"And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."
The final line of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" seems appropriate as my wall clock inches towards midnight. As people grasp at revelry during the closing hour of 2020, they seek to keep the costs/benefits of their actions out of sight and out of mind. We have seen a year with lurid and grotesque consequences of the simplest, most human actions. Those consequences have not been much ameliorated by the limited application of vaccines. I'm sure this evening will feature many superspreader events, some featuring the newer, more transmissible incarnation of the virus. Deaths will inevitably follow.
Poe's story resonates with tonight's attempts to normalize life. The masquerade ball in Poe's story could very well be taking place New Year's Eve in America, 2020. And Prince Prospero makes a fine pseudonym for the man who has been shepherding the stock market as death tolls reached unconscionable heights.
I am reminded of the pure absurdity of human celebration under these conditions by both Poe's story and the gag gift on my desk. It's a clock with a faceplate filled by an image of Donald Trump, and I am 25 minutes from hearing it chime "Make America Great Again" as midnight arrives.
Bob Dietz
December 31, 2020
