Hey unpopular opinion but while the “the curtains are just fucking blue” meme is funny and all, sometimes writers use symbolism and sometimes the curtains are not just fucking blue sometimes specification of colors means something because sometimes writers think about adding depth and nuance to their work and maybe you should at some point think that art can have meaning and not everything should be taken at literal face value
Hi, friendly neighborhood english major here. the important thing when looking for symbolism are patterns: repeated elements, binaries, anomalies. Are a whole lot of things blue? The curtains, the car, the main character’s bedroom walls, the pattern on the plates, the love interest’s eyes? That’s starting to become a repeated element. Binaries? Are all those things blue but put in opposition to the red fire and the red blood and the red rose etc? That’s a binary. Does the blue window with the blue curtain have a bright yellow tulip sitting on the sill? That’s an anomaly.
These are all interesting things to pay attention to in an author’s work. The next important thing to ask is why is the author calling my attention to these colors? What function does coloring these items serve?
Maybe the author just likes blue. But if blue things keep turning up all over the place, there’s a chance that it’s not a coincidence, and the color is serving a purpose in the story.
I applaud this addition thank you