Similarities Between A Rose For Emily And The Masque Of The Red Death

In the following short stories, the protagonists fit perfectly with the stories’ theme. The protagonists are Emily, in “A Rose for Emily,” Old Koskoosh, in “The Law of Life,” and Prince Prospero, in “The Masque of the Red Death.” They fit very well with the stories because they are mostly about death and fate. All three texts have a similar protagonist to support the stories’ theme. They represent their themes by the way they think and react to opposing entities.
In “A Rose for Emily,” Miss Emily is the perfect pernicious protagonist for this story because the theme is about moving forward and letting go, which is something Miss Emily refuses to do. Miss Emily cannot accept the death of her father, change anything that is broken in her house, and holding on the Homer’s corpse. Miss Emily held on to her father’s dead body for a couple of days because she just could not accept the death of her father as reality. After that incident she never changed or fixed any items in her house. Then came along Homer, her “rose”. Homer and Emily had a history that ended up not being so pleasant. She ended up poisoning him and keeping his body preserved in her house; she was still sexually attracted to him after the incident. Miss Emily has a problem of letting go and moving forward.

In “The Law of Life,” the theme is “Accepting Death”.

Old Koskoosh does not fight his fate. Old Koskoosh was left behind by his tribe purposely. It is part of their tradition. His son came for him, Old Koskoosh was thankful for him, but it was slowing down the tribe’s progression. He did not want to be rescued because he was afraid that he would break the tradition. While Old Koskoosh was awaiting his death, he came across a moose. It was being attacked by wolves and was fighting for its life. The situation was ironic because it was the complete opposite of Old Koskoosh’s purpose. Although Old Koskoosh was not trying to fight for his life, he was trying to benefit the next

generation.
Prince Prospero believed to be superior to any other authority in his presence. He considered himself to be able to overcome all entities, including death. He knew the Red Death was among him; being a leader, he instructs his people to hide in the abbey and weld all entrances closed so the Red Death could not come after him. Now nobody is able to get in or out, so he assumes everybody is safe. Prospero decides to have a celebration as a masquerade ball for all that has lived in the sealed abbey for some time. He comes across one person dressed up as Red Death. Nervously, he tries to have his guards throw out the man, but they are all too afraid to go near him. Prospero ends up going after the figure. He finally faces his greatest fear that he has been hiding from. He approaches the Red Death and when it turns around, he instantly dies. Prince Prospero’s arrogance finally put a toll on him.
The protagonists all represent their story’s theme in a similar way. All three of the protagonists are tantamount. Whether it’s Emily’s fearful behavior to moving on, Old Koskoosh’s independence, or Prince Prospero’s arrogance. All three texts have a similar protagonist to support the stories’ theme.