Summary: The Masque Of The Red Death

As our population continues to age, there will be wide implications for our healthcare system. The aging population places an increased pressure on a healthcare system that is already overburdened by a lack of healthcare providers in many areas. The Baby Boomer generation that is currently reaching the 65+ age category is historically less healthy and costlier in terms of healthcare costs than previous generations with many more comorbid conditions (King, Matheson, Chirina, Shankar, & Broman-Fulks, 2013). Obesity, hypertension, and general disability are occurring in the Boomer generation in much greater percentages than previous generation. While this could be explained by longer life expectancies and better diagnostic abilities, there are …show more content…
While obviously not initially intended to portray the state of current events, its common themes our still relevant to our current situation. A few themes in particular stand out to me as particularly relevant. The first and most obvious is the tendency of humans to attempt to shield themselves from death and disease.
In the story, the country involved had rampant spread of death and disease. In order to shield himself from death and illness, a prince retreated to his walled castle with a thousand friends and blocked off any means in or out of the castle so that there was no way for death to reach him. Outside of the wealthy castle, the rest of the country’s inhabitants were left to the disease. The party continued for a period of time with no regard to death and the disease that was outside of the walls. Occasionally, partygoers would be interrupted by a clock’s chime (time) which would temporarily dampen moods, but the laugher and fun returned shortly later. Eventually, the death and disease found its way into the castle, and everyone in the castle was struck with the “red