Acosta's use of language, style and imagery in his autobiography is most often blatantly grotesque and in your face, making the book at times difficult and uncomfortable to read. Yet, amidst the majority of Acosta's dominant language, I started noticing a more subtle use of imagery in the descriptions of color. Regularly throughout the text, Acosta describes things as being either red or green At first, the recurrence of such colors are easy to dismiss; however, the fact that they are so frequently repeated indicates an underlying significance.
We are first introduced to these colors on the first page. In his second sentence Acosta describes his "redden" ears and "green bile" (12). After this point, these colors appear more frequently than others. For example, we hear about his "green plymouth(16)," "green-walled toilet(25)," and the "green hair" he imagines while on drugs (39). Additionally, Acosta describes' "red ink (14)," "red velvet drapes (24)," and "red carpets (41)." Obviously, these descriptions area few among many, but they nonetheless raise the question about why Acosta chooses to describe objects in these colors and/orwhy he notices these colors above other? What
is their significance?
Considering that these colors appear in his autobiography, it reasons to follow that these are used to express some aspect of himself and his personality to the reader. For instance, "green" is generally associated with greed and selfishness. We discussed in class the ways in which Acosta comes off as selfish, self-serving, and vain. His obsession with himself, his body, and his situation is what leads the reader to gain an impression that he does in fact possess such undesirable attributes. Yet this is something that Acosta also recognizes. He admits that he didn't decide to be a lawyer in order to help people; it was more for the meager amount of money he made. Thus, the recurrence of green imagery serves to further support this aspect of his personality to the reader.
Furthermore, the use of red imagery can signifiy anger. This is a trait that can certainly suit Acosta, as is evident by his use of harsh language, cursing and in the way he talks about himself. Yet in addition to anger, I think red could also be an indication of his mania. Like a bull driven wild at the sight of red, Acosta is living an untamed and manic life. He is impulsive (which we see when he throws out his degree) and uncontrolled (evident in his drug use and lack of will to control his health.) The flashes of red imagery that appear in the text, which may startle or suddenly catch the reader's eye, provide him/her with a sense of what this manic life is like--one that is unpredictable and loud.
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3 comments:
Acosta definitely makes many interesting color references throughout the book. In this case, red and green are also contrasting colors, exact opposites on the color wheel. Perhaps these colors also represent two different parts of himself that he is trying to force to coexist? He seems like a person who does not know himself very well, constantly trying to figure himself out (hence Dr. Serbin in his head) and maybe he is representing different facets of his personality with colors.
In case anyone's interested:
this is a website that discusses the four humors: red is carefree, yellow is violent, green is cowardly and sluggish, and black is "introspective...glutinous." What is also interesting is that each of these medieval measures of the attitude is associated with a physical build and bodily fluid. The one for Acosta, ironically, is phlegm. Maybe not so ironic.
The manifestation of these colors may be indicative of another theme of the book. Throughout the book, there seems to be a pattern of Oscar's inner turmoil coming to life in a physical manner. For Oscar who is plagued with conflict, it is this kind of confrontation that he can not avoid.
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