronic health datasets are so complex and difficult to manage by using the traditional software’s or hardware nor by using some database management tools. Now the current trend is to make these huge amount of data as Digitalization so that this whole digital healthcare system will transform the whole healthcare process will become more efficient and highly expensive cost will be reduced. In other words Bigdata in healthcare is evolving into a propitious field for providing perception from large set of data and it produces outcomes which reduces the cost. Bigdata in healthcare industry is stunning not only because of huge volume of datasets like clinical records of patients health reports, patient insurance report, pharmacy, prescriptions , medical imaging , patient data in electronic patient records etc but also multiplicity of data types and the speed of increasing the records. Some of the reports generated by researchers on the health care systems shows that, one of the health care system alone has reached in 2011, 150 Exabyte. At this rate of increase of growth, in future the bigdata reaches Zettabyte scale and soon it reaches to Yottabyte from various sources like electronic medical records Systems, social media reports, Personal health reports, mobile health care records, analytical reports on large array of biomedical sensors and smart phones. The electronic-health medical reports generated by single patient generates thousands of medical reports which includes medical reports, lab reports, insurances, digital image reports , billing details etc.All these records are needed to be stored in database for validating , integrating these records for meaningful analysis. If these reports are generated by multiple patients across the whole world of healthcare processing system then we have to combine these whole data into a single system which is a big challenge for Big Data. As the volume and Source of storing the data increases rapidly then we can utilize the e-health data to reduce the cost and improves the treatment. We can achieve it by investigating the big data e-health System that satisfies Big Data applications. BIG DATA FOUNDATIONS FOR E-HEALTH : The Following Figure 1 shows the bigdata service environment architecture that provides the support for electronic-health applications from different sources like testing center, individual patients, insurance facilitator and government agencies .All these produces some standard health records are connected commonly to a national healthcare network. Figure 1. e-Health Big Data Service Environments Different types of Data sources : The different types of data sources may include structured database, unstructured datasets and semi structured information Some of the standard structured data that deals with the drug insurance policy by NCPDP (National Council for Prescription Drug Program) and NCPDP SCRIPT for messaging the electronic prescription for validating the interaction between drug to drug, medical database records, dosage of drug, maintain the records. The semi structured data related to radiology pictures are changed over the IP networks is provided by DICOM(Digital Imaging and communication in Medicine). The e-Health system store, gather the medical information, patient information to the doctors unexpectedly includes medical information, vaccination details, diagnostics’ reports. HDWA Healthcare Data Warehousing Association it provides the environment for from others. They work collaboratively which helps them to deliver accurate results or solutions from their own organizations A strong relationship and interaction from test facilitators and technical team is maintained within the organization. We have to face the challenges for utilizing the unstructured data related to different concepts, sharing and accessing the data. Big data solutions and products: Bigdata investigation requires knowledge about storing, inspecting, discovering, visualizing the data and providing security by making some changes to some of technologies like Hadoop, MapReduce, STORM and with combinations. STROM: STROM is a distributed, open source , real time and fault-tolerant computational system. It can process the large amount of data on different machines and in real time each message will be processed. Strom programs can be developed by using any programming languages but especially it uses java , python and other. Strom is extremely fast and has the capability to process millions of records per second per node as it is required for e-health services. It combines with the message queuing and database technologies. From the figure 2 we can observe that a Strom topology takes huge amount of data and process the data in a typical manner and repartitioning the streams of data between each stage of process. A strom topology consists of spout and bolts that can process huge amount of data. In terms of strom components the spout reads the incoming data and it can also read the data from existing files .if the file is modified then spout also enters the modified data also. Bolt is responsible for all processing what happens on the topology , it can do anything from filtering to joins, aggregations, talking to database. Bolts receive the data from spout for processing. Figure 2. Illustration of STORM Architecture (ref: https://storm.apache.org/) Some of the important characteristics of Strom for data processing are: Fast-It can process one million 100 bytes per second per node Scalable-with parallel calculations that runs across the machine Fault-tolerant-if a node dies strom will automatically restart them Reliable-strom can process each unit of data alleast once or exactly once Easy to operate-once deployed strom can be operated easily (ref: http://hortonworks.com/hadoop/storm/) Hadoop for batch processing: Hadoop was initially designed for batch processing i.e., it takes inputs as a large set of data at once, process it and write the output. Through this batch processing and HDFS(hadoop distributed file system) it produce high throughput data processing.Hadoop is another framework , runs on MapReduce technology to do distributed computations on different servers. (ref