Autobiography of Red - Essay Example

Different Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, by Anne Carson, is about a boy called Geryon who is different from the rest of the people. He is first red in color, a fact that sets him apart from his peers. He then has wings that are not a standard feature with men and he is also homosexual. He is different in many aspects and this sets the major theme in the novel. Anne Carson, a commended writer and poet, transformed Stesichoros story into Autobiography of Red. Geryon is still winged and red, and Herakles (either intentionally or unknowingly) destroys him. In Stesichoros story, everything about Geryon is red. The fact that everything is red is something Carson brings and uses. Everything about Geryon is red, as well as everything in Autobiography of Red. What does red mean? Is the book a personal history of the color red as composed by Anne Carson? Not likely. Red is a striking color, more striking than dark, or chestnut, or blue. Red is striking and peculiar and, accordingly, red is the ideal illustration for difference, which Carson uses throughout Autobiography of Red to convey Geryons part as an outsider, a test to the hetero-narrative. Geryon had, what most would say, a bad youth and, likely, a different one from his peers. His mother was well intentioned, however pointless, while his father was mostly absent. Geryons older sibling sexually abused him. Geryon was red even in his adolescence, as was every little thing about him, from the "red silk chalk" utilized by his instructors to the "dull pink air" that encompassed his home (Carson 26, 36). In Geryons personal history, he set down the facts believed about himself, above all else of which is that "Geryon was a monster whose every little thing about him was red" (Carson 37). Geryon was such a different individual, to the point that he would not take the conventional route to his classroom at school. He would stroll to the most distant end of the building and "stand still until somebody inside noticed and turned out to show him the way. He didnt move neither did he knock on the glass but little, red, and upright he held up” (Carson 25). When he was far from his peers, he stood and waited to be included in their games or activities. He was commonly known as the different one, the other. Having a contemporary hero who is actually red is, to a degree, a different thing from what people are used to. Yet, what difference is using red, as an analogy, if yellow or orange would work and are additionally striking shades? Geryon must be red or the analogy, primarily, doesnt hold as much water as it ought to. In spite of being a red individual, "Geryon made it to puberty" and there he met Herakles (Carson 39). Whats more, from that point on, his reality was only red. Any trust of getting to be a bit darker vanished when Geryon met Herakles. Geryon was a red-winged "beast" who fell head over heels in love for a man who would destroy him. Homosexuality, notwithstanding being one of the customary others, is a definitive test to the ordinary hetero-narrative that people are used to reading. Male homosexuality is considerably more challenging to write about than heterosexuality, or even female homosexuality. Female homosexuality or lesbianism is more easily acceptable than male homosexuality. Nothing challenges a hetero-narrative more like a homosexual hero. In the long run, Herakles and Geryon end their relationship, yet Geryon stays red and winged. At the start, Geryons wings are in plain view. His mom used to neaten his minimal red wings and push him out the entryway (Carson 36). As time went on, Geryon chose to tie his wings between little wooden boards (Carson 53). Geryon did not accept his nature as he saw it as something that made him different from the other people, so he was determined to destroy them. At one point, in Buenos Aires, Geryon came across some information that almost "twelve percent of infants on the planet are conceived with tails" (Carson 97). This piece of information makes him question the number of children who are conceived with wings. He finds himself unique and so he put his wings on full display in a photo entitled "No Tail!" (Carson 97). Finally, he can embrace the fact that he is different from the rest of the people and that the fact that he has wings is unique and an advantage rather than a disadvantage. The photo is called "No Tail!" because "twelve percent of individuals are conceived with tails, yet just [Geryon] [has] been conceived with wings." Again, the question in inquiry emerges. Are Geryons wings genuine or another kind of illustration adding to his difference? They could be genuine as they can be neatened, bound, and spread. It is difficult to comprehend since, in some of the scenes where the wings appear to be most pivotal, they are missing. Herakles, one with whom Geryon had been intimate with various times, doesnt seem to notice the wings. It is not clear whether Herakles does not perceive the wings because he doesnt understand Geryon or simply because they are not present. On the other hand, is adoration so visually impairing that a man does not recognize wings on his mates back (Carson 97)? Maybe Herakles is both blinded by affection and totally unaware of his lover’s flaws. Wings or not, Geryons recently discovered affirmation toward oneself is not consistent with everyone else and, therefore, keeps his wings from other people. He meets and reunites with Herakles and Ancash, Herakles new mate; the trio goes to Peru where they live in Ancash’s mother’s rooftop. Geryon learns that he not only has wings that set him apart from the rest of the population, but he may also be immortal (Carson 129). Thus, not at all like Stesichoros form, Geryons story closes not with his demise, but with three men gazing at a flame, appreciating its magnificence and uniqueness. Works Cited Carson, Anne. Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1998. Read More