2. Open the following PDF Elements of Gothic Literature
- Scroll down to the "Elements of Gothic Literature" section and look at elements 1-25
- Consider The Devil and Tom Walker and The Masque of the Red Death
- Choose one element from the list that applies to The Devil and Tom Walker and a different element from the list that applies to The Masque of the Red Death
3. Post a comment discussing how one of these elements is seen in each story. Provide specific examples from each story to support your point. Your paragraph should be roughly 10 sentences in length and should include:
- an opening/topic sentence(s)
- analysis and examples
- a transition from your analysis of one story to the next
- a final, concluding sentence.
4. Be sure to post your comment with your name to earn credit
10 comments:
In The Devil and Tom Walker, one element that can be applied is the supernatural. While Tom Walker is walking through the remains of an Indian camp, he runs into the Devil, who is classified as being supernatural. The supernatural can cause frightening due to its refusal to obey the laws of nature, God or man. The supernatural may play a key part in the plot of the story. The plot of The Devil and Tom Walker is that the Devil tries to make a deal with Tom that will give him a chest full of riches, but Tom is unsure if he should accept it until his wife gets involved with the deal and ends up being killed by the Devil. After the Devil killed Tom’s wife, he takes the deal with the Devil which ends up destroying his life. While, The Devil and Tom Walker, is about the supernatural, The Masque of the Red Death follows an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. Mystery and suspense is pervaded by a threatening feeling, a fear enhanced by the unknown. The plot can be built around the mystery. Prince Prospero is filled with rage after he looks at an unknown person who looked like he was slowly stalking to and fro among the guest. Even though these two stories are both Gothic, they both have different elements that makes them stand out from each other.
In "The Masque of the Red Death", one Gothic element seen is the setting in a castle. This castle contains different rooms decorated with different colors describe from east to west. The very last room was decorated in red and black. This room could be seen as death for a few reasons. The descriptions start with bright, life full colors then ended with black, which happens to be where Prince Prospero died. However in "The Devil and Tom Walker", the setting was mostly in an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. On Tom's walk home one night, he cut through the mysterious swamp when, out of nowhere, this creature appears. Later in the story, Tom visits again to find his wife, this time on edge. He didn't know where she was nor did he know where the Devil was. He was in suspense because you never knew when he would pop up.
Gothic Literature is identified by specific components such as the ability to instill fear, the questioning of sanity, and the exploration of the supernatural among other things. In The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe the prince hosts a ball. During the ball a man appears in a costume that does not match the color scheme planned by the prince. This man was an enigma to the guests until they realized he embodied the red death, and mystery is a primary element of Gothic Literature. In the Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving Tom walker went to the Indian campground and met the Devil. The Devil represented the Gothic elements of the supernatural, stock characters, and mystery. Washington Irving also created Tom's wife, another stock character. She is stingy and somewhat insane so she is a mad woman. She attempted to deal with the devil and when she was rejected she was killed by the devil. Her murder resulted in joy for Tom, and therefore she represented an outlet for Irving to show Tom's insanity as well.
The two short stories are both of Gothic nature, meaning that they hold some elements relevant to Gothic writing. For The Masque of the Red Death, it holds an element of suspense in it's atmosphere when the masked stranger appears to them. When the stranger first arrives, everyone sees him and pays attention to it. Leading to the prince to order his mask removed, but everyone held fear for the man. None would go and obey the prince. This fear had paralyzed anyone to do anything against the stranger, until it culminated into the death of the prince. From death to the unnatural, The Devil and Tom Walker's holds the supernatural at it's heart. The devil holds a major part of the story with Tom. The tree's of the forest held the names of those that made deals with the devil for some gain. These were supernatural things, that hold a great effect on the story. They drive the story, with Tom's name now being on the trees, and the devil slowly harvesting away at it. These story's hold Gothic elements, embracing them into their stories, whether that was meant to be or an inadvertent happening from the style itself.
The Elements of Gothic Literature are widely used in the writings of Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe. These elements are prominent in tales such as "The Devil and Tom Walker," by Washington Irving and "The Masque of the Red Death," by Edgar Allan Poe. In "The Devil and Tom Walker," Irving uses the supernatural elements of Gothic, in the guise of the Devil, to convey his points in the story. The Devil constantly appears and disappears seemingly into the ground. The Devil played a major role in the story as being the source behind the wealthy and also the angry lumberjack that chopped them down. Meanwhile in "The Masque of the Red Death," Poe uses the setting of the castle to convey his Gothic means. The pure revelry in this castle and the way it ended whenever the clock tolled, was a leading factor in the suspense of the story, and the ultimate downfall of the prince Prospero. Thus both authors expertly wielded the Elements of Gothic Literature in order to craft a magnificent tale of woe.
