1. Heidy Mendez
Period 2
Part 1
When one first reads The Masque of the Red Death they assume that it’s just a
simple story about a party gone horribly wrong but there’s a deeper meaning to it. It’s
meant to tell the story of an ancient society where the rich thought of themselves as
superior over those with no money at all, although it still sounds like today’s society.
The Masque of the Red Death includes many symbols to support this idea of the wealthy
people’s egotistical thoughts; however, the most important symbol would have to be
Prince Prospero.
One of the genres that the author of this story, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote in was
satire and this story happens to be in the form of satire and allegory. Poe wanted to
criticize society and those in power by using Prince Prospero to symbolize those who
thought of themselves as superior. While his people suffered outside his castle walls,
Prince Prospero locked himself in his oblivious world to not have to deal with what was
destroying his people and country.
Prince Prospero symbolizes the cruelty, selfishness, and neglect of those in power
and how when push comes to shove they don’t really care for the good of their people. In
fact, during the Black Plague in the late 1300’s and early 1400’s, the King of England
was Edward III and just like what occurred to Prince Prospero in the story, King Edward
III’s population was decreasing because of this disease. When King Richard II came to
rule people were rebelling against the King and causing destruction across the country
and the King sent out his armies to kill these people.
Not once did these powerful men think about how they could help their people,
not even Prince Prospero who had a party to make himself feel superior and to make
himself forget about the atrocities occurring outside his lavish home and lifestyle. That’s
why when death and the mayhem that was occurring outside his castle came to look at
him in the eye during his party he acted just like the coward he had been acting like all
along; he killed himself in order to not face the consequences of cruelty and
egocentricity.

2. Part 2
My personal symbol would have to be “keys”. To me, keys represent mystery and
secrets that have yet to be discovered. The symbol “key” is special to me because I think
that it represents who I am. There are many things that I maintain to myself and I’m able
to keep secrets very well. Then there’s the fact that I want to open many doors for myself
in the future. Keys also happen to have a sense or romance to them that make you think
of the words “love, passion, and secrets” which I take very seriously and they’re genres
that I love reading about.
Some people may be addicted to their cell phones but what I obsess over are
books. I love to read and that’s why books are another symbol that represents who I am.
I not only relax when I read but it entertains me as well. Some people may say that I
have no life when I read but the truth is that I say the same thing about those that are
texting and on their phones close to twenty-fur hours a day. It’s true what people say
about books and how they go deeper than what their covers reveal and I feel that I’m
exactly the same way. There’s more to me than what people see and just how you have
to get to know a book you have to get to know me. When I look at a book I think of the
words “discovering, learning, being creative and creating” which are all things that I
dedicate my life to.