what would this mean?

[upandgo]

when a character tends to wear black clothes in a novel, what would it imply?

i'm annotating stasiland at the moment and i noticed that julia and miriam tend to wear black clothing. would it suggest anything about their circumstances/disposition? or am i overanalysing things? thanks! 

[Orson]

when a character tends to wear black clothes in a novel, what would it imply?

i'm annotating stasiland at the moment and i noticed that julia and miriam tend to wear black clothing. would it suggest anything about their circumstances/disposition? or am i overanalysing things? thanks! 

From what I understand about VCE English, as long as you can justify yourself, you're all good. 'Black' as a color could have ties with evil, darkness, depression and the unknown.

"His choice of darker pigmented clothing articles reflect his internal struggle, and his obvious disposition."

I dunno...I'm terrible at english, but something like this is what you see in them essays that teachers love...Even though it has no real meaning most of the time. There was an article going around where an author said they chose the colors because they liked them, and not to create an ulterior meaning.

Check with your english teacher...obviously...

[babushka818]

From what I understand about VCE English, as long as you can justify yourself, you're all good. 'Black' as a color could have ties with evil, darkness, depression and the unknown.

"His choice of darker pigmented clothing articles reflect his internal struggle, and his obvious disposition."

I dunno...I'm terrible at english, but something like this is what you see in them essays that teachers love...Even though it has no real meaning most of the time. There was an article going around where an author said they chose the colors because they liked them, and not to create an ulterior meaning.

Orson's made a good point here. Text analysis is all about your interpretation, and even if the author had no real intention of black clothing meaning anything specific about the characters, mentioning it will show an understanding of the novel. I haven't read the book, but if Julia and Miriam are very cheerful and optimistic people, probably best not to mention it, but if they're darker characters, then it would be a great connection to make. As aforementioned, the colour black often represents darkness, loss, grief or mystery; again as I haven't read the novel I can't help you, but if any of these themes prevail in the characters, it would be a worthwhile mention.

As Orson said, just make sure you relate it to a point, it's all about justification. If you believe their choice in clothing represents their internal thoughts and feelings to the rest of the world, go for it, but make sure you have some aspects of the character that relates to the concept you are associating with black colour.

[upandgo]

thankyou for the advice! because it's a non-fiction novel i'm just afraid that i'm reading too much into minor detail haha

[clarke54321]

when a character tends to wear black clothes in a novel, what would it imply?

i'm annotating stasiland at the moment and i noticed that julia and miriam tend to wear black clothing. would it suggest anything about their circumstances/disposition? or am i overanalysing things? thanks! 

I have also just finished reading Stasiland these holidays and from my point of view, black is symbolic of Miriam's sadness and depression in the past.

An interesting observation which I picked up on whilst reading the novel is that Miriam is dressed in white when she meets with Anna for the last time (Miriam wore black on their first meeting). This colour transformation may be figuaritve of her emotional journey in coming to terms with her loss of Charlie and accepting that she may never find closure.

[sunshine98]

when a character tends to wear black clothes in a novel, what would it imply?

i'm annotating stasiland at the moment and i noticed that julia and miriam tend to wear black clothing. would it suggest anything about their circumstances/disposition? or am i overanalysing things? thanks! 

As others have said above there are a gazillion ways you could look at this. This is just my thoughts (well what I thought when I did it , its not like I sit around thinking about Stasiland or anything...no for realz  I don't )

For Julia I think you should (or well it makes it kinda easier) if you look at her clothes beyond just the colour. And also analyse her mannerism . Like Funder goes out of her way to detail many behavioural things about Julia during the two interviews. I often linked it to her desire for a sense of privacy and I guess you could look at it as a way of finding a position in the background rather than the foreground. Relevant extract from my essays (might not make sense cause its just an extract but just wanted to show the way I analysed , which again is not the only way to analyse it) :

'....Julia Behrend , who by curling herself by 'stretching her jumper' into a 'small black ball' , coupled with her explication of 'internal emigration' - that is, the idea of self enclosure as means of attaining a medium of privacy- becomes a demonstration of how individuals were controlled not only on a physical sense but on  a psychological level as well......'

But Miriam her black clothing is a form of mourning. She is mourning  Charlie , the past and what could've been if things had been different . If you've read the entire text , you will know that at the end she is wearing white clothes. Notice the contrast and why does Funder mention both (growth? acceptance? )  This is a relevant extract of one of my essays  that sort of looks at the contrast

'...sense of mourning that arise from Miriam's 'black attire', which , when compounded with her metaphorical reluctance to move forward by 'curling her legs under her ' guides the readers and Funder to become palpably aware of her initial inability to progress. The readers , however,  are guided to sympathetically approve of this , as Funder's focus on Miriam's intend to discover the truth through the 'puzzlers' , presents Miriam's plight as one that is driven by a desire for completion and wholeness. Undeniably, however,  Funder's burgeoning fear of the potential consequences of this obsession with the past  is evident in her speculation 'I wonder what will happen to her when they opened the coffin'.  Indeed this fear is partially present when Funder returns , but appears to be refuted by the many indications of Miriam's refusal to be subservient to the past , evident in  changes in her appearance . While the metaphorical transition to 'white' and 'flowing ' attire typifies her progression to allowing the future to carry her forth,  her capacity , to almost relaxedly place her 'feet on its supports'  suggests a metaphorical grounding in the present. This accompanied by her increasingly accepting tone punctuated by the ellipsis in her assertion 'A very...long...time' , culminating in her capacity to 'roll her eyes' at the Stasi's current minute parody of power in her job, rather than angrily retaliate,  highlights her sense of growth , this is a woman who has developed and is able to balance her past and present in amalgamation . This , Funder deems most significant - the retaining of balance. '
Hope this helps 

[upandgo]

thanks guys  i did make the connection with miriam's white attire at the end of the novel, but i wasnt sure if it had a significant meaning, or if she simply decided to change up her style haha. thanks again!

[pi]

thankyou for the advice! because it's a non-fiction novel i'm just afraid that i'm reading too much into minor detail haha

I haven't read your book, but my teachers always taught that no detail is too small if you can justify why you think it's important. Not being the author, we have no idea what is or isn't deliberately written for effect, so if you can justify its relevance, go for it!

Reminds me of this:


Gl!