ipl-logo

The Hand Colette

472 Words2 Pages

Every young girl dreams about her wedding day. As the day approaches, the excitement of being a spouse and a lover can be all encompassing. However, when the wedding is over, reality sets in and, perhaps with it, the fear of the future and the unknown. In the short story, “The Hand,” the author, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, utilizes color connotation, beast-like imagery, and vivid diction to portray the complexity of the relationship between the husband and the wife. Colors are often used in connection with feelings or memories. In this story, Colette was able to take advantage of this to help amplify a swift change. Towards the beginning of the story the colors periwinkle and blue are used, which give a feeling of tranquility and peace. Only a few moments later, the color red dominates the stage, which evokes a sense of fear, violence, and blood. Colette used these contrasting colors to show the complexity of their relationship. Therefore, on one level the wife finds her husband fresh and inviting, but on another level she is terrified of him. As the wife’s fear grows, so does the husband’s grotesqueness, which is evident through Colette’s use of beast-like imagery. Midway through the story, the wife observes as her husband’s hand takes on “a vile, apelike appearance.” Apes tend to have a violent and hairy reputation. In this …show more content…

The author selects the words “methodical pleasure of the strangler” to put in her writing. The word “strangler” stems from the essence of the beast because both radiate strength. “Methodical pleasure” is the step a tertiary level of complexity. These words show that the violence was not a barbaric force, but a well-practiced technique. Keeping with the same elaborate level, Colette writes about a “slice” of bread instead of a “piece.” When the husband says this, it alludes to an act of precision, not of mistake. As a result, the wife is further frightened by her

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Fahrenheit 451 And Put It Away By Ray Bradbury

    957 Words  | 4 Pages

    The use of mainly red, in the undertones and background, represents pain and anguish. The painting also uses saturated colors in order to make the piece more

    Read More

  • St Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves Short Story

    1067 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are many literary devices used across stories. Color imagery is one of these literary devices that is used when colors give objects a symbolic meaning. In the short story “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell, girls who have been raised as wolves are thrust into the unknown as they are forced to adapt to human society. Their childhood was spent living with wolves, however they are taken in by nuns of St. Lucy’s who attempt to assimilate them into the human world through different phases. Throughout the story, color imagery is used to emphasize the key theme of unity, establish the conflicted tone, and metaphorically develop Claudette’s character.

    Read More

  • Passage In The Secret History Of An Irish Countess Analysis

    1744 Words  | 7 Pages

    Thus, as the wild nature thrusts itself into a place where it originally does not belong, it becomes unheimlich and endows the whole place with an uncanny quality. It produces a feeling of the uncanny in the countess, inspiring fear in her. As soon as the uncanny dread is awakened she is again reminded of “a dark page in the history of the family” (LeFanu), that is, the murder that the owner of Carrickleigh Castle was accused of. This clearly shows how the manifestation of the unheimlich in the external world leads to the reemergence of a sense of the uncanny in the mind of the heroine, evoking in her mind the dreadful murder, which in itself has a highly unheimlich character, capable of arousing “dread and creeping horror” (Freud

    Read More

  • Shame And Self-Acceptance In Dorothy Allison's Trash

    1259 Words  | 6 Pages

    There is a sharp contrast between shame and self-acceptance. One must psychologically determine which they will let dictate their actions. Shame tends to impede one’s own progression of this self-acceptance. This is an apparent feature in Dorothy Allison’s “Trash”, as she navigates between the two interchangeably by giving the reader a taste of her personal life. In this autobiography she allows the reader to delve into the personal and dark times in her life.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Moveable Beast

    1546 Words  | 7 Pages

    In Maria Dahvana Headley’s short story, Moveable Beast, in Neil Gaiman’s book, Unnatural Creatures, Headley tells the story of Bastardville’s Beast through the perspective of Angela. In the beginning of the story, Headley portrays Angela by having a sarcastic tone, being terse with others and barely caring about anything in Bastardville, including herself. Angela later has a coming of age story and realizes what the beast of her town represents and what she has to do to protect and maintain it. The details of the story paint an image inside the audience’s mind that leaves open interpretation to what or who the actual beast is. This effect is achieved by Headley’s complex style and uses irony, epiphany, and imagery to display her wild imaginative and open interpretation to the audience.

