Role of Nature in Edgar Allen Poe??™s The Masque of the Red Death Death is an unavoidable and inescapable thing, and it is the nature of humans to both fear and avoid death. Nonetheless, efforts to avoid and flee death always prove to be futile given that death will ultimately catch up with everyone.In this short story, nature ??“ human nature to be precise ??“ plays an important role as evidenced in how the characters fear death and try to shun or flee.