diagram: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Hadoop) Figure 3. Hadoop Processing Systems From the figure 3 we can observe that a hadoop multi-node cluster , it consists of single master node and slave node. A master node has different trackers like task tracker for scheduling the tasks , job tracker server handles with the job appointments in a order. Master also acts like a data node and name node. The slave node acts like a task tracker and data node which process the data only by slave-node only. HDFS layer deals with large cluster of nodes manage the name node server which prevents the corruption of file by taking the snapshots of the name node memory structure. Many top companies uses the hadoop technology plays a prominent role in the market.The Vendors who uses Hadoop technology will produce accurate results with high performance, scalability in output and cost is reduced. Some of the companies like Amazon, IBM, Zettaset, Dell and other uses Hadoop technology for easy analysis, provides security, user friendly solutions for complex problems.( http://www.technavio.com/blog/top-14-hadoop-technology-companies) MAPREDUCE: In 2004, Google released a framework called Hadoop MapReduce. This framework is used for writing the applications which process huge amount of multi-terabyte data sets in parallel on large number of nodes. MapReduce divides the work loads into multiple tasks that can be executed parallel. Computational process can be done on both file system and database. (ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MapReduce) MapReduce code is usuallay written in java program and it can also can write in another programming languages. It consists of two fundamental components like Map and Reduce. The input and output generated by MapReduce is in the form of key and value pair. The map node will take the input in the form of large clusters and divides it into smaller clusters were the execution process is easy. Rather Mapreduce provides support for hadoop distributed file system can store the data in different servers. This framework provides support for thousands of computational applications and peg bytes of data. Some of the important features of mapreduce are scale-out architecture , security and authentication, resource manager, optimized scheduling, flexibility and high availability. Additional tools are needed to add and should be trained for e-Health files to reduce the complexity because some of the compressed files like electronic-health DICOM picture file should be mapped to a singler Map Reducer so it reduces the BigdData effectiveness. The Hadoop big data applications has imposed a limitations on big data technologies has focused on the applications like offline informatics systems. 4) Programming Tools: The other solution for the e-Health bigdata is MUMPS, it is an programming tool. MUMPS is abbreviated as Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System. It is also known as M programming language. M is a multi user and it is designed to control the huge amount of database. M programming can produce high performance in health cares and in financial applications. M provides simple data considerations in which the data is given in the form of string of characters and the given data is structured in a multidimensional array. M requires support for sparse data.Accorrding to the research done by the scientist in US hospitals they are maintaing the electronic Health records (HER) using M language including Vista(Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) which manages all hospitals care facilities run by the Department of Veterans. (ref: http://opensource.com/health/12/2/join-m-revolution) In future some of the analytical algorithms are developed to solve the problems faced with the big data applications Additional e-Health (Big Data) Capabilities: The additional capabilities provided by the Big data e-Health services are Data Federation and aggregation, Security and Regulatory Concerns and Data Operational Management. The bigdata provides the services which helps to organize and store the huge amount of data. Those data is is digitalization , consists of large amount of datasets consists information related to patients all reports. 1) Data Federation and Aggregation: Data Federation is a type of software which collections the data from the multiple users and integrates the data.Typically traditional software cannot given the solution to store the huge amount of data in hardwares or by some database management tools.But the Data federation will provide a solution based upon the bigdata architecture is based by collecting the data inside and outside of the enterprise through the layer. Some of the important data federation tools are Sysbase federation, IBM InfoSphere Federation server and so on. (ref: http://etl-tools.info/en/data-federation.html) 2) Security and Regularity Concerns: Security is one of the important requirement to describe bidgata e-health services.Security plays a important role because patient share their personl information with the doctors which help the physician to give the correct treatment 3) Data Operational Management

The Character of Tarquin in Macbeth and Cymbeline Essay -- comparison

The Character of Tarquin in Macbeth and Cymbeline Tarquin’s image as a man of dastardly action becomes part of both Shakespeare's Macbeth and Cymbeline. As Iachimo emerges from a box in Imogen's bedchamber he speaks, and his words reflect the feeling not only of himself but all trespassers in Shakespeare's plays. Iachimo likens his actions to that of Tarquin, a Roman Tyrant who rapes the matron Lucrece. His trespassing in Imogen's bed chamber while she is sleeping is to Iachimo like rape. He violates her space and privacy. Similarly in the play Macbeth, Macbeth before killing Duncan invokes the image of Tarquin, "With Tarquin's ravishing strides towards, his design Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm set earth hear not my steps" (2.1.55-58). Both plays use of the image of Tarquin reveals fascinating intricacies about the way in which Shakespeare takes traditional; images of rapists and murders and re-uses them to relate to the actions of the characters in the play. By invoking th...

