Jack Ferrone
Ms. Giese
American Lit
5-23-13
Analytical Paper – Rough Draft
Gold, yellow, red, white and grey, all ordinary colors used to illustrate something meaningful. Authors often use color to symbolize something of greater importance. Edith Wharton uses grey to show the dreariness of Starkfield and its citizens. Gold and yellow are used by Willa Cather in O Pioneers to symbolize wealth and happiness. Ethan Frome and O Pioneers both have a very good use of symbolism.
Happiness, youth, vitality and life are symbolized the color red in Ethan Frome. The color red is first mentioned when it is describing Mattie’s scarf. Mattie is portrayed as a happy, young lady, which is why Wharton associates her with the color red. Red also has some negative significance. Red symbolizes sin, Ethan is married to Zeena but is tempted my Mattie. Whether positive or negative, red sticks out in the bleak community of Starkfield the same way Mattie sticks out in Ethan’s depressing life.
In O Pioneers Willa Cather uses white to symbolize youth and innocence. After Emil and Marie die at Frank’s hands two white butterflies are seen fluttering above their bodies. The butterflies are white because Marie and Frank were both innocent people. The butterflies represented their spirits leaving their bodies. Also they died under a white mulberry tree, again it represents innocence, but the white mulberry tree actually represents a lot of things. In Greek mythology two lovers were killed underneath a white mulberry tree, so the way Cather uses it is fitting. It also sometimes referred to as the tree of life, which is ironic because two people were killed underneath it.
The Essay on Edith Wharton Ethan Mattie Zeena
Ethan Frome: Fantasy Is An Escape From Ethan Frome: Fantasy Is An Escape From Winter Ethan Frome: Fantasy is an Escape From Winter Ethan Frome, the title character of Edith Wharton's tragic novel, lives in his own world of silence, where he replaces his scarcity of words with images and fantasies. There is striking symbolism in the imagery, predominantly that of winter which connotes frigidity, ...
Grey is a dreary color used to symbolize Zeena and the town of Starkfield. Zeena is a dark, dismal character and grey suits her well. The whole town is often dark, gloomy and grey. “Her high-boned face taking a grayish tinge from the whiteness of the pillow”. This shows that Zeena is a negative and sickly character in the story. She is often in bed, and when she is up and about she is making Ethan’s life more miserable than it already it is. It’s not just Zeena though, it’s the whole town. Starkfield is buried by snow, dark grey clouds often surround the area and its inhabitants are very depressing people. “They stood together in the gloom of the spruces, an empty world glimmering about them wide and grey under the stars”. Ethan is surrounded by a dark and desolate world, he escapes this world by spending time with Mattie. Aside from Mattie, most of Starkfield is gloomy and grey.
Willa Cather uses gold and yellow to represent wealth, youth and prosperity in O Pioneers. “She never saw him, but, with eyes closed, she could feel that he was yellow like the sunlight.” He is yellow in the sense that he is glowing with youth, power and longevity. They are also used to symbolize wishes and dreams. “She felt as the pond must feel when it holds the moon like that; when it circled and swelled with that image of gold.” This is talking about Marie and her dream of living for a long time and being with Emil.
Willa Cather and Edith Wharton both use colors to symbolize something important. Red and grey are used for happiness and sadness in Ethan Frome. O Pioneers uses yellow and gold to symbolize youth and wealth, and white to symbolize innocence. Colors may just seem like colors at first, but they are quite more than that.
The Essay on Harmony in Color
“Colors seen together to produce a pleasing affective response are said to be in harmony” (Burchett 28). Burchett spearheaded an analysis of color theory in order to clarify and define the mystery of color and what draws man to colorful paintings, like a butterfly to a multicolored flower. The systems of color that need to be rediscovered are found through several color systems, ...
