Masque Of The Red Death Color Analysis

In “Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe uses symbols to express emotions. Throughout the story there is little dialogue leaving Poe to express the characters by using symbols. The first way this is expressed in through the color of each room. Each room color has a different meaning and reflects how the people in it feel. The next symbol is the clock in the western chamber. The clock is able to represent the fear of the people at the party because of the reactions it causes in them. The final symbol is the embodiment of the Red Death. Poe use this to symbolize that death is unavoidable. Overall Edgar Allan Poe uses symbols to represent the lives and emotions of the people attending the party. The first symbol Poe uses in the story is the color of each room. There are seven room each decorated with a different color. The first six rooms are blue, purple, green, orange, white and violet with the final room a mix of black and red. The first six rooms are described as “densely crowded, and in them beat feverishly the heart of life” (40). This shows that the people in these rooms are joyous which corresponds to the positive meaning of the colors in these rooms. Generally, these colors represent
The clock is used to show the fear that is lingering at the party. Throughout the story every time the clock chimes “for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock” (40). This quote shows that the clock ¬overpowers all the other things happening at the party. It does this because the clock triggers the fight, flight or freeze response causes all the party guests to freeze out of fear. Many of the party guests “made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion” (39). Despite people trying to ignore the clock it still manages to affect them the same way that fear will continue to recur even when it is being