Pepsi Mission and Swot Analysis

Wendy Montagno Mkt-3120-401 Firm Mission Statement PepsiCo. Pepsi has had a long and rich history. The drink was invented by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina. He patented the drink and launched the Pepsi-Cola Company in1902, from the back room of his pharmacy. It developed into a strong franchise system. The dedication of the local Pepsi-Cola bottlers, have provided a solid foundation. Pepsi’s mission has always been to be a responsible corporate citizen. They strive to be the world’s premier consumer products company, focused on convenient foods and beverages.They work at producing financial rewards for its investors. They provide opportunities for growth for their employees and partners. Above all, they make every effort for honesty, fairness and integrity. Pepsi states their vision on their website as â€Å"PepsiCo's responsibility is to continually improve all aspects of the world in which we operate – environment, social, economic â⠂¬â€œ creating a better tomorrow than today. † They wish to create programs and focus on environmental stewardship to benefit the society. They also want to build shareholder value by becoming a truly sustainable company.Pepsi is the world’s second largest beverage and food company based on its net revenue. In North America it is first largest Beverage and Food Company by net revenue. SWOT analysis of PepsiCo. Internal Strengths One of Pepsi’s strengths is its history with a longtime local home. They also have a long standing loyal customer base. They also stay on top of current technology systems and networks to manage their manufacturing and distribution. Pepsi prides itself on knowing their customers needs to provide excellent customer service and implement global growth. WeaknessesPepsi must keep an eye on chain stores. Chain stores have a lower per-unit cost and can provide a lower price for their items. Pepsi has also had problems with offering new products without having sufficient knowledge of their target demographic. Their size is also a concern. The company is so large that it could lose focus or have internal conflict problems External Opportunities Pepsi needs to utilize the expanding Internet possibilities to better serve their customers. This goes in hand with providing training to their employees as systems become more complicated.They could also better position themselves to provide excellent personal service to compete with box stores since the large store seem to be driven by sales. Threats Pepsi always faces a challenge from their largest competitor, Coke whom has the world’s largest beverage distribution. On the other side they deal with competition from General Mills and ConAgra which are striving to have a larger market share in the snack market. Pepsi also faces the challenge of different regulations and policies set by governments in other countries.

