Color in Fiction

Earlier, I had read the classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and had been bowled over by its clarity and directness in depicting racism. And now I am reading a more recent novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, and it is still a de ja vu when it comes to the question of color.

The interface with color is a theme that tends to transcend color and rise to a human emotional level. There is understanding and empathy. The parallel in both the books is unmistakeable. And the overarching feeling while reading them is the power of the author, who describes scenes with such humanity that one can't but get into the skin of the characters, and once and for all forget about various prejudices that still invade so many relationships.

With their pointed focus on individual stories, the authors of both these books with their different story lines through their eyes, have laid open the idea of a world that is close to the ideal. They have written at a time when the ideal was too far away, and their work was a step towards it.

This is the way, through individual effort, the world changes. It is a slow process, but for changes to take place, these efforts are invaluable.

Lingering like wine

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn is an excellent novel, lingering like wine. And it is all due to the cold and the hunger and the suffering of Ivan. It is also due to the countless prisoners, the gang leaders, the guards, the repeated counting of the gangs. The prisoners working outside in the biting cold, hungry, sick, and homesick, are hawklike, ready to snitch food from anybody. And the apathy of the prison authorities when it comes to the condition of the prisoners.

There is endless hope too, about a parcel, about extra food, about lowering years of sentence, about not being put in the cell where less food is supplied and which is cold. Fear about not to be caught with anything like wood or knives in one's person. The leadership pattern was such that the prisoners listened only to their leaders.

There is closeness of some prisoners with others, as they sympathized, bought and sold tobacco. There were other kinds of sharing too.

he writer's style is personal, and the reader feels a part of the story. There is curiosity, and no boredom while reading the book, although it describes only one day. The ending is optimistic - of a day well-spent.