Moby Dick and the Masque of the Red Death: True American Romanticism In today's society, people tend to follow their feelings instead of reasoning or remembering situations have already happened to them to have an intuition. The reasoning behind this is due to American Romanticism, which was created in the 1800s and lasted until the 1860s. During this time literature, music, and art were created about how writers and artists felt instead of logic and reasoning. American romanticism is clearly shown in Herman Melville's Moby Dick and Edgar Allan Poe's “The Masque of the Red Death.” Both Moby Dick and “The Masque of the Red Death” show the struggle of everyday life with the vivid use of the five senses, the all-encompassing truth of the cycle of nature, and the wonder, awe, and fear of supernatural beings. Both works show in great detail the chosen words that appeal to our senses, helping us understand the struggle of the people and the overall message in Moby Dick and “The Masque of the Red Death.” Moby Dick is a great example of this concept. The book provides amazing details with such great precision, it clearly explains the length of the piece. Right in the first chapter details are given about all the sailors on the island of Manhattan. Melville writes: “Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and thence, through Whitehall, northwards. What do you see? - Standing like silent sentinels all around the city, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in reverie over the ocean. Some leaning on piles; some sitting on the heads of the docks; some observe the bulwarks of ships coming from China; some high up on the rigging, as if trying to see the sea even better. But these are all men of the land; of weekdays locked in shingles and plaster, tied to counters, nailed to benches... middle of paper...th in "The Masque of the Red Death". With sensory imagery to show an idea, nature cycle, and the use of supernatural imagery to convey a message, both Moby Dick and “The Masque of the Red Death” are great examples of American Romanticism. Both works use images that stimulate the five senses to show and create emotion. The stories also teach a lesson from the cycle of nature, with the truth that death is inevitable as shown in Moby Dick and “The Masque of the Red Death.” Finally, Poe and Melville use supernatural elements to portray a message, with Moby Dick showing the general anger of humans while “The Masque of the Red Death” shows time slipping away. They use a combination of these 3 elements to provoke new ideas and use the reader's imagination. As stated earlier, the use of feeling rather than logic in decision making is a result of the Romantic movement.