The Gaze Red Analysis

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In The Gaze by Elif Shafak red is a significant color used throughout the novel in order to symbolize different emotions and actions such as seduction, anger, and violence. Red represents passion, an emotion clearly prevalent in the preceding actions as each is a result of a strong emotion or feeling. This is also causes the effect of gazes to meet the main characters introduced in the novel as red also acts as a sort of banner or “attention-grabber” to the human eyes, and resulting in human judgement. One of the most important scenes in the book takes place at the location of the cherry colored tent. Many performances take place inside the tent, each is different but allows for gazes to be made at the programs’ performers. The tent is coated red due to red’s ability to capture…show more content…
Instead of ugliness, Efendi presents the men with, “La Belle Annabelle, the great beauty, the only beautiful jinn of the poisonous yew forest”(143). Before Annabelle enters, several other beautiful women are shown. The first being described to have a beautiful mask with “cherry colored lips”(143) and “candy pink spreading across its cheeks”(143). The purpose of red here is used to symbolize seduction and desire. Red is considered a color that is associated with passion and longing. The cherry colored lips is an iconic image of sexuality for a woman. The pink cheeks is another instance of the color red, as pink is a shade of red. Pink is a color that has come to symbolize love, romance, as well as feminine qualities. Finally, as La Belle Annabelle takes the stage, her face is described as having “forty rooms and forty doors like the mansion in which she was born.. and the velvet covered corridors”(151). Velvet is commonly associated with a deep, rich coat of red, creating the image of royalty and expensive taste. Seeing red velvet in the scene is most likely because of the association of red and
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