Essay on the Freedom of the Press Essay

The Press, as identified with Newspapers, wields immense power in a democratic society. Dickens has called the Press â€Å"the mighty engine†. So great is its influence that some have called it the Fourth Estate. Napoleon used to say— â€Å"Your hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.† For, the press forms opinions, shapes movements and controls policies through well-informed criti ­cism. The most powerful autocrat is forced to take note of public opinion as reflected in a free press. That is why a regimented press is the instrument of autocracy, and a dictator deprives the press of its freedom. A free press is the symbol of a free people. An independent, well-informed press is a powerful check on arbitrary governments and irresponsible administrators. For newspapers are agents of the public, which bring to the notice of the people acts of injustice or oppression, or mal-administration that would otherwise have remained hidden away fr om public knowledge. They augur misgovernment at a distance and sniff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze’ (Burke). They exercise a constant vigilance on the rulers, which is salutary for all. Nowadays it is difficult for the press to be free. Either a newspaper is controlled by some financial magnates entirely and it has to voice their views or it is the mouthpiece of a party, and it must think as the party might direct; or it is under the thumb of the government and in that case its usefulness is reduced and independence compromised. For whoever controls it, necessarily limits its freedom by his own interests, i.e. calls the tune. In America, the great newspapers are in the bands of powerful financial syndicates; in England, they are in the hands of capitalists; in Russia they are mostly controlled by the government. But freedom of the press in each case depends on the way it reflects the will, the purpose of the people as a whole, in preference to that of any class or community or individual. The illusory or unrealistic character of the freedom of the press was seen during Great War. It is in such times of crisis that the voice of the people should be most clearly heard and not muffled. Yet it is then that newspapers are completely gagged. Most of these abuses might be checked to the advantage of all concerned, if the newspapers have freedom to criticise authorities and ventilate grievances. Indeed, no government can stifle the voice of the people but at  its own peril. The problem, therefore, is—how to ensure freedom of the newspaper. Legislation, of course, should guarantee the press against interference by the government; this goes without saying- But something more is necessary. The press under no circumstances should be forced to disclose the source of information or will be subservient to the government. But enjoins enjoys a corresponding duty on the part of the Press—that it should maintain strictly honest journalism and should not give any garbled report or prejudicial account. Independent-minded editors should have the right to ft free expression of opinions and unhampered publication of news, subject only to the limitation that they do not publish abuse and keep within the bounds of decorum. But real freedom of the press can exist only where a free people can function freely as in true democracy. It may be asked, why do we say there is no freedom of the press in England or America or India. The reason is that in these countries, the common people are in economic bondage. Governments are ruled by th e power of money and the press is controlled by owners in the interests of Big Business. In is, therefore, rightly claimed that in a Socialist country as the people become economically free, the government acquires an increasingly representative character. The journalists then can write freely and fearlessly. The best way to ensure freedom of the press is to publish all news from accredited sources, to allow free ventilation of opinion, to do away with all controls except in the interest of public safety or welfare. Freedom of the press should be a valued privilege and has to be safeguarded. It is a sacred right, which should be zealously promoted. Governments owe it to themselves to guarantee it from all arbitrary interference. Editors owe it to the public to maintain an honest and fearless attitude in favour of the people, against party or class interests. And the people owe it to their country to demand and defend such freedom as a priceless heritage.

Everything You Need to Know About The Cask of Amontillado

Everything You Need to Know About The Cask of Amontillado SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips As you prepare for the AP Literature exam, one of the things you’ll have to do is become an expert in a few literary works that you can use on the composition portion of the exam. We recommend that you choose four to five notable works with different genres and themes to make sure you can write an amazing student choice essay. (Actually...practicing analyzing literature will help you on the whole exam, not just the written portion, so it’s a win-win situation!) But just because these works have to be â€Å"notable† with â€Å"literary merit† doesn’t mean they need to be boring, too! That’s why we’re talking about Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† as a good choice for your AP exam. Not only is it widely recognized as an excellent piece of literature, it’s got a little of everything: horror! Suspense! A surprise twist! And as an added bonus...it’s short. To bring you up to speed, we’ll start with â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† summary, then we’ll jump into character and thematic analyses. By the time you finish this article, you’ll be able to