"The Masque of the Red Death"

"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story that takes place during the Middle Ages when the Bubonic Plague hits, leaving many people dead. The main character, Prince Prospero, decides to abandon his people, save for one thousand, and holds himself and the one thousand lucky in his abbey to try to "escape" Death. Symbolism is crucial to the theme of this story.

Seven pops up once in the story. The abbey that Prospero and the one thousand are staying in has seven rooms, all different colors--blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and black. These could be all the stages that a person might go through in life before they die, with the ebony clock perhaps being Death's summoning. The clock and the "monotonous" sound it emits at every hour symbolizes how quickly life is passing and that we shouldn't take advantage of it--or try to escape it. These people knew that, and, as a result, they paused when ever the clock struck, however long it struck for. Poe even says himself when he is describing how everyone stops their "evolutions" just to "hearken the sound" and wonder....is this the last day that I am here?

When Death finally comes, he sees Prince Prospero and moves away, going towards the black room. Prospero, furious now at this....person who dares to disrupt the masquerade, chases after him to unmask him and hang him at sunrise. He chases him all the way to the black room, and Death ended up using his own weapon on Prospero, who is prostrate on the floor, dead. The masqueraders, coming to their senses more or less, rush towards Death...and they die. The blue room could symbolize the beginning of life, and black could symbolize it's end. The colors in the middle are just...the colors in the middle, the other stages that a person goes through before they die and are buried.