Fresh Water for Flowers

In Fresh Water for Flowers, names are often given special significance. The novel shows us that names have power, both those which we’re born with and those which we take on later or are ascribed to us by others. Violette was born nameless and, when she was given one for administrative purposes only, the people surrounding her birth believed she was dead. The name “Violette” refers to the color—presumably, the color she was when it appeared she suffocated during her birth—as well as the flower, a motif which appears often throughout the text. Her last name was plucked from the French jazz singer Charles Trenet. Both of Violette’s names are arbitrary, never intended to belong to a real person and with no familial ties, and so they became hers all on their own.

The men in Violette’s life also carry notable names—or don’t, in one instance. Julien enters Violette’s life early in the novel (27), but he isn’t given a name in the narrative until page 84, almost 60 pages later. During their interactions up until this point, he has no name at all. This makes him a blank slate on which Violette can begin building a new story.