    Read More

  • Colette The Hand

    1309 Words  | 6 Pages

    Although the American novelist, Edmund White, believes that Colette is not taken seriously by many French readers just for the fact that she is a woman working in a primarily historically male-dominated field, it can be argued that this is not the only reason on why some people might not take Colette seriously. According to the Meriam-Webster Dictionary, the word serious is defined as: “Of or relating to a matter of importance.” However, even though Colette’s work is certainly interesting, she is nonetheless a novelist that writes fictional stories, and some, like The Hand, are quite exaggerated. Although a great writer indeed, she is a fictional writer, not a historian, economist, or a scientist, all of which write non-fictional work that

    Read More

  • Essay Outline For The Monkey's Paw

    726 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thesis: In The Monkey's Paw by W.W Jacobs, the realistic essence of the monkey's paw made it fundamentally creepy. Point 1: The monkey's paw is a symbol for inclination for greed, exposing our superior wants as people, even the most humble. Point 2: Consequences for the actions of those using the paw develops the image of regret and fear. Point 3:

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Psychoanalytic Lens

    642 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, Ramsey writes that “Latently, in Janie’s love of Tea Cake are the same seeds of contradiction that Hurston describes in her love of Arthur Price” (43). In reality, Hurston was a bright woman with dreams to become an “independent career woman” as Ramsey writes (43). In contrast, Price wanted her to be a supporting wife instead. Moreover, the side Hurston is standing on is visibly brighter than Price’s side, and the contrast is a parallel to how their dreams clashed with each other, as did Janie’s and Tea Cake’s dreams. To start, on the left side where Hurston is standing, I chose to use lighter and lively colors such as the bright green and light blue to represent Hurston and Janie’s attainable dreams.

    Read More

  • Violence In Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1461 Words  | 6 Pages

    Thus, the second category of Stoker’s violence is evident here – the visual aspect. The female vampires, with an immaculate mix of violence and sex, entrance their victims and prey on them. This seems to be a frightening portrayal of a “monster” since we do not expect a monster to attract the victims in using their beauty. However, it is for the same reason, that Stoker’s theme of violence has to be

    Read More

  • Selzer's Short Story 'The Knife'

    187 Words  | 1 Pages

    The short story “The Knife” utilizes various forms of diction to strengthen the quality of the text. He uses imagery in order to draw the audience into the story. Vivid phrases, such as “the tight click of clamps” and “the tough fibrous sheet” create a description that resonates with the audience. Selzer uses diction to create the tone and mood of the story. In the opening paragraph, his word choice suggests that the speaker is a murderer; in later paragraphs, it is implied that the speaker is a surgeon trying to save a patient.

    Read More

  • The Red Queen's Castle

    280 Words  | 2 Pages

    The director decided to use the contrast between oversaturated and undersaturated colours to set the atmosphere of the story. This is clearly seen when we consider both Queen’s castles. The Red Queen’s castle is gloomy and full of red (a colour that denotes violence/blood/death) whereas the White Queen’s castle is bright and full of white (a colours that denotes innocence/purity/goodness) -At the beginning of the film when Alice and her mother are in the carriage and her mum scolded her for not wearing socks and corset. Victorian women were expected to follow certain rules so as to maintain the conventions from society. -During the engagement party, Alice is supposed to accept a lord as a husband.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis Symbolism Essay

    770 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a person’s life, many situations transpire and make them feel pride over one’s self. Readers can see this in the short story,” The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. “In his spare time Hurst wrote short stories and plays, but The Scarlet Ibis was the only work of his that become famous “(gradesaver.com)”. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses red to symbolize warning, death, and guilt to show the change the older brother goes through, as he takes care of Doodle. The first instance when red is used, is to express warning and the older brother’s attitude, is at Doodle’s birth.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne: Critical Analysis

    1491 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne is centered around Aylmer, a mad scientist, and the birthmark on his wife’s, Georgiana, face. His obsession with perfection drives him to create an elixir that ends up serving its purpose and more. However, this story is actually about Aylmers attempt to use science to create the perfect human being, one lacking sin. Hawthorne implies this throughout the story by hinting towards the ideas that the birthmark on Georgiana’s face is really the embodiment of human sin and that Georgiana is, in reality, an angel. “No Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this slightest possible defect shocks me (Hawthorne, 765).

    Read More

  • What Are The Symbols In Young Goodman Brown

    613 Words  | 3 Pages

    Short Story Essay: Symbolism Symbolism, self-explanatory, something serving as a symbol. In the short story, Young Goodman Brown, symbolism is shown by the wife’s name, Faith, and the pink bow that Faith wears in her hair, and the snake staff. These three things have odd ways of being symbolic but this essay is going to break it down. First, Goodman Browns wife's name, Faith, is symbolic.

    Read More

  • Interpreter Of Maladies Analysis

    1228 Words  | 5 Pages

    1 A Review on the Short Story “Interpreter of Maladies” Introduction Jhumpa Lahiri is considered as one of the twenty best young writers in New Yorker’s 1999. She is the first person of South Asian descent to win an individual Pulitzer prize in 2000. Jhumpa Lahiri being an Indian American herself portrays the cultural boundary in having roots from India but being adapted to the American culture in the short story “Interpreter of Maladies”. The short story is fabricated along with the major theme absence of communication. Throughout the short story Lahiri points out the theme in order to convince the reader how lack of communication could affect on the lives of people.

    Read More

More about The Hand Colette

Open Document