The Death and the Miser and Because I Could not Stop for Death Essay Death is a word that everybody might be scared or not scared of. However, no matter if you’re a good person or a bad person, nice or rude, death will always find ways to come to you. These artworks are both about two wealthy persons who end up dying for the fault of death. Both stories “The Death and the Miser”, a northern renaissance, painting by Hieronymus Bosch, and “The Mask of the Red Death” a gothic and horror fiction story by Edgar Allan Poe use a theme, mood, and symbolism to show how you can never manage to succeed in hiding from death no matter who you really are.
First, I’m using the topic of theme for “The Death and the Miser”, saying that death comes to everyone, rich or poor. The story, shows the theme, mentioning that one out of the four demons, offers the healthy a bag filled with coins. I believe this because it shows how it’s using the theme by showing that the healthy is dumping the coin in, he might be good or bad, maybe rich but the healthy miser might end up dying and might go through the same situation the good, dying miser is going through. Meanwhile, another reason that this story shows the theme is the rat that shows the ages of the black death. This makes it shows a reason for the theme because the miser is dying from the black death, which shows how death comes to anyone even if you're not even ready or if you must leave everything behind you. Lastly, a final reason why this story shows the theme is how the helmet is a sign showing how the miser was a good person.
I believe this because even death gets and reaches the good people no matter what. Second, the theme of “Because I Could not Stop for Death” is that since I couldn’t stop for death, it stopped for me. One reason to show how this story shows the theme included in it is that, death stopped for the character because it itself couldn’t stop for death. I believe this is one because yes, maybe death can stop, but you can never have the power to consider and stop either. Also, it mentioned another reason for the theme, which was stated that they slowly drove away without stopping the carriage. This shows a reason because it's mentioning how death tricks you, by stopping or not stopping when it wants to. Lastly, it mentions how the character gave up free time for his. This shows me how the theme connects with it because the character gave up the free time they had, for death and leaving his free time and putting it aside, instead. Furthermore, “Because I Could not Stop for Death” shows many symbolisms throughout the masterpiece presented which was death comes to those who are not even ready. One reason is the carriage being pulled by the two horses and the guy. I believe this shows symbolism because it represents death when the horses were pulling the carriage away with him inside. Another reason it shows symbolism is the horse's head.
A reason it’s the horse's head is that the horses represent infinity, meaning it’s like living forever in eternal life, and because the carriage stopped for her, but the horses were dead, taking him to eternal life. Lastly, the last reason it shows symbolism is because it shows what the character's past used to be like, how her life used to be back then. Meanwhile, the painting “The Death and the Miser” shows forms of symbolism. Symbolism in this story means that death comes to those who are even busy. The first reason that it shows the symbolism in this story is the demons scattered everywhere in the painting. I believe this is symbolism because it shows the bad meaning of evil and hell. Another reason is that symbolism is also shown by the angel, in the painting next to the dying miser. It shows symbolism because it shows the good things and the representation of heaven. I believe these two are symbols that the miser, must choose sides of. The last symbol shown in the painting is the skeleton. I chose the skeleton because it shows the meaning of death.
This shows the meaning behind the miser laying on the bed, about to die. Next, the final topic is mood. The poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death” shows mood, which is a meaning of sadness according to the poem. One reason why this poem shows sadness as the mood is the way it's stated that they were the only ones in the carriage with immortality. This shows the mood as sadness because I'm thinking that the character was alone in the carriage, alongside death. Another reason why the mood represents sadness is that they had stopped before seeing the house. This shows sadness because it’s like mentioning if the horses were dead and they were pulling the carriage, which they were pulling her to eternal life while seeing and passing her future. The last reason for mood representing sadness is how time passed by, but every day it would pass by fast. This final mood shows how your life goes by faster than you think, which is sad, but you also need to learn and know how to also, perhaps, value time. Furthermore, the final mood is the darkness in the painting “The Death and the Miser”. One reason how this poem shows darkness is because the good miser laying down on the bed, about to die.
The reason it shows this is because it’s showing how the miser must choose sides, either heaven or hell. Another reason that it shows darkness as a mood is that the painting states and shows the different stories behind the demons. I think this because it shows the darkness behind the actions, they are committing, in the painting. Finally, the last reason the painting shows darkness as a mood is the reason that they are loving the good miser after being a good person out in the world. I think this is darkness because we never knew the truth of the cause behind the miser's death. Finally, these were the two stories of the two wealthy misers who both die in the end. Your life may be full of happiness but always value your time no matter what. Death may be mysterious and frightening, but you should never worry or have terror about your own death, worry about your future, and remember the good things and memories in the past no matter the situation, never worry about death coming towards you, always laugh and smile while you live. Lastly, remember to always take life for granted no matter what obstacles life may give or include in it, just live happily.