Question

Read the following excerpt from the "The Cask of Amontilado"

He turned toward me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication.

"Niter?" he asked, at length.

"Niter," I replied. "How long have you had that cough?"

"Ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!"

My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes.

"It is nothing," he said, at last.

"Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi--"

"Enough," he said; "the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough."

"True--true," I replied; "and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily; but you should use all proper caution. A draft of this Medoc* will defend us from the damps."

Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle that I drew from a long row of its fellows that lay upon the mold.

*Medoc: a red wine from the Bordeaux region of France


What is ironic about the conversation between Fortunato and Montresor?

Answer 1

The conversation between Fortunato and Montresor in 'The Cask of Amontillado' is ironic because Montresor is luring Fortunato to his death while pretending to be concerned about his health.

Step-by-step explanation:

The conversation between Fortunato and Montresor in 'The Cask of Amontillado' is ironic because Montresor is luring Fortunato to his death while pretending to be concerned about his health. Montresor repeatedly mentions

Fortunato's cough and advises him to go back, but he actually plans to trap and kill him. The irony lies in the fact that Fortunato dismisses his own cough as nothing serious, while Montresor continues to manipulate him.