Little Green

Mothers have to make decisions that affect the lives of their family members all the time. One of these difficult decisions a mother might face is deciding to give their own child up for adoption. This decision might be for the better of both the mother and the child. To understand the bittersweet love given from a mother to a child in her decision to give them a better life in “Little Green”, Joni Mitchell uses chromatic imagery, conflicted characterization, and meaningful personification in order to convey that although “there’ll be sorrow”, there is no better feeling than that of knowing your child will live a better life than the life that you could provide for them._­

The use of chromatic imagery throughout the poem helps to emphasize the love given from the mother to the child she is putting up for adoption. The child is being called “Little Green” which can be very symbolic for the mother’s hope for her kid. The color green can represent both life and growth. The life is representative of the child being brought into the world and the growth is what the mother wants for the kid. She wants her child to grow old and live the happiest and best life possible in the process. Mitchell writes, “call her green and the winters cannot fade her”. She is being compared to a plant with the difference of her living throughout the winter when plants would normally die or “fade” from the cold, harsh weather. Green is also interpreted as luck. The color can be seen as a symbol for the Irish four leaf clover, a legitimate symbol for luck. The mother in the song “Little Green” wants her child to be lucky and she wants her child’s life to be full of lucky opportunities for her to be able to take. On the contrary, the color green can represent something totally different. Green is the color of money. Mitchell might be trying to say that the child is “green” because they will cost the mother money. Raising a child is definitely not a cheap task and Joni Mitchell knows that first hand. As a poor mother with no realistic way to raise her own child, a mother might see her kid as a way to cost her more money or as someone that she cannot raise because of her lack of income. Whether it is seen as a sign for a positive future or a costly one, the color green represents the reasons for the decision of a mother to put her child up for adoption.

The use of characterization in “Little Green” helps he listener to understand what the characters in the poem are going through. The main character in the poem is “Little Green”. Little Green can be characterized as innocent because they are only talked about, do not actually talk or have their own say, and they are only a child. The child is innocent because they are being put up for adoption by their own mother and people may feel bad for them. As one listens to the song, they probably feel bad for the child because they are going to grow up without their mom. A second character that is mentioned in the song is Little Green’s father. His characterization is sort of opposite of Little Green’s. The father of the child can be characterized as selfish because “he went to California hearing that everything’s warmer there”. “He” probably did not want to have to care for the child when he found out that Joni was pregnant so he thought he would simply solve the problem by leaving the mother and leaving the burden of raising the child alone on her. Also, after the mother sends the father a letter telling him that the child’s “eyes are blue” he replies with a poem saying that “she’s lost to you”. The father is selfish and shows no interest at all in his very own child. The final character in the song is the mother. Having a different characterization than her child and the father, the mother has a very conflicted characterization. Not only could she be sad, she could also be hopeful for her child and unashamed of her decision to let them go. Being a mother, she is obviously sad in having to decide to leave her child. It is probably every mother’s nightmare. On the other hand, the mother is definitely positive in the future of her kid when she says, “there’ll be icicles and birthday clothes”. She has to be hopeful that her child will live a great life, perhaps a better life than one that she could provide. Being happy that she is giving her kid a better opportunity, the mother of Little Green must be unashamed in coming to the conclusion to let her child go. She knows that she did the right thing for her kid. The many different characterizations of the people mentioned in the song “Little Green” help to convey what goes on with everyone involved in the tough decision to let a child go.

Joni Mitchell uses the personification of natural events to help stress the severity of the situation. Mitchell personifies the season of spring and connects it to her child, Little Green. She said the color green was “like the color when spring is born”. Again green is being symbolic of plants. In the spring, plants all come back to life after the cold winter months. The mother of Little Green is saying that the color is like her child and the birth of spring is the birth of her child and the new life they have ahead of them. In the same way, winter is also being related to Little Green. As plants usually die in the winter, Mitchell is saying that her child never will perish in the same way. She says “the winters cannot fade her”. This is also calling Little Green strong and independent. The child is strong because they can last through even the harshest times of their life. For plants, the harshest time of their lives is winter. The kid is also independent because even if some people might not be able to get through these tough times, the child can. Finally, the song says, “Just a little green like the nights when the Northern Lights perform”. The Northern Lights are a spectacular natural occurrence and they are being compared to Little Green. The mother of Little Green is trying to say that their child is spectacular. Being able to live life without your very own mother is a difficult thing. These personified natural events in the song help to magnify the seriousness of the choice to put a child up for adoption.

Although it may be heart wrenching, a woman might be put in a position to have to give up her own child. Whether it is because of financial problems or not, it is probably best for both mother and child. The love given from a mother to her child in her decision to give their kid up for adoption is seen in the song “Little Green” by Joni Mitchell through its meaningful personification, conflicted characterization, and chromatic imagery.