Cellist Of Sarajevo Language Analysis

The different uses of colour by an author in their writing can have an incredible effect on the way that a novel is perceived. In the novel The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, the lack of colour sets the tone appropriate for a book about a city under siege, this is punctuated by spots of colour, which give light to the depressing mood. In the book, Sarajevo is a city that has largely been destroyed. Each of the characters in the book is given hope by a cellist who sits on the street each day and plays for the 22 people who died in a bombing outside his home. At different times, Galloway is able to provoke images in the minds of readers through the use of bright colours. The novel is also often deprived of colour creating new images
Bright colours are used by Galloway to bring light and hope to the characters of the novel. The colours disrupt the grey that has covered Sarajevo, allowing characters a feeling that all may not be lost. The novel is often robbed of colour as well. This leaves the characters searching for a source of happiness and light in their miserable lives. The cellist provides this for all of the characters including him. When colour is deprived from areas of the book, grey is the shade that takes its place. Grey is symbolic of the war and has an intense effect on the moods of the characters. Grey has taken the colour out of Sarajevo, leaving people desperate for a source of happiness. Galloway is able to use colour to accurately depict the mood and tone of the novel. By removing colour and replacing it with grey, the mood is represented as a very dismal, depressing feeling. However, this feeling is removed at times and replaced with hope for the characters, particularly when the cellist is playing, or when there is colour