Comparing The Pit And The Pendulum, And The Masque Of Red Death

Fear can have both a helpful and harmful outcomes. That sense that alerts you when something is perilous or amiss is an example of ways fear is useful. Adverse results of fear can cause paranoia, which can dangerously cloud your thoughts. Fear is essential because it is like a filter that suppresses irrational acts. Likewise, fear offers restraint, therefore it is key to survival. Similarly, in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Masque of Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe uses symbol, irony, and imagery to illustrate how paranoia can distort the narrator’s mind, which can result in different repercussions.

In “The Tell-Tale Heart” the primary symbol is the “vulture” looking eye, in “The Masque of Red Death” the major symbol

His obsessions are beginning to turn into fear because he views the eye as a threat, which haunts the narrator. He also sees the eye as a mockery. After being watched for eight nights, the Old Man gets killed. Therefore, the narrator is trying to erase his guilt by writing about the incident. Poe is also showing us that fear can get into your head and desensitize your thoughts. By clouding your mind, fear and obsession can make you act out in a negative way that could end like the Old Man’s death. In “The Masque of Red Death” the ebony clock symbolizes that death is inevitable. Prince Prospero fears death. Therefore, he also fears the clock. Prospero knows that with every tick that goes by means that death is one-second closer, every hour that passes represents another death. As the clock strikes every hour the dancers at the ball freeze and wait to see who dies next; “...at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause…”

An example of irony is when the Old Man in “The Tale Tell Heart” tries to keep evil out, but he does not realize that evil is already inside. According to the narrator, “for the shutters were closed fastened, through fear of robbers” (74) the Old Man was determined to keep evil out. The narrator describes himself as being kind and loving towards the Old Man, so why would he kill him? It could be because he is also insane or because he fears the Old Man. Fear also disfigures the Old Man’s mind to the point where he cages himself in. Both Prince Prospero and the Narrator attempt to keep evil and death away by segregating themselves from society, but they do not realize that evil is right under their nose. One major irony found in “The Masque of Red Death” is when the Prince also attempts to sequester himself and keep death away. He tries to keep the Red Death away, but he slowly appears in the rooms; “now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death”(61). The Red Death is lurking in the shadows of both the first and seventh rooms. When the appears in the chamber, he is also representing the first stage of life which is, birth. The seventh room coerces Prospero because he knows that this is last room which also means the last stage of life that is, death. Throughout the story, the narrator’s mind becomes distorted as he obsesses over