The Red Death Figurative Language

Most people’s perception of fear comes from negative standpoint, where fear is the evil villain that you try to get away from, but can fear also be helpful? In all good stories, there is always a dilemma, and with the struggle of that problem comes fear, but what truly shows that character’s mental strength or personality is how they handle that problem. In the stories, ¨The Tell-Tale Heart,” ¨The Pit and the Pendulum,”and ¨The Masque of the Red Death,” all of the main characters experience fear, but handle it in very different ways. Whether they use that fear to help them overcome the problem, or their fear results in paranoia. Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism, irony, and figurative language to portray how fear distorts the emotional state
In the story, Prince Prospero tries to isolate himself in his castle, with the iron doors welded shut and even entertainers and his court to accompany him. He does this to prevent the Red Death from infecting him, but, towards the end of the story, a masked figure, symbolizing the Red Death, reveals itself. As a result, Prince Prospero rages over how anyone could have gotten in, but it turns out that Death was there along and he eventually kills everyone. Poe states, “And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night…..And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death help illimitable dominion over all”(pg.61). It is ironic how Prince Prospero did everything to keep the Red Death out of his castle, but Death was there all along. He was so fearful of Death that he actually thought that he could prevent it. But of course, when “the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last gay”(61). The masked figure took the lives of all the people in Prince Prospero’s castle because people cannot escape death. Poe is trying to explain that Death will always be apart of a person’s destiny and it’s better just live life to the fullest, rather than letting the fear of Death take over one’s