Across Five Aprils

Part of the novel’s overarching use of pathetic fallacy, colors and shadows are described vividly in many scenes to reflect the emotional state of the characters and their community. Jethro, who is “sensitive to color and contrast” (28) often references colors during his experiences. In Chapter 2, when Wilse Graham sits down for supper with the Creightons, “the memory of the golden kitchen and the velvet shadows of the room beyond was firmly stamped in [Jethro’s] mind” (28). The warm gold colors of the kitchen represent the family’s togetherness while the shadows lurking just at the edges of the room foreshadow the dread and anxiety of the looming war.

The colors on Walnut Hill represent Jethro’s different emotional states. On the day that Bill leaves, the vibrant colors of the autumn day are described as being “splashed through the woods” as if by some “madcap wastrel” (42), adding a sense of chaos and uncertainty to an otherwise peaceful scene. When Jethro stands on Walnut Hill, he knows the fall colors will be gone with “the first windswept rain that [come] to usher in the bleak days ahead” (42-43), foreshadowing the losses Jethro will endure during the war. When Jethro is forced to accept that Bill is leaving, the colors are described as “beginning to fade on Walnut Hill” (45), symbolizing Jethro’s innocence, which is already departing.

Colors and shadows also play a symbolic role in Jethro’s visit with Shad. When Ellen suggests he spend the night at Shad’s place, the prospect “changed the color of the world around Jeth” (51) in a positive way. This is the first time he is allowed to visit on his own, so it represents a small step in his journey toward adulthood. When Shad and Jethro are discussing the war, “outside across the prairie the shadows were almost black. Jethro and young Yale were silent, a part of the great dread that spread in all directions over the land that night” (59). Here, black represents fear of the unknown and the grief that the Creightons and the country will soon endure.

Hunt makes similar use of color and shadow when Jethro learns of Lincoln’s assassination. Before Lincoln’s death, when everyone is waiting for news that the war is over, that April is described as coming with “a burst of warmth and color that seemed prophetic” (181). But when news comes that the president has been killed, the joyful colors of peace are abruptly stolen: “Then suddenly, because there were no longer any eyes to perceive it, the color was gone, and the fifth April had become, like her four older sisters, a time of grief and desolation” (183). Ending the novel with the line “all the shadows were lifted from the April morning” (188) symbolizes that tragedy no longer overshadows Jethro’s world; his experiences during the past five Aprils have made him wiser and stronger.