Reading 1001 discussion

9. Again and again the characters in The Colour make attempts to connect with one another, and not simply by speaking but through subtler, more intimate gestures. One such attempt, handled in a variety of fashions, is sex. How does each character approach sexuality?

I will say the Joseph's relationship to sex was the most troubling. I was taken aback by his escapades but it did show his true colours.

Joseph: his starts with his willingness to have sex with a woman that was below him in class (I think). He viewed her as "wanting it" and maybe she did. She may have seen a marriage to Joseph as a way out of her situation. Anyway, Joseph was willing to take but not to take responsibility for consequences to the point that he put this girls life in jeopardy. He wanted to have sex with his wife but not to ever really consummate that marriage so therefore he was never really committed to the relationship. He didn't even want to have her look at him. Joseph was willing to use sex to hold on the the boy to avoid being alone and to have someone take care of him like cooking. Joseph was a man that used people and he used sex. It was never a relationship.

The relationship of Harriet with the Pao was a bit harder for me but I think it was Harriet's opportunity to have a real relationship. It was also an interesting look at a woman who did not have racial prejudice. I think it had a message about freedom, the unbound feet.