Theme Of Death In The Masque Of The Red Death

The idea of death is a thought the scares many, from those who have lived the course of their life to those who are just merely starting it. With the fear that consumes each person comes the will to try and escape the long claws of death, though no matter whom one is, death is inevitable. The short story, “Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe, gives the theme that no one is capable of escaping death through the use of plot, symbolism, and narration. The story takes place during the dark ages where a bubonic plague, which causes sharp pains, sudden dizziness, and profuse bleeding at the pores, was claiming many lives. The Prince Prospero, wanting to outlive this horrid plague, locked himself away along with 1,000 others from his court.
The first to come into play were the seven rooms where the masked ball took place. These rooms were aligned from east to west, each one decorated with a different color, going from blue on the east end, to black on the west. These rooms symbolizing the stages of life starting from birth being the blue room and ranging all the way to death with the black room. The patrons of the ball seemed to enjoy each room but one, the black room, where "there were few of the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all” (Poe, 206). This is a symbol of not only how scary the room was, but also to not many being comfortable with the idea of death. The next symbol used in the story is the clock that also resided within the black room. With each passing hour, "there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical” (Poe, 206). The sounds of these bells after each hour brought silence amongst the rooms. This symbolizes the coming of death, and with each passing hour, one is closer to reaching that brink end. Once the clock inevitably hits midnight, the masked figure had infiltrated the ball and had brought an end to their lives, for the ending of the day means the ending of life. The very last symbol used was the masked being who entered the ball at midnight, who symbolized death itself, and that no one could escape it. These symbols
The elements used throughout the tale help to support this theme, using devices such as plot, narration, and symbolism. The plot of Prince Prospero and his friends attempting to outlive the plague that has corrupted their lands shows that no amount of wealth or power can save one from not just the plague, but death itself. The narration given by the author also helps set the mood of the tale, and help to give the story a sense of life. It begins vividly, with everyone having a good time as the night slowly progresses, and then midnight arrives. When the story comes to a close, you could almost hear the silence of the seven rooms as all were dead, not even the clock or the flames the lit up the rooms continues to have life. The use of symbolism also adds to reinforce the theme, hinting at the cycle of life and dead in many different ways. One of these methods was through the seven different colored rooms that went from east to west. The eastern most room, which was blue symbolizing the beginning of life while the others, symbolized a certain part of ones life until you reached the final room, which was death. The rooms that went from east to west also symbolized the path of the sun, in which the sun rises from the east, representing birth, and setting in the west bringing nightfall, which represents death. The clock, as well as the