William Dubritsky
Drew Hemesath
English 9
9 March, 2023 The red death
The feeling of unavoidable death is a scary feeling.In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe makes symbolism evident in many ways. In this short story, people gather at a mansion for a party but the party is a different kind of party. There is a disease going around and it is almost like they are ignoring it by gathering together. At this party there are many rooms that have different meanings.The death is caused from a plague that is taking people's lives. In “The Masque of the Red Death“ Poe shows that death is unavoidable through the symbolism of the layout of the rooms, the seventh room, and the clock. The theme in this short story by Poe is unavoidable death.“ The first symbol represented is the layout of the rooms. The windows in the room are painted red, symbolizing terror or death in the story. "The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue."(Poe, 84).The clock
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Each room was themed with different colors. The first room was blue which represented birth or the start of life. As the rooms progressed, they symbolized the different stages in life. The last room which is red and dark symbolized the inevitable death that people will face due to this disease. In the Masque of the Black Death, Poe writes, “That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue - a vivid blue were its windows.” (Poe, 5). This means that the blue room would symbolize birth because many times blue represents birth or the start of life. As we learn about the next few rooms, it seems that Poe is assigning a colored room to each stage of life. In conclusion, symbolism is shown through the progression of the rooms in the