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The deathly ringing of the clock resonated throughout the chambers and faded away like they always had. But this time, the festivities did not flare back to life, for the new figure had control over the attention of everyone. This unique figure was shrouded in a robe as black as a void that covered all of his body except for his face, which was concealed by a peculiar mask. Contrary to the darkness of the robes, the lean mask was a pure, ghostly white with two blood red, curved lines, thicker at the top of the mask and thinner towards the bottom, through the eyes which were void holes. The air around him was cold and stale, like death lingered around him, waiting for its next victim. From the outskirts of the crowd, he moved in closer to the revelers, with each step echoing unnaturally loud. People shuffled away from him, afraid some terrible fate may befall them if they get close in proximity to him, as he strolled toward some unknown destination.
Untouched and unhindered, he continued on a path, not yet discovered, towards the unknowing Prince Prospero. Although he had a slow pace, he made an unexplainable distance in a small amount of time. Some masqueraded man from the retreating group grew enraged and curious of this mysterious man. He ran up to the figure and placed a hand on his mask with the intent to tear it off of the ghostly man. The moment he laid his hand upon the mask, he screamed in agony and pain. Then, unable to pull his hand or the mask free, his fate was sealed. His scream withered away along with his final breath, as he turned old and crumpled onto the lustrous floor in a pile of black ash. Silence and absolute stillness filled the room before a wine glass, half full of a red drink, descended from the whitley g...
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... tenth toll took their share of the helpless men.
Pale as the ghost he was going to become, Prospero gentley landed on the floor of the black room, where he was certain he would meet his demise. The black room contained the ominous ornaments and tapestries as it always had, but it now had Death. The blood red pane cast an eerie light that bathed the entire room in a dim, bloody light. Death loomed over the guant figure barely recognizable as the once honorable Prince Prospero, for he now had the appearance of an elderly man with greyed hair that sprouted from his leathery, wrinkled skin. The eleventh toll chimed and the prince was reduced to a pile of black ash, indistinguishable from any other dust pile. When the final twelfth toll sounded, Death vanished along with the light from the brazier in the black room, leaving the entire castle empty and devoid of any life.
Edgar Allen Poe, in the short story “The Masque of the Red Death”, shows how people may try to outsmart death and surpass it, but in the end they will die since death is inevitable. He reveals this in the book by showing all the people closed up in the abbey that belongs to Prince Prospero. They are trying to escape the “Red Death” and think that they can escape the death by hiding away in the abbey. They manage to stay safe for six months but in the end they all die after the stroke of midnight during the masquerade ball Prince Prospero puts on from the Red Death itself which appears after midnight and leaves no survivors in the end. Poe develops the theme of how no one can escape death through the use of the point of view, the setting, and symbolism.
All spring and summer the townsfolk spoke about the three bodies that had been found, mangled and slashed. Now, had the three men headed the warning and stayed away from the old man’s house they would still be alive. Instead they were tempted by the greed in their hearts for the money the terrible old man was said to have possession of. This drove them to enter through his gate and knock on the door. They believed that because he was an old man, he would be feeble and week, making him an easy target for
...agraph, the author mentions that the disease had come "like a thief in the night," but this statement is entirely untrue. Poe wrote a cohesive story which acknowledges the fear of trapping oneself in a doomed situation. Ironically, the very place the Prospero built to keep himself safe led to his hideous destruction. However, the audience was never permitted to believe that the prince would escape death, because even Poe's choice of environments reflect the triumph of the plague; the isolation and quarantine of the abbey, the fever and delirium of the masquerade, and finally the progression of time and eventual death. The clock strikes midnight, and with its shadowy expiration, "the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all," (213).
