Tyrian purple the Iles Purpuraires at Mogador, in Morocco. The sea snail harvested at this western Moroccan dye production facility was "Hexaplex trunculus" (mentioned above) also known by the older name "Murex trunculus". This second species of dye murex is found today on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa (Spain and Portugal, Morocco, and the Canary Islands). The colour-fast (non-fading) dye was an item of luxury trade, prized by Romans, who used it to colour ceremonial robes. Used as a dye, the color shifts from blue (peak absorption at 590 nm, which is yellow-orange) to reddish-purple (peak absorption at
Prized Possessions parents’ behaviour. This is apparent when he describes the sounds of his father’s labor as “meaningless energy” that finds “its way through [his] skull and into [his] brain, leaving no room for anything else” (113). In the wake of observing his own parents go mad, the symptoms start to manifest themselves in him through his constant fear and irritability. Prized Possessions Setting Main Characters Supporting Characters The story begins with the speaker’s groaning and cynical comment on “poverty,” in which he redefines it as something highly substantial than what many people consider it to be, something “that clings to you”