The ​Crown of Gilded Bones

Before the awakening of her more powerful magical abilities, Poppy experiences synesthesia while reading the emotions of others. For example, she describes tasting fear and anger and smelling happiness. Because of this talent, Poppy remains hyperaware of smells, tastes, and colors. Poppy revels in bright-colored clothes, and she often notices the specific shade of a person’s eyes upon meeting them. Color therefore represents freedom and free will and contrasts with the negative associations of white, which symbolizes control and oppression. After Cas saves Poppy from bloodlust, she sees “colors—a blue, cloudless sky and warm sunlight. Black waters that shimmered like pools of obsidian, and sandy dirt warm under my feet” (107). Poppy completely loses control over her faculties while she is experiencing bloodlust; her first free observations after feeding and regaining control of herself are around the coloration of the natural world. Similarly, as Maiden, Poppy lacked control over her life and her everyday choices and was forced to wear an all-white wardrobe and veil. Now that she is living a freer life, Poppy surrounds herself with color and avoids white at all costs.