The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe is a dark and frightening story of revenge, temptation, and murder. The victim of the brutal crime, Fortunato, is a respectable gentleman with a weakness. He has flaws like any other human being, but the difference lies in the severity of his imperfections. For poor Fortunato his vulnerabilities prove to be the cause of his death. If Fortunato had not been drunk at the time of his murder, he would not have succumbed to the enticements of his murderer, Montressor, and would not have been killed. The Barrel of Amontillado is an eloquent story told from the assassin's point of view. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato for numerous insults that the reader can only imagine. To determine the severity of the apparent injustices one must understand Fortunato himself. Montressor describes him as “rich, respected, admired, [and] loved,” as well as “a man to be… feared” (Poe 274-276). However, Fortunato was an imperfect individual. His greatest imperfection was his love of wine. The “connoisseur” (274) of Fortunato's wine caused his state of inebriation throughout the story. His physical and mental abilities were impaired by his drunkenness, and as a result, he was unable to resist Montressor's lure into the catacombs. The alcohol Fortunato consumed had drastic effects on his body's physiology. In general, alcohol affects virtually every cell in the human body. When introduced into the body through consumption, it diffuses through both the stomach and small intestine and enters the bloodstream. Alcohol travels through the blood and is metabolized by the liver. It takes about an hour for a drink to break down from... half of the paper... Works Cited Blume, Arthur W., and G. Alan Marlatt. “The role of executive cognitive functions in substance use change: What we know and what we need to know.” Annals of Behavioral Medicine 37.2 (2009): 117-125. Academic research completed. Network. November 6, 2011. Grant, Naomi K., and Tara K. MacDonald. "Can alcohol lead to inhibition or disinhibition? Applying alcohol myopia to animal testing." Oxford Journals 40.5 (2005): 373-378. Network. November 6, 2011.Goldberg, Leonard. "Behavioral and physiological effects of alcohol on humans". Psychomatic Medicine. 28.4 (1966): 570-594. Network. November 12, 2011. “How Alcohol Affects Your Body” Information about alcohol in your blood. Np 2006. Web. November 4, 2011.Poe, Edgar A. “The Cask of Amontillado” The Collected Short Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe.New York: The Modern Library, 1992. 274-279. Press.