The testing

In the Great Lakes Colony, Cia and her family put on different colored ceremonial robes before the graduation ceremony. Now that it is Cia’s graduation day, she gets to wear red just like her mother instead of the pink she wore as a child. Her father and her brothers, all of whom have graduated high school, wear purple. During the ceremony, Cia notices that the magistrate is wearing a rusted red to signify her status as a wise town leader. The colors signify where each colonist is in their life. In some cases like the magistrate, the color denotes social status. Even in the Testing, clothing can take on symbolic weight, like Ryme's yellow dress - connoting liveliness, sickness, and cowardice.