write fearlessly about â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† on your AP exam. A photograph of Edgar Allan Poe. Historical Background: Who Was Edgar Allen Poe? Critics consider Edgar Allan Poe to be the father of the detective story (thanks to â€Å"Murders in the Rue Morgue,† which predates the Sherlock Holmes stories by more than 50 years!) and a pioneer of the American short story. But despite his literary success, Edgar Allan Poe’s life was marked by tragedy. Orphaned just a year after his birth in 1809, Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan (who weren’t blood relatives). Frances Allan and Poe fought often, usually over money, and Poe would flirt with poverty throughout his life...especially after he was cut out of John Allan’s will. Poe tried to go to college but couldn’t pay for it, so he dropped out. This was a blessing in disguise, since it kicked off Poe’s writing career. Fueled by both his passion and the death of his older brother, Poe moved back to Baltimore to become a full-time writer. There, he married his cousin- Virginia Clemm- who was just 13 at the time of the marriage. (Poe was 26!) By all accounts, the couple was happy until Virginia’s death thirteen years later. Poe would never recover from her death and would pass away two years later, shortly after turning 40 years old. Poe’s life might have been short, but his writing has lived on. Although Poe was a poet, literary critic, essayist, short story writer, and novelist, he is most well-known today for his grisly stories of terror and the macabre. Most of Poe’s works fall into the Gothic genre, which is characterized by a sense of terror, doubt, and the uncanny. The genre was incredibly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Poe’s writing would make him one of the best-known writers of Gothic horror. Here's what amontillado looks like! The Cask of Amontillado Background â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is one of Poe’s most famous short stories, and it was originally published in 1846 in Godey’s Lady Book, the most popular periodical in the United States at that time. Though scholars aren’t 100 percent sure what inspired Poe’s short story, many believe it’s based on a story he heard while stationed at Fort Independence in Massachusetts in 1827. At that time, Fort Independence had a statue of Lieutenant Robert Massie, who had been killed in a sword duel following a card game, on the premises. As legend has it, after Massie’s death, other soldiers took revenge on his murderer by getting him drunk and permanently sealing him in a vault...alive. A more popular theory is that Poe wrote â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† in response to his personal rival, Thomas Dunn English, who had written a scathing critique of one of Poe’s novels. â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† skewers elements from English’s novel, 1844, including making references to the same secret societies and subterranean vaults featured in English’s work. Others believe that â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† was inspired not by a person, but by a widespread fear of being buried alive. Because medicine was in its infancy, sometimes coma victims were assumed to be dead and were buried accordingly, only to awake in their coffins days later. People started inventing easy-open coffins, burial vaults with windows, and even coffins with breathing tubes attached to save people who were prematurely buried. And of course, the fear of being buried alive- only to die in your own coffin- is echoed in the plot of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado.† Regardless of what inspired Poe to write â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† the fact remains that this short story remains one of his most famous and enduring works of Gothic terror. The Cask of Amontillado Summary Now that you know a little bit about the background of Poe’s short story, let’s take a look at the plot of the text. (You can find a free, legal copy of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† online by clicking here.) The Story Begins Poe’s short story actually takes place in two time periods. The bulk of the events occur on the night of Carnaval, which is a Western Christian celebration that takes place before Lent. Carnival is a celebration of excess- of food, drink, and fun- before the restriction of the Lenten season sets in before Easter. (In the United States, the Carnival season is better known as Mardi Gras.) But the story is told in retrospect by the narrator, Montresor, fifty years after the event to an unknown listener (only referred to as â€Å"you† in the story). That means that there are actually two different time frames happening in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado.† Setting the Trap Readers learn that Montresor is planning to take revenge on his one-time friend, Fortunato. Readers never learn exactly what Fortunato has done to Montresor to push him over the edge, only that Montresor feels he is the victim of a â€Å"thousand injuries† and one unnamed â€Å"insult† he must avenge. Readers also learn that Montresor has hidden his rage in order to convince Fortunato that they are still friends- which is all part of his plan. On the night of Carnival, Montresor puts his plan into action. He knows that Fortunato considers himself a wine connoisseur, so Montresor isn’t surprised that Fortunato is already drunk when he finds him in the middle of the Carnival celebration. Montresor tells him about a pipe, or about 130 gallons, of Amontillado he bought. (Amontillado is a fine sherry wine.) But now that he has the wine, Montresor is afraid that he was duped. He tells Fortunato that he was on his way to find Luchresi- another wine