How Did Poe Use Allusion To The Red Death

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I believe that the first picture depicts the story, “The Masque of the Red Death.” Poe wanted the main theme to be, “Wealth offers no refugee from death.” In the picture above, the artist is trying to demonstrate that everyone is at the masquerade ball, and while they are celebrating, a manifestation of the Red Death comes in. As the story said, once it struck midnight, all the guests stopped everything that they were doing and became frightened and confused on how someone could have entered the palace that was locked down. After being trapped inside the palace for months, they all knew who was inside. This creature was never seen before, and even in the picture a person seems to want to touch the person. They are all curious and wonder who can this person be and how did they enter the palace. …show more content…

As Poe said, “There were sharp pains, sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellowmen.” In the story Poe made many biblical symbols. He uses the Red Death as an allusion to the Red Death, an ‘antichrist’ and how it “comes like a thief in the night.” The figure in the middle of the photo, is a symbol of the Red Death, he is leaving a trail of blood on the floor as he comes through the ball. As in the seven deadly sins, hands that shed innocent blood, the manifestation leaves a trail of innocent people’s blood. None of those infected by the Red Death, deserved to die, but sadly they did. Using the windows as a symbol of life, Poe shows that no one is able to escape death, not even the

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