Interpretation relies heavily on the senses of the beholder. You and I could go about interpreting the same object and yet, at the end of the day, our interpretations would be unique, merely because our view points are different. The black and the white have intrigued me relentlessly; they seem more symbolic than they were probably meant to be, and more difficult and easier, simultaneously, than the others to comprehend.
Black, most would say, doesn’t signify anything. It’s vast, empty, without life. But how then would one determine the worth of life if it isn’t weighed against lifelessness? Black gives emptiness substance, and in the process, serenades vitality, gives it reason and comprehension. It gives life a place which otherwise it would not have attained, or deserved, for that matter. The beauty of company lies in the despondency of isolation. It is when the good and the bad are juxtaposed, that the goodness in good is manifested more vividly than earlier. So, for whatever else it is not, black is integral, complementary.
Can white then be defined as the antithesis of black? One would feel tempted to, but then that would be similar to treating white like the moon, saying it is radiant because of the sun, and questioning its ability. White is independent because it signifies that which is desirable, that which is worthy of the virtue involved in desiring. It is seemingly perfect, almost spotless to the observer; it is elusive. But it is not a mirage because its radiance doesn’t disappear even on approaching it, but it remains elusive nevertheless. The impossibility of achievement of that which is desired makes the desired further desirable. The elusiveness further enhances the greatness of white, and stamps it with unquestionable superiority.
Black is blind, white is pure. A black on white is not the same as a white on black. The former becomes dirty white but the latter still remains black. Black tries to absorb all, nurturing mediocrity and contagion. White tries to reflect all. The resilient and the determined strive, and in that struggle, become a part of the greatness that is white. That sense of greatness, though, becomes more perceptibly clear when seen alongside the depths of black.