connoisseur- to help him determine the wine’s authenticity. Entering the Vaults Montresor’s ploy works. Montresor knows that Fortunato is full of himself, and the idea that someone could judge the Amontillado pricks his ego. As a result, Fortunato insists on checking the Amontillado himself. Montresor half-heartedly tries to dissuade Fortunato, telling him that going into the catacombs, or underground vaults where generations of the Montresor family are buried, will worsen Fortunato’s head cold. Fortunato waves off Montresor’s concerns, saying that he â€Å"shall not die of a cough,† and he follows him into the vaults to taste the Amontillado anyway. As the men venture further into the dark, underground passageways, Montresor makes sure that Fortunato keeps drinking. Fortunato asks about the Montresor family’s coat of arms, and Montresor tells him that their family motto is â€Å"Nemo me impune lacessit,† or â€Å"no one attacks me with impunity.† Fortunato is so drunk that he misses the warning in Montresor’s words, and instead asks whether Montresor is a member of the masons, a fraternity with an elite membership. Montresor says yes and holds up a mason’s trowel, implying that he’s a literal mason instead. Fortunato thinks Montresor is joking, and by the time they arrive at the niche where Montresor says he’s stored the Amontillado, he’s too drunk to notice that there’s no wine inside. He doesn’t even resist as Montresor chains him to the wall. The End of Fortunato Montresor then reveals the bricks and mortar he has stored in the vault, and he begins to wall up the opening to the niche...with Fortunato chained inside. The process is a long one, and Montresor describes Fortunato’s fearful cries and attempts to pull free from the chains. But Montresor is determined, and he throws a lit torch into the niche with Fortunato before he finishes walling him in alive. By this point, Fortunato is panicked. He’s screaming for help, but the pair are so far underground that there’s no one to hear him. He tries to appeal to Montresor’s logic, saying that he’ll be missed by â€Å"Lady Fortunato and the rest.† Montresor is unmoved, finishes sealing up the vault, and leaves Fortunato there to die. Montresor finishes his story by telling the listener that there Fortunato’s bones remain, fifty years later. mninha/Flickr â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† Character Analysis Read on for an in-depth analysis of the major characters in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado.† Fortunato Fortunato’s name means â€Å"the fortunate one† in Italian, which is ironic given that he ends up bricked within the Montresor catacombs and left to die. This is just one example of the dramatic irony that permeates the short story. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something that one or more of the characters don’t know. In this case, readers know what Montresor plans to do, but Fortunato remains ignorant. This creates tension in the short story. As a reader, you want to yell at Fortunato to run away, but you can’t. The thrill of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† comes from knowing exactly what will happen and being powerless to stop it. Other than the fact that he seems to have wronged Montresor somehow, readers learn very little about Fortunato directly. Everything we know about his character we have to infer from Montresor’s descriptions of Fortunato and his actions. For example, we know Fortunato thinks he and Montresor are friends, and they likely were at one point. But we also know that Fortunato is â€Å"rich, respected, admired, beloved,† and happy, according to Montresor, at least. But he also seems to be egotistical and self-indulgent; he drinks to excess, has no qualms talking badly about other people (like Luchresi), and thinks he’s the best wine connoisseur around. Ultimately, whether or not Fortunato’s character flaws are enough to warrant Fortunato’s fate is up for readers to decide. Montresor Montresor is the main character of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† and the story is told in first person from his perspective. Like Fortunato, readers know very little about Montresor’s backstory outside of what they can infer from the text. For example, Poe implies that Montresor seems to come from money- he lives in a palazzo, which is basically an Italian palace, which has its own crypt. But Montresor’s actions tell readers even more about his character. First, he’s driven by revenge. He doesn’t take insults lightly, and he’s able to nurse a grudge to an extreme degree. He’s also witty- he makes double entendres about Fortunato’s death that the latter never catches- and knows how to plan ahead, too. But most importantly, he lacks remorse. At the end of the story, Montresor ends with an exclamation, â€Å"In pace requiescat,† which means â€Å"rest in peace.† Montresor is proud of what he’s done...and even prouder that he hasn’t been caught. As a result, his final wish for Fortunato comes across as sarcastic rather than sincere. All of this together makes readers question Montresor’s role in the story. At the beginning, he seems like he’s the protagonist: he’s a man who’s been terribly wronged looking for revenge. But by the end of the story, it’s not clear whether Montresor is the story’s hero...or its villain. Luchresi Luchresi never appears in the story, but he plays a vital role in Montresor’s plan. Luchresi is clearly one of Fortunato’s rivals, if not in reality, then at least when it comes to his expertise in wine. Montresor plays this rivalry to his advantage. He keeps mentioning Luchresi’s name to motivate Fortunato and keep him interested in the Amontillado, especially since he’s drunk and his attention keeps wavering. (Keep in mind that Luchresi is an innocent