The prose “The Loom” is written by RL Sasika, this piece outlines how a mother’s sadness is expressed through the use of her loom’s colors. It introduces the reader to three daughters Jo, Linda and Sharon who got the loom for her mother. In fact it is the mother who tries to bring out happiness in her children. In reading this prose you get to know the mothers emotions with the use of symbolism and diction of the colors, each daughter tries to bring the mother out of sadness but in fact it is the mother who tries to make her family whole again through the use of symbolism.
Throughout the prose the character of the writer uses a continuous metaphor to describe how the mother is sad with regards to the color she used while looming but the diction used is what really seals the deal. The voice of the author says: “She made sample after sample using the same subdued, muted colors” (Sasika line 10 &12). From the diction used, subdued and muted gives us insight on the character of the mother, a synonym of this is quite giving the reader the impression that the mother is also quite. Later on in the prose it goes on to say, “All in browns and neutral shades, the color she preferred”(Sasika), this line shows that the mother preferred colors, which reflected the mother’s sense of emotion through the use of the color of the string.
The symbolism throughout the prose is portrayed by the different colors the mother uses to loom with which connects to her state of mind/emotion. She uses a technique to disguise her true emotions by hiding them in a plain boring piece of work, “Startling the eye when it was turned over” (Sasika line 18), this could symbolize the fact that the mother would use this technique to show people two different emotions, one which is plain on one side an other which is more happy and bouncy if people paid closer attention to the minute details. Symbolism is an important part of this piece but the daughter’s trying to bring their mother out of depression is an import component of this piece as well.
Throughout the prose the three daughter’s tries to bring their mother out of sadness. Linda tries to visit as often as possible to keep her mother happy before going to work. Sharon the middle daughter brought her mother a loom to distract her from sadness, which to an extent worked. “She took to her loom with new excitement” (Sasika line 21) Sharon did make a slight impact by trying to reinvigorate her mother’s emotions through showing her mother a more warm and familiar color on her mother’s life but it would soon fade away when no daughter’s were in the house, she began to cry because of empty nest syndrome, to summarize the mother’s happiness depended on the daughters being in the house. However a case could be made that it is the mother who tries to weave her family whole again.
The metaphor the author uses can be interpreted in a way that the mother’s depression and her family’s different paths try to bring them closer together. Evidence of this can be seen when the mother weaves Jo a brown muffler, and Sharon asks her to wear it, “Hidden colors leaped from the fabric, You’d never know it unless you look closely” (Sasika line 53 & 55) soon after the mother’s plans came together with the sisters finally sharing a moment together after leading their hectic lives “Sharing a rare moment together” (Sasika line 58). The mother’s plans worked for a little while where she wanted her family together again, which eased her pain and depression but unfortunately came back soon after when Jo left leaving her mother crying.
In conclusion the use of symbolism and metaphor gives the reader a broader understanding of the mother’s character and depth of her depression. The technique in which she displays two sides of herself with the turnover technique represents the two sides, which she displays to her family, and one to others.