Symbolism In The Masque Of Red Death

Throughout history people have been known to fear the unknown, why? Well we know what to expect, our minds are trained to use our past experiences to predict what will happen. But it doesn’t prepare us for death. In the short story, The Masque of Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe, Poe speaks of the Red Death as it brings complete and utter misery to all that it struck. As this plague is flowing throughout the country, a man by the name of Prince Prospero decided to attempt to cheat death. He along with a group of the most elite close themselves off in one of the Prince 's abbeys to try to wait out the death that lurked outside. Poe’s use of symbolism with his descriptions of the seven rooms and the giant clock to characterize the stages of life …show more content…
When you think of communism you think of the color red, which can symbolize blood, war, and death, which are very common themes in Poe’s short story. In 1917 that’s exactly what happened when the communist rebels over threw the tsarist government in Russia. Although there is a close correlation between the story and communism, Poe outlines that the red death doesn’t kill only the poor it kills anything in its path. With communism the idea is that everyone is equal, which doesn’t fit into the story because Prince Prospero and his wealthy guests try to cheat death only to find that death is among them. What the Masque of Red Death actually conveys is that no one can escape death regardless of how prosperous they are in life. Poe gives great symbolism with the seven rooms and how they represent the stages of life and the giant ebony clock in the last room. As well as the profound use of color the constant mentions of black and red personifies death making it seem like that its always watching over you. Nevertheless it does not represent communism as many people are led to believe in. Poe’s predominant concept throughout the story is the surety of