The red sun touched the horizon and spread out like a jellyfish, and the sky above it seemed much brighter and more alive than it had been.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 6. Red is often viewed as the color of passion and love, but in this case it represents something altogether different and more sinister. The red of a "brighter and more alive" sun over Oklahoma is the symbol of danger. As it dries out the land and leaves crops parched it is compared in a simile to a venomous jellyfish.