Masque of the Red Death Essay

Emily P.

Mrs. Zurkowski

English 1 Greens

October 27, 2010

“The Masque of the Red Death- White”

            In the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death”, the color white represents wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge are usually involved with people between the ages of fifty and sixty or seventy. When people are older, they know more than they did when they were younger. This is probably one the biggest reason that this color is associated with this age group. Normally, white would be associated this with older people. This is why it is the fifth room out of the seven rooms of the kingdom. That is another reason and because it is the fifth out of seven rooms, it is coming closer to death so this is about how these people are labeled by their age. In the rest of this essay, there will be more discussion about this room and why it means so much to this story.

            In this story, each room symbolizes a stage of life. The first rooms symbolize the younger years and the last room symbolizes death. The color white which is the fifth room symbolizes wisdom in the older years. It shows the progression of the clock and how it is getting closer and closer to death. Basically, all of the rooms are leading to death and white is only two rooms away. In a way, death probably shows up in the mind of the person in this stage, but it doesn’t really set in until the violet room. In other words, you know that death is coming, but don’t see much need to be upset about it until the very later years in your life. This story is sad, but the meaning is very clear and memorable. Hopefully more people will read it and learn to understand the point to this confusing but important story.

            I think that my life relates with this color very well. I live with my grandparents that have a lot to do with this stage. My grandmother is in her sixties, and my grandfather is seventy. They are both very wise, and they always have something to inform or educate me about. I think that this color is one of the huge stages in a person’s life. It is at one of those ages where you still are not very old but you are not young either. In a way, I still feel bad for people of this age because their next stage is pain and misery. I don’t want to have to think that people have to think about that, especially when they have 10 or more years of their life to live. I hope that people can read this story and understand its symbolism rather than take it seriously because that is mostly what this story is about. It is just trying to show symbolism but it is also teaching someone a lesson. It teaches the prince that no matter how rich and rude you are, you can’t run away from something that you can’t even control. 

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