How does the author use color in the novel, Whereabouts?

The author uses color to represent self-possession and confidence. Conspicuously absent in most of the novel, Lahiri uses color at significant moments to highlight the narrator's desire for confidence, especially with regard to her composure as a woman measured against others. Color is often used to describe other women, such as her friend's "flame-colored, egg-shaped coat" (44). Notably, the narrator asks for color to be applied to her nails only after noticing how beautiful the salon worker is. However, she cannot help but feel inferior despite the application of color, noting that the worker's nails, though bare, "are lovelier still" (50).