bystander in all of this- Montresor is just borrowing his name and reputation.) Poe uses the mention of Luchresi’s name to remind Fortunato- and the readers- what’s happening. Unnamed Listener Like we mentioned earlier, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is a story told in retrospect. An older Montresor is speaking to an unnamed listener, recounting how he killed Fortunato in revenge. Readers know nothing about the listener, only that he’s Montresor’s audience in telling the story. But from an analysis standpoint, the listener is important. It reminds us that Montresor is telling this story to someone else, and in doing so, trying to communicate his personal perspective. It makes readers question whether Montresor is telling the whole truth, too. Was Fortunato really as bad as Montresor says he was, for example? Because the story is told from Montresor’s perspective- and likely with an agenda in mind- readers are left wondering if Montresor’s account is totally accurate. Brandon Heyer/Flickr The 3 Key The Cask of Amontillado Themes â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado" is considered one of Poe’s best short stories, and with good reason: it melds tension, horror, and surprise together masterfully. But what are the messages of Poe’s story? Let’s look at three of major themes of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† below. The Unreliability of Perception Think of a time that you did something you knew your parents would punish you for. When you explained the situation to your parents, how did you do it? More than likely, you tried to downplay your actions (without lying!) to make the consequences a little less severe. This is a good example of how perspective matters. For your parents, what you did is a serious offense. But if you could just offer a different perspective on things, maybe you won’t be grounded for quite so long! In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† readers are presented with Montresor’s perspective of the story. He tells readers he’s been wronged- for what, he doesn’t say- and paints an unflattering picture of Fortunato. Even though Montresor says he’s rich and well liked, Fortunato’s actions make him seem like a stuck-up, overindulgent idiot. But is that accurate? Because we only get Montresor’s side of the story, it’s hard to know. It’s up to the reader to decide how reliable, or trustworthy, Montresor is as a narrator. Do we believe him and his argument that killing Fortunato was the only way to have his revenge? Or is Montresor just a cold-blooded killer? By making the readers ask these questions, Poe draws attention to the idea that people’s individual perspectives on a situation aren’t necessarily 100 percent accurate. The Danger of Pride Although Montresor is responsible for Fortunato’s death, the latter has a hand in sealing his own coffin, too. Even though he’s drunk and sick, the mention of Luchresi’s name triggers Fortunato’s massive ego. The idea that anyone could be better than him- especially Luchresi, who can’t â€Å"tell Amontillado from sherry†- drives him to follow Montresor into the catacombs. Despite wanting to kill Fortunato, Montresor gives his victim many chances to turn back. Montresor cites Fortunato’s cough, saying that it might be best to ask for Luchresi’s help instead. But each time, Fortunato says he wants to push forward because he cannot stand Luchresi getting credit for determining whether the Amontillado is authentic. It’s his pride that makes him want to beat Luchresi, but in the end, it’s his pride that makes him lose. The Power of Revenge Perhaps the scariest aspect of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is how far Montresor goes for revenge. In many ways, what Fortunato has done to warrant Montresor’s wrath is immaterial; Poe is more interested in how revenge drives a man to extremes. In this case, it’s clear that Fortunato’s perceived wrongs have dominated Montresor’s thoughts and actions. His plan to kill Fortunato is highly premeditated: he’s clearly put a lot of thought into how he will do it, right down to making sure he has bricks and mortar handy to entomb Fortunato alive. This is not a spur-of-the-moment, in-the-heat-of-passion action. No, Montresor has thought long and hard about his plan. Given this, Poe shows readers how powerful the need for revenge can be. Not only can it drive people to extremes, it can warp their sense of reason, too. After all, short of murder, what insult could Fortunato have delivered to warrant such a gruesome death? Could it be that Montresor’s desire for vengeance, rather than Fortunato's actions, are what allows Montresor to justify murder? Ultimately, because the whole story is written from Montresor’s perspective, Poe doesn’t give readers any clear answers. But in doing so, Poe also shows how the truth is often obscured by people’s perceptions and motivations. Now What? It’s great that you’re preparing for the composition part of the AP Literature exam, but don’t forget that there’s a multiple choice section, too. Get the skinny on the multiple choice section- and how to ace it!- here. One of the best ways to practice for any exam is to take practice tests. Did you know that there are practice exams for AP tests, too? Here’s a list of practice tests for the AP Literature exam that you can take to help you study smarter. Now that you’re well on your way to taking an AP English exam, why not try your hand at some other AP tests? Here’s a comprehensive list of all the AP classes and tests you can take to help earn credit for college. Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Ashley Robinson About the Author Ashley Sufflà © Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. 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