Arturo Garcia Outside Reading 3

In the novel On Parole by Akira Yoshimura , the author makes extensive use of imagery, he explains the scenery in great detail, however he almost never mentions color. There is one color that he mentions many times in the novel. While it is easy to understand that the color of red is meant to be a symbol of his anger and violence based on context ,and the fact that in our culture the color red is a symbol of anger, sin, passion, blood, and guilt, it is interesting to note that in many Asian cultures red has a less negative connotation. In Japan the color red has a very different meaning, the color red is used in the Japanese flag to represent the sun, and the sun is  important to their culture(Nippon, the Japanese word for Japan means land of the rising sun), many Torii gates( Shinto shrine archways) are painted red, for the most part the color red has a positive meaning and is used more as a symbol of happiness and honor. The use of the color red as a symbol of murder is meant to be universally understood.