The Red Death

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Recommended: Central theme of death by edgar allan poe

No matter what you do or how far you try to run away from it, death will always find you. In the short story, “Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allen Poe tells a story of plague and desperation. A disease known only as the “Red Death” overtakes a small kingdom. There is no cure, and those who suffer from the disease only have thirty minutes to live before they begin bleeding out of every orifice. The prince of the kingdom flees to a remote castle, bringing a limited number of people with him. They throw a large party in the castle, celebrating their escape from the plague. However, an unknown man appearing as a corpse enters the castle. When the prince attacks the offender, the prince falls to the ground, dead from the “Red Death.” When the rest of the guests look under the robes, there is no one there. Although they try running away from it, the disease overtakes everyone. Edgar Allen Poe illustrates in his story that there is nothing you can do to avoid death. When it is your time, you will die. Poe has shown a rough interpretation of life and death. Death introduces itself in the form of “The Red Death.” It strikes suddenly without empathy. “No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. …show more content…

While Prospero may have been able to escape death for a short period of time, there was a constant reminder of its presence. He designed seven rooms that were designed with one color only. In order, these colors were blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and finally the final chamber. “ But in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet --a deep blood color” (Poe). Each room represents a different stage of life, and black represents death: “It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony” (Poe). The clock ticks away, reminding everyone of the passing of

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