Personal Narrative

Easter Time

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

-King James Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:11

            The innocent, carefree days were always the best. Enjoying the company of my family, being able to joke around. Although, through ages six to eleven I didn’t really get to see many of those moments. Those were the years when my brother, who is two years older than me, and I would be in a constant state of rage and hatred against each other. Hair would be pulled and faces punched. It was a miracle if my mum could make it through a day without having to break apart a fight. But even though I’m completely aware that 98% of the time was spent like that, it’s the other 2% times that are fresh in my mind.

            Picture perfect Easter Sunday is as welcome as a present when I wake up in my room, decorated so exact for a six year old who didn’t notice. Chocolate is on my mind, although I know church comes first. I pull on my pink Easter dress, oh so proud that I could do it by myself, and I stalk out of my room like I own the place. Everyone is relatively ready to leave for church and I find it a startling surprise when there has not been a single argument in the car between my brother and I. And that is it. That sets me in an excellent mood.

            By the time we get in our car after church, my three older brothers and even my 18 month old baby brother have caught the giggles, and we are joking around like best friends. My mother can hardly believe it. When we arrive home, my mother makes us stand outside as she runs in. She comes out, camera in hand, and lines us up. We are out there for at least 45 minutes with my mother telling us where to stand and how to tilt our heads, but we barely notice. Jokes and funny stories are being told by my oldest brother and even my mother adds in a few of her own. “Knock-knock!”

            “Who’s there?” us kids scream in chorus.

            The sun is in the sky and the air warm when we go back into my house, laughter still ringing through my head like a choir. ‘I wish everyday could be like this,’ I thought as we sat down to dinner. But I know it’s impossible.

            Harmony in my home is practically never ending now, with only the occasional fight breaking out like bad acne. My brother, who I had thought to be my worst enemy is now one of my best friends. Laughter is used commonly for inside jokes and new stories. And though I would never fathom this before, love is a strong spirit within my family. And on those special “2%” days I have learned what really had taken place; we all forgave each other for the things the other days we would’ve considered inexcusable. We trusted each other and we were honest. That is the basis for the relationship I have with them now. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

"The Masque of the Red Death"

“Masking the Signs”

            Symbolism is a tricky literary device used by many famous authors. Such authors like W. W. Jacobs, Robert Frost, and Edger Allan Poe. While a common literary device used in the world of short stories, books, and poems, there is a certain technique to hiding a deeper meaning in a piece of writing. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Poe has symbolism to portray a more profound religious meaning.

            In this short story there are seven completely separate rooms, each expressing its own feeling by use of color. The first six rooms in this story are relevant to the time humans will spend on Earth as mortals. The reader can see that trace of symbolism using the knowledge that in the Christian world, people believe that God created this world in six days and the seventh day he rested; a day in Gods eyes is equal to about 1,000 years here on Earth. After that, most believe that God has given His children another six days to live on Earth and enjoy all it has to offer and on the seventh day His Son will come again. As the guests of the masque go about from one solidly colored room to the next one can get the feeling that the time on Earth is going by, getting closer and closer to the day when Jesus Christ will come again and the wicked shall be burned.
            In addition to that, Poe has put in some scriptural references. Near the end of the story at the scene when the ebony clock has just struck twelve and the presence of a mysterious masked figure has just been noticed and disapprobation spread throughout the party, the author wrote, “But the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod.”  Herod was a king during the era that Jesus was born and acted intensely when he ordered all the babies two years old and under to be killed. When Poe says “out Heroded Herod,” he is explaining the thing that the masquerade guests were murmuring of: that what this stranger did by dressing up like the Red Death was unnecessary and extreme considering their situation. 
            Simultaneously, the renowned writer makes the characters another example of this literary device. In the story, the Prince Prospero was happy and joyful, thinking he could escape this plague because of the position he was in and the power he had to construct a large barrier between him and the outside world that was full of disease. There are people in this world who don’t agree with Christians in the idea that God may come again to this Earth and they try and block out everything dealing with that. They may even go as far as to belittle those that do. Much like the Prince in the end when he confronts the Red Death by going up to him and demanding, “Who dares? […] Who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery?” The guests who fear this stranger and shy away represent those that fear God and his power. Guests who jump after him and attempt to hurt him and reveal the underlying personage can show the reader that they more like the Prince Prospero.

            Reading writings by more advanced authors, a reader can become more familiar with the presence of symbolism. Edger Allan Poe gracefully wrote “The Masque of the Red Death” and inserted symbolism that depicted a modern Christian world that one can pick-up while reading it.