Hundreds of people thought that they were being isolated from a deadly contagion, but it had seemed to find another form of an entrance. “The Masque of the Red Death”, was written by Edgar Allan Poe, a poet from the mid-1800’s, with a wife who had tuberculosis. The short story begins with a lengthy description of the pestilence, which can be interpreted as tuberculosis, that has infested the fictional country. The wealthy Prince Prospero decides to house a thousand of his friends, in order to keep them safe. The artistic home of this Prince has seven rooms, each decorated with a separate color. After five or six months of being sheltered from the contagion, Prince Prospero decides to throw a masquerade ball. As the party progresses, the large ebony clock in the black room chimes, on the twelfth chime, a new guest appears. The rooms turn silent as the ghost of the red death slowly walks through, the fearless Prince Prospero follows
(359). He uses the seventh room to symbolize the final stage of life, death. He sees the black
The clock serves as more than just a decorative element, it “is the relentlessly paralyzing reminder of ‘the Time that flies…’” (Freedman 238). Poe’s repeated mention of the clock and its chimes creates a level of anticipation and anxiety that must mirror what the partygoers are feeling as they are left unable to ignore the fact that time is passing and death is growing nearer. No matter how much wealth or luck these people may have had, they are not above dying. While the partygoers may try to “avoid the black and blood-tinted chamber, the echoes of the clock resound throughout the abbey” and leave each of them with a feeling of uneasiness as they are pulled back to reality (Freedman 238). While the prospect of people dying beyond the walls seemed not to weigh heavily among the party guests, “the chimes of the clock” made even the “giddiest [grow] pale” (Poe 439). The inclusion and repetition of such details as the partygoers’ reactions towards each of the clock’s hourly chimes show that they are finally, though unwillingly, beginning to acknowledge the finality of the death that awaits them. However, whenever the clock’s “sound fades, [the partygoers]
In the story, the reader is first introduced to the Red Death. It is a plague that has filled the lands and causes havoc on those it infects. To escape this, Prince Prospero has hosted a masquerade for his the nobles in an attempt to avoid this disease. The night goes on in the multitude of colored rooms, but by midnight a figure appears that resembles the
He uses symbolism for the black clock and he also symbolizes the progression of life through the seven rooms. On the subject for the black clock, every time the clock struck each hour everyone in the room would stop and wait till the clock would finish ringing. The clock striking at each hour goes to show that your life is slowly passing by and you’re closer to death each second. Now, for the seven rooms. Each room color is different. Birth: blue, youth: purple, adolescence: green, adulthood: orange, old age: white, death: red. All the guest stayed away from the seventh room. If red symbolizes death and blood they are going to want to stay away from it at all cost. Both of these uses of symbolism in a way show that no matter what death will come. From birth till death you are dying each and every second and there is no way to escape
The point of view Edgar wrote this in is very effective and understandable. His main focus is on two characters, capturing image-like thoughts of their minds. The characters actions relate back to their personal conflicts within themselves. Poe wrote this story in 3rd person, limited point of view. The Red Death's emotions and feelings are filled with hatred and terrorism. Poe says,"...and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterward, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero" (Poe). This clearly shows the Red Death's goal, to kill and destroy. Prince Prospero however, ignores the death and instead shows, as it has no impact on him. He avoids the dreary thought of death overall. He asserts,"...he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends"(Poe). He is loved by many and loves unlike the Red Death. The Red Death's thoughts are not clear in comparison to Prince Prospero as to what he wants and feels towards otherwise. Edgar asserts, "The Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious"(Poe). His feelings were blunt. Poe also states, "No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous"(Poe). The Red Death's thoughts are very vague and unclear. This direct and indirect perspective helps the story flow and create a suspicion....
All that could be heard was the distant wail of an ambulance siren, which rent the bitter evening air like a butcher’s knife through a carcass. It would’ve been hard to believe that only minutes ago the place had been alive with crowds and commotion and excitement; for now it stood empty. It seemed that time itself had stopped: that every clock, timepiece, wristwatch in the world had ceased to tick.
The fear of death is one of the themes for Edgar Allan Poe’s story “ The Masque of the Red Death”. Though disease of death is striking his entire country, Prince Prospero believes that he can escape from it. Prospero, as well as
Edgar Allen Poe, a famous novelist from the 18th century, is known for being a treasure trove for allusions, illusions, clues, and all sorts of literary fun. Born in 1809, this Bostonian never had it easy. Marriage to a 13 year old cousin, family problems, and deaths surrounded him. Over time, such tremendous struggle began to reflect in his writing, creating the dark and moody tone we now see today. One such piece, The Fall of the House of Usher, tells the tale of a man who goes to visit a dying friend on his last days. Roderick Usher is the name of this dying man, although he doesn’t seem dead in the beginning. However, the deathly state should be of no importance to the reader; death is the very essence of Poe’s writing. Rather, the reader’s attention should be deviated toward the unusual twin of the story,
During this period of hiding a ball was thrown by the prince to celebrate the many still living within the castle. In the castle were seven rooms all lit up by different colors. These rooms symbolically stood for the seven stages of life. According to “Masque of the Red Death,” these rooms were in the color of blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and black. As the party commenced a mysterious figure in black appeared and frightened many who saw it. Prospero took this this figure as an enemy of his, and boldly tried to rid the figure from the party. As bold as it may seem, Prospero’s action was simply a foolish one. As the prince made his way to the dark figure, he fell to his death within being 3 feet of the figure. Many watching in horror of the prince falling; however the people unknowingly would soon meet the same
Matthews states that a short-story is a story which focuses on one single thing, instead of elaborate many of them (398). It creates a “unity of impression” meaning that all elements of the story are combined together to leave a single feeling or effect on a reader (Matthews 398). The author stresses that the singularity (i.e. one place, one event, one character) in a short story is the main key that leads the reader to develop this unified impression (398).