Fresh Water for Flowers

In Fresh Water for Flowers, names are often given special significance. The novel shows that names—whether given at birth, chosen later, or ascribed by others—have power. Violette was born nameless, and when she was given a name for administrative purposes, it referred to the fact that the people present at 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 that 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 reflecting no familial ties, 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, but he isn’t given a name in the narrative until page 84, almost 60 pages later. This makes him a blank slate on which Violette can begin building a new story. When his name is revealed, however, his surname is “Seul,” which is French for “alone.” (It is worth noting that according to the acknowledgments section, Julien Seul is the name of a real person.) Violette does not comment on his surname, though Julien’s mother, Irène, does; she dislikes her husband’s name because it is in the masculine form (compared to the feminine “Seule”), and she feels like she is making a grammatical error when she applies it to herself.

Contrary to Julien, who remains nameless for a long time, Philippe Toussaint is consistently given two names for more than half the novel—it is always “Philippe Toussaint” and never just “Philippe.” Violette thinks of him as first name and last name joined together into one title. After their first meeting, she reflects: “With a name like that—the day for visiting the cemetery—I should have been wary” (14). In French, “Toussaint” means “all saints,” and refers to All Saints Day, or the day of the dead. Since Philippe’s parents share his name, always referred to as “Mother and Father Toussaint,” it foreshadows their later role in Léonine’s death.

It is not until page 272 that Philippe is referred to by his first name only, while Violette is meeting with the love of his life, Françoise. This introduction of his first name alone suggests that the story is now exploring his humanity beyond the layer Violette is exposed to. While he is never shown as a good person, from this point on he becomes a more complex human being who loved and was loved.

Other powerful names used in the novel are those of Elvis and Nono—the former as a nickname that reflects the character’s love of the singer and the latter because it better reflects the character’s personality. The cemetery’s 11 cats all have distinctive names: “I recited their names, it sounded like a poem by Prévert” (345). The names of everyone in the cemetery form a powerful part of the community dynamic which is so essential to the story.