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 sanguine remainder ar elaborate allegories that use symbolisation and mental ikonry to gild the image of devastation. In twain these stories, wipeout is essential, the block of a human life. How of all meter, in the first lilliputian story, The Shawl, Ozick shows us that terminal is inevitable and it is useless if you attempt to be given it. And in the countenance story, Poe stages the immortality m any(prenominal) of us believe we have, just now 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 milk to feed baffle Magda ? who sometimes screams because there is no matter for her to screw up except send - that Stella is also ravenous, and that Stella has knees that are ?tumors on sticks? and elbows that are ?chicken bones. ? The contributor immediately begins to sense that the baby is external respiration out to die. Later, twice in quick succession it is say that Rosa thinks Stella is waiting for Magda to die. The ref is then repeatedly told that Magda is release to die, and her death moves closer as the story progresses. First, Rosa knows Magda us overtaking 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 indorser is presented with a dear-looking image of what lies beyond the electric fence. Immediately afterward you go for the field of flowers, the death of Magda unfolds as she touches the electric fence. When we probe the meaning of the shawl and its relationship to death it symbolizes the human spirit to balk death. The shawl saves Magda from starvation. end-to-end the story, as Magda remain hidden under her justification ?the shawl ? she remains alive. It is only when the s hawl is taken from her that Magda dies. When! Magda is murde red ink, Rosa stuffs the shawl into her own mouth, smother her screams. If Rosa had screamed, the guards would have killed her too. From the beginning, Ozick shows us that death is inevitable by her graphic images of a mother and infant in aThe masquerade costume of the expiration termination, by Edgar Allen Poe is a tale where the author uses the proficiency 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 passing Death through closing off and seclusion. He hides behind what he believes to be impenetrable walls of his palace. only 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 ? deprivation Death?, a disease that causes the victims to die quickly and precise g ruesomely, is explained b the author as the around(prenominal) hideous disease eer and it was full of the horror of blood. He goes into deep details explaining the achieve 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 strong 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 commodious yet fancy masquerade ball. The manner in which the prince crystal clear his castle symbolically hints the inevitability of death. ?The viierth room was nigh shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the detonating device and toss off the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a cover of the analogous material and h ue.? This dark description of how the castle was ado! rned shows the image of the Prince being a ruthless, uncaring ruler. The guests wear masks to award aspects of their parting; 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(prenominal) guest, including the Prince, stop when they here the chime of the sable measure. The ebony clock symbolizes death. The individuals, who have come to the party, believe that they have take escapism the ?The Red Death?. The truth is that they have only gigantic their lives for a short period of time. Each time the clock chimes, eve ryone stops to listen. They do not know when their time lease come, but they know its coming. The endorser 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 accentuate by the masked figure, never explicitly stated to be the actual Red Death but only a reveler in a costume of the Red Death, fashion his initial appearance in the easternmost room. This room is sullen 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 situation 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 is going on. The symbolisms used in both! (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 physical exercise 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 masque 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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