In "Kitchenette Building", color has an important role which describes the mood, purpose, and message of the poem. There are two typical combination of colors: gray and white&violet.
Gray represents reality. Image of gray is mostly dull, depressing, and gloomy, like the writer's everyday life. In the poem, it says "Grayed in." People living in the kitchenette building are losing their color day by day, getting depressed. They all live together with stink and share one bathroom. They lack time to think about there dream because they are busy to pay "rent", "feeding a wife", and "satisfying a man". Additionally, "... gray." means that they are physically turned gray as they are getting closer to death.
On the other hand, white&violet symbolize dream. Image of white&violet is lively and vivid. White and violet are a combination of colors which Brooks thought were the color of her dream. She wanted to "warm it, keep it very clean," and "anticipate a message"; however, she didn't have time to deeply consider her dream. Also, only wealthy people could afford purple-dyed goods, so purple was a symbol of wealth.
When Brooks thinks of white and violet, she thinks about her dream. When she thinks of gray, she is forced to come back to reality. Through changes in colors, she shows her feeling.
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