The color red

One of my favorite stories that we read by Emilia Bazán was “Las Medias Rojas,” or the red stockings. I couldn’t help but wonder about the significance of the red color of the stockings. This is especially interesting to me because I was thinking about the parallels between the prevalence of the color red and domestic violence in this story and the prevalence of the color red and domestic violence in a movie we watched in Spanish 450, “Volver.” In “Volver,” the daughter, Paula kills her father who attempts to abuse and rape her. The colors of the movie are pretty bland; however specific things such as a red dress and a red car are very obvious. Did the director and Bazán specifically include the color red to symbolize something about domestic violence? The obvious reason for this would be the red symbolizes blood, representing the suffering and struggle that both of these women go through. Red however can also symbolize evil, as it is often associated with the devil. The red could be highlighting the inherent even in these men who abuse their daughters. However, maybe the red doesn’t stand for something negative. The short story and the movie are both a series of dark negative images. In “Las Medias Rojas” the description is depressing describing the sad life of the girls who’s Dad barely realizes she’s alive. In “Volver,” the subject matter is also somewhat gloomy. The brightness of the red could be used to symbolize maybe a glimmer of hope (brightness) in the lives of these girls.