Considering The Devil and Tom Walker and The Masque of the Red Death different gothic elements apply. In The Devil and Tom Walker one gothic element that stands out is “the appearance of the supernatural”. The devil that appears in the creepy forest out of thin air with promises of fortune is seen as supernatural and a gothic element. In the story The Masque of the Red Death a gothic element that stands out is “a appealing hero/villain”. The Prince who is unaware of the consequences and throws a party while he has the plaque makes him obviously seen as a villain in the story. Granted, he wasn’t trying to kill everyone but he did and thus is the appealing villain. The stories are both morbid and in that context they are the same. In conclusion, both stories share similar gothic elements but also have different gothic elements that appeal to the story and plot. This genre of writing appeals to people for different psychological reasons.
Setting in a castle: In the story The Masque of Red Death, the story takes place in a haunted castle owned by a Prince named Prospero. The plague was running rapidly through the area at the time of the story. Without knowing he was infected, the Prince invites a large number of people to his castle for a party. Prince Prospero hid in a dark room that kept him secluded from everyone else before this party took place. The disease carried by Prince Prospero then spread fatally to his guests resulting in death and fear.
Revenance: In the Devil and Tom Walker the devil returns after making a deal with an average man named Tom Walker. The devil makes Tom rich and in return, Tom promises the Devil his soul for the rest of eternity. The promise is kept by both sides. Tom lives though his life illegally wealthy by cheating people out of loans. Eventually the lifestyle drives Tom mad and he begins to attend church in order to save himself. The Devil then returns and takes Tom back into the swamp and he is never seen again. All of Tom’s possessions and loan records / paperwork are found burned to ashes, and shortly after his entire home mysteriously burns down.
In the story The Devil and Tom Walker a symbol of gothic literature is the supernatural. The Devil that Tom encounters in the woods is a supernatural being. Tom makes a deal with the Devil to trade his soul for a treasure chest full of riches. In return when Tom dies his soul is going to be tortured in hell. In the second story The Masque of the Red Death a gothic literature symbol is blood. Prince Prosperous had a party and invited a large amount of people. Tuberculosis is killing many people through his town. When he through the party the Prince hid in a dark room that had a window pain that looked like blood. He isolated himself from the rest of the people to avoid getting the red death. The red death spread through the party taking people out one by one.
There are many Gothic elements that make up a story, and in The Devil and Tom Walker and The Masque of the Red Death, we see many of these elements. In The Devil and Tom Walker the element we see the most is the metonymy of gloom and horror because Tom walks through a dark gloomy swamp which he could easily die in by falling into a underwater pit and never getting out. In The Masque of the Red Death we see an atmosphere of mystery or suspense every time the clock rings and everyone gets quiet. One element we see in both stories is the supernatural because in The Devil and Tom walker we see the devil and in The Masque of the Red Death we meet the Red Death. These characters are both supernatural beings that posses powers that can kill people. The devil gives Tom wealth and kills his wife, he is also able to chop down a tree with a persons name on it and kill them. The Red Death is able to kill anyone it wants and it shows up out of nowhere. The Red Death and the Devil are both able to vanish into thin air and not come back for a while. Those are all supernatural powers that only spiritual figures could posses.
Gothic elements generally focus on supernatural, suspense and horror throughout the novel. Although the Masque of the Red scare and The Devil and Tom Walker two different stories but they do share similarities in gothic elements. Death is represented in both stories. In The Devil and The Tom Walker, “He scowled for a moment at Tom with a pair of great Red eyes. Devil is introduced in the story to murder people of the community. On the other hand, In the Masque of the Red scare, “The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed” (460). There was a stranger with a mask being introduced who end up killed people in the room. Setting plays an important role in both of the stories. In Masque of the Red scare, story take place in the castle and when the clock rings there is the atmosphere of suspense and mystery. On the other hand, in the devil and the tom walker the story takes place near a swamp with vulture, dead trees and dark. There is supernatural power in both stories, in other words there is no reason how people died at the end of Masque of the Red scare and the devil and the tom walker. Gothic elements are essential for a successful horror story.
Amrit Kaur
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