Literary Devices In Joni Mitchell’s “Little Green”

        Speculating whether or not to give one’s child a better life by employing them for adoption is one of the most horrifying decisions a mother can make. Joni Mitchell writes “Little Green” in 1967, telling the story of a woman who has to make this decision. When listening to this song, one would not think that the singer is actually referring to herself because she speaks in the 3rd person . In “Little Green” Joni makes use of multiple literary devices throughout the song. Contemplating her decision to give up her relationship with her child in “Little Green”, Joni  Mitchell utilizes chromatic imagery, diverse characterization, and seasonal personification to convey that there’ll be good times and ads times and sometimes there’ll be sorrow”.
        Imagery is language that evokes sensory images. Joni Mitchell uses chromatic imagery to emphasize the difficulty of her decision. Joni sings “Just a little green” (11) ; which is chromatic imagery because it creates a picture in your mind and is pertaining to color. Joni creates a sense of seasonal imagery when she sings “Hearing everything's warmer there” (7). Using imagery of crocuses, she employs the concept of happiness in saying “There’ll  be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow”. She portrays multiple ideas through her imagery.
        Characterization is the process of conveying information about characters presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts. Joni Mitchell utilizes diverse , expected characterization to help show the idolizing differences between the characters. The father is characterized as a non conformer and ignorant because “he went to California” (6) to avoid having to pay child support or take care of his newly born child. The mother is characterized as indecisive and she sing “ you’re sad and you’re sorry but you’re not ashamed” (21). Joni characterizes “little green”,her new born child, as innocent because she has only just been brought into this world and hasn't had the chance to become otherwise. The characterization Joni uses is Divers because each of the characters is utterly different and it is expected because of the situation she’s in.
        Personification is the act of providing inanimate things with human characteristics. Joni employs personification in her song “Little Green” to convey a sense of local color. She is from Toronto, Canada which is where things like the northern lights are seen. Hence the personification of the northern lights is used here “like the nights when the northern lights perform” (27). The personification here give the northern lights human like qualities. This adds local flavor to her song because you can’t see the northern lights from just anywhere. Joni also utilizes seasonal imagery when she sings “Like the color when the spring is born” (24). This gives spring human-like qualities because a human can be born but a season cannot. Joni employs a strong usage of personification to enhance the meaning of her song. 
        In Joni Mitchell’s song “Little Green”, she utilizes multiple literary devices to enhance the meaning of her song. By speaking in the 3rd person, Joni conveys to the reader that the story is not about herself when in all reality it really is. Contemplating her decision to give up her relationship with her child in ”Little Green”, Joni Mitchell utilizes chromatic imagery, diverse characterizations, and seasonal personification to convey that there will be good times and “sometimes there”ll be sorrow”.