Inevitability In The Masque Of The Red Death

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There is only one inevitability in life—the inevitability that death, in whatever form it takes, is coming for us, and in the case of the Red Death, its coming for us quickly. “The ‘Red Death’ had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous… and the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour” (1). In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe’s central theme is the inability to escape death, a challenge all people grapple with eventually, and how poorly this inevitability is dealt with when brought to the forefront of one's mind. This theme of death and its complications is explained by Poe through the use of setting, imagery, and symbolism in “The Masque…show more content…
The very accurate, descripitive details read in the same style as the criticizing process of thought we use when thinking about the idea of death, examining it to distract ourselves from the reality of it all. Thinkers and workers alike will often tear apart the subject of death, scrutinizing it until it feels like nothing more than a concept—like religion or philosophy, instead of something solid, verifiable, and absolutely certain. His detailing also cements that death comes equally; his detailed wording reminds the reader of the decorated members of the nobility who find themselves in Prince Prospero's castle. Symbolism plays heavily into the creation of Poe's theme. He used Prince Prospero's quarantined masquerade ball, chiefly, to symbolize our discomfort, ignorance, and masking of death. “Put ya quote here” (). As the clock in the black and red ballroom strikes each hour, the party gives pause—thinking, unfortunately, about the death that waits for them all. However, after the clock chimes, and after the sudden thought of death leaves the minds of the guests, the action starts up again as if it had never ended, illustrating the tendancy of people to think of death, fear death, and then sweep it under the
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