"Masque of the Red Death" Essay

The Green Revolution

            In the story “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe, the third room’s color, green, represents the adolescent period of a person’s life. This color can represent energy and a loss of some of the innocence in the color before it, purple.  Green shows an adolescent becoming more mature, but mostly the process through which they become mature. It also represents envy because in ages thirteen to twenty a person becomes more materialistic and always wants the next best thing. This color basically represents the process through which a person goes from a child to an adult.

            The adolescent years are essentially an age of transition, and this is what the color green represents. Green shows the loss of much of the innocence and ignorance in the color purple, but without the growing anger represented in the color orange, which comes after this stage of life. Adolescents are also often “green with envy,” as they become more materialistic and care about many things more and more. The color green seems more mature than purple, but not quite as mature as the color orange, and this is also representative of the “in-between” stage that adolescents are in. In the clock of life, the ebony clock in the story, this color would be almost in the middle, but not quite there yet. This color perfectly represents the adolescent stage in life.

            Green relates to my life in many ways because I am a teen or adolescent. Right now, I am in the transition stage of my life. I just entered high school and I am seeing how different it is from middle and especially elementary school. Since I am one of the youngest people in my family, I can see glimpses of the adult world through them as well. Yes, I have been jealous of people for having the newer and cooler things than me and for many other reasons. I often feel caught between being an adult and a child, such as being in limbo. My life is transitioning right now, so green corresponds with my life very well.