Ellis Island

The color red carries a variety of symbols and meanings throughout many cultures. Typical associations with the color include life, health, vigor, war, courage, anger, and fervor. Red can also represent passion and evil. It is also used in many areas as a representation of a warning or a direction to stop. In Native American cultures, the color red also has many different meanings. For some, it represents war, victory, courage, death, and defeat. It can also represent earth and strength. In “Ellis Island,” the speaker looks “Beyond the red brick of Ellis Island” (Line 1), and their usage of the word “brick” creates the image of a solid foundation or a building. “Ellis Island” (Line 1) is often associated with primarily European immigration, and symbolically, the “red brick” (Line 1) forms the foundation upon which everything is built. The speaker also uses the word “Beyond,” which means that people must look past the European colonialism shaping America and recognize the nation’s true foundations–those of its indigenous people who had their lands taken from them by Europeans. The word “red” (Line 1) also echoes with the word “blood” (Line 18) in the line “Yet only part of my blood loves that memory” (Line 18).