Poe's discouraging life was probably the root of many of his stories. An example of this parallelism is found in the story The Masque of the Red Death. After being disinherited by his wealthy adoptive father, Edgar experienced financial difficulties essentially for the rest of his life. In the story, Prince Prospero, obviously named for his wealth, has built an impenetrable fortress in which he and his friends can hide. During this period, the plague, or “Red Death,” ravaged Europe, killing multitudes of people. Poe describes Prince Prospero's hiding place thus: "There were jesters, there were improvisers, there were ballet dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All this and security were inside. Outside was the “Red Death” (Mask of the Red Death 1). Poe's obvious distaste for the rich is represented through this quote. Poe's obsession with death comes into play at the end of the story, when the "Red Death" enters dressed as a plague victim and everyone inside the castle is killed. Poe mocks the rich with the ridiculous things the prince provided for them while they were at the castle. By finally ending the lives of the rich, he gives the reader insight into how Poe feels about the rich. This parallelism with Poe's tragic life allows the reader to see how death became a theme in Poe's personal life, not just in the story. The stories focus a lot on death, as Poe did in his life. Gothic literature is known for its horror stories and tales of death and despair. Poe's stories use Gothic elements to focus primarily on death, as Poe did in his life. In the story The Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator visits his childhood friend, Roderick, when he is ill. To the death of the... middle of paper ...... with death, when an alternate ending might have been more reasonable for the story. Having experienced as much death as Edgar Allan Poe, it is not surprising that Poe seems to have a much deeper understanding of death than many. In The Premature Burial, the narrator gives a gruesome description of being buried alive. As horrible as it was, when the narrator is released, he goes on to explain the new feeling he has about death. He writes: “There are moments when, even to the sober eyes of Reason, the world of our sad humanity can take on the appearance of hell... Alas! The sinister legion of sepulchral terrors cannot be considered entirely fanciful – but… they must sleep, or they will devour us – they must be allowed to sleep, or we perish” (Poe, Premature Burial 10). The quote means that although life on earth may seem like hell, if