Report

The Arts Literary Color Swatches - II

By Syed Sufia Ali

01 Sep 2021

In the last blog, I discussed the significant role of colors in portraying a story, a narrative, and a deep connection. Colors are hues that add perception, depth and make the world vivid, hence exciting. All the colors that you see around you are composed of the primary colors RBY: RED, YELLOW, and BLUE. The combination or set of these three primary colors produces all the other colors that we see around us. Therefore, let’s see the role of these three primary colors in literature and what they represent. RBY can represent the following things:

RED: Excitement, energy, passion, desire, speed, strength, power, heat, love, aggression, danger, fire, blood, war, violence, aggression, all things intense and passionate.

YELLOW: Joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, gold, philosophy, dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, illness, hazard.

BLUE: Peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, cold, technology, depression, appetite suppressant.

The meaning of the colors entirely depends on the context in which it has been used. Thus, every color has multiple meanings depending on the provided context and narrative.

RED

The red color is a symbol of many emotions, feelings, and objects. Mainly, it is a symbol of passion, love, and energy. Albeit there is a darker side of red color that we prominently observe in gothic literature. It is a symbol of bloodshed, war, and evil, triggering a feeling of sorrow, defeat, fright, and more. The red color is also used to highlight or bring about feelings of lust and desire, the hue entices with its seduction. It is also a cautionary, danger signal. Red color also evokes positive, happy emotions like action and strength. In conclusion, the color red has various meanings hence cannot be described in a word or two. It is the epitome of many extreme emotions.

YELLOW

The yellow color is bright and précis of many. It makes every tale interesting with the many meanings it depicts. If we talk about the positive side of the color then, we can say that it encapsulates the person with its illuminating essence. Yellow expresses joy and happiness. We usually categorize it as a lively shade. The contrary side of yellow represents sadness, remorse, decay, sickness, and cowardice. Dark yellow represents caution, jealousy, decay, and disease.

We associate light yellow with intelligence, freshness, and joy. Yellow is the color that highlights the many aspects of life and how it affects different situations and people differently.

BLUE

Blue is our third primary color that defines royalty. Blue symbolizes trust and loyalty. Psychologically, it is a positive color. It is often used to denote cold weather and temperature. Hence, it is a symbol of cold and calmness. Blue doesn’t evoke any extreme emotions, as it prefers to stay away from the spotlight. We commonly associate blue with water, the ocean bringing about calm feelings.

Blue is the color of peace and is unique. It has promising attributes along with being fragile; it is a bit cowardly. In conclusion, we can say that blue is a neutral and balanced color.

About the author

Syed Sufia Ali is a passionate English literature and language enthusiast. She loves to read, learn and write about various topics, languages, and life. Any views expressed are personal.