Symbolism and imagery in The Masque of the Red Death and The Shawl

The Shawl written by Cynthia Ozick and Edgar Allen Poe?s The fancy dress of the red-faced remainder atomic number 18 elaborate allegories that use symbolisation and resourcefulness to gild the build of devastation. In twain these stories, wipeout is necessary, the closing curtain of a human life. How of all date, in the first little(a) story, The Shawl, Ozick shows us that terminal is inevitable and it is useless if you attempt to scarper it. And in the countenance story, Poe interprets the immortality m any(prenominal) of us believe we have, barely not any of us really possess. In Cynthia Ozick?s The Shawl the image of death is introduced in the opening paragraph, when the narrator in writing(p)ally explains that genus Rosa?s breasts does not have enough take out to feed baffle Magda ? who sometimes screams because there is no issue for her to get out except send - that Stella is also ravenous, and that Stella has knees that are ?tumors on sticks? and elbo ws that are ?chicken bones.? The contributor immediately begins to sense that the baby is quick out to die. Later, twice in quick succession it is verbalize that Rosa thinks Stella is waiting for Magda to die. The ref is then repeatedly told that Magda is loss to die, and her death moves closer as the story progresses. First, Rosa knows Magda us termination to die truly soon, then today, then now. The inevitable death of Magda is presented in the last(a) scene that comprises more than half the story. The subscriber is presented with a dear-looking image of what lies beyond the electric fence. Immediately subsequently you go for the field of flowers, the death of Magda unfolds as she touches the electric fence. When we evidence the meaning of the shawl and its relationship to death it symbolizes the human spirit to rape death. The shawl saves Magda from starvation. end-to-end the story, as Magda remain hidden under her tribute ?the shawl ? she remains alive. It is only when the shawl is taken from her tha! t Magda dies. When Magda is murdered, Rosa stuffs the shawl into her own mouth, sultry her screams. If Rosa had screamed, the guards would have killed her too. From the beginning, Ozick shows us that death is inevitable through her graphic images of a mother and infant in aThe mask of the expiration termination, by Edgar Allen Poe is a tale where the author uses the technique of symbolism and imagery through a time, colors of red and black, and heptad rooms to help convey the inevitability of death. In the story, a prince named Prospero tries to escape the reddish Death through isolation and seclusion. He hides behind what he believes to be impenetrable walls of his palace. how incessantly no walls can stop death because it is inevitable that anything thing that lives, dies. ocular descriptions in the story are used to symbolize the death that came to a dark, unkind ignorant prince. The image of ? florid Death?, a disease that causes the victims to die quickly and v ery(prenominal) gruesomely, is explained b the author as the around(prenominal) hideous disease ever and it was full of the horror of blood. He goes into deep details explaining the submit of sharp pain, sudden dizziness, and profuse bleeding at the pores. He says ?the scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim were the by ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the straightforward seizure progress and termination of the disease were the incidents of half an hour.? As the story goes on it tells you about the prince and how he attempts to avoid the Red Death, as the months go by he throws a rife yet fancy masquerade ball. The manner in which the prince lawful his castle symbolically hints the inevitability of death. ?The septenaryerth room was nigh shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the detonating device and subjugate the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a cover of the corres ponding material and hue.? This dark description of ! how the castle was adorned shows the image of the Prince being a ruthless, uncaring ruler. The guests wear masks to award aspects of their region; all are concentrating on having a good time and ignoring the wrath of The Red Death that has overtaken the Kingdom alfresco the palace.

each guest, including the Prince, stop when they here the chime of the sable time. The ebony time symbolizes death. The individuals, who have come to the party, believe that they have take trajectory the ?The Red Death?. The truth is that they have only immense their lives for a short period of time. Each time the clock chimes, everyon e stops to listen. They do not know when their time give up come, but they know its coming. The ref is given graphic descriptions of the seven rooms from blue to black. One could interpret the rooms as being stages of a human life. The beginning of life is punctuate by the masked figure, never explicitly stated to be the actual Red Death but only a reveler in a costume of the Red Death, forge his initial appearance in the easternmost room. This room is glum blue, a color most often associated with birth. The black room, which is the most prominent image in the short story, depicts the end of life, death. In the black room, the narrator describes the ebony clock which would allude to the happening that time has run out and death occurs. Both authors successfully use the techniques of symbolism and imagery to grasp the attention of the reader. By forcing the reader to use their imagination through creative imagery, the reader becomes part of the story and feels what i s going on. The symbolisms used in some(prenominal)! short stories convey the inevitability that we all are going to die one day. Works Cited Page1.Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. Poe and the Gothic manipulation as collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Kevin J. Hayes. New York City: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0521797276 p. 882.Laurent, Sabrina. Metaphor and Symbolism in The fancy dress of the Red Death, from Boheme: An Online Magazine of the Arts, Literature, and Subversion. July 2003 If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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