Edgar Allan Poe was a master writer who filled his stories with symbolism. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe used many different colors as symbols. All of the colors in the story could represent the stages of life. The color violet is a dark shade of red. In some instances, red can be viewed as a color associated with love and happiness. An example of this is the presence of this color at Valentine’s Day. However, since Poe chose to use the deeper shade of red in the form of violet, this color represents the emotions of pain and suffering. The color violet is one of the room colors in the prince’s palace. In the palace, the colors of the rooms progress to darkness, with violet and black at the end. Violet represents people who range from 60 to 70 years old to 90 years old. Unfortunately, it means that death is near. The people in the story are afraid of death, so they try to escape it by hiding away in the palace.
Violet symbolizes the progression of life because the color is dark and gloomy. As people approach old age, they often feel depressed that time is running out. At this point in their life, they may have health problems that would cause them pain and suffering. Edgar Allan Poe used violet and the clock in the black room to show how people fear death. As the colors become more dreary and as the clock of life chimes, people feel the end of life nearing and become afraid. In this story, the revelers did not know how to act when the clock chimed. They found the chiming of the clock to be an unwelcoming reminder of their short life on Earth. They sometimes felt scared. As soon as the sound faded, the revelers quickly resumed their party activities as if nothing happened. Edgar Allan Poe used these symbols to demonstrate how death is coming closer no matter how much the revelers try to avoid it.
The color violet relates to my life because I can use this understanding of the avoidance of death to provide comfort to those who are elderly. Violet is important in this story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, because its deep, dark color symbolizes the unknown. As the revelers in the story worked frantically to avoid the thought of death or the presence of death, Edgar Allan Poe kept reminding them of death through the use of this color and the chiming of the clock. I don't think that Prince Prospero knows that he can't buy his way out of death. When the unknown guest arrives in the story, Prince Prospero is met with suspicion and fear because the figure is unknown. This color symbolizes a stage in life because it represents the transition from light colors to black and death. Violet is used to show pain and suffering that may be physical or may be an emotional response to the approach of life’s end. This color and Poe’s symbolism will be a reminder to me to accept life in all its stages, rather than live in fear of growing older.
