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Chapter 37
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Autobiography of Red, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Creativity
Communication and Mystery
Time
Self and World
Summary
Analysis
Geryon sits in the backseat as he, Ancash, Ancash’s mother, and Herakles prepare to drive to Huaraz. Last night, he dreamed about young, “strangely lovely” dinosaur-like creatures running through a forest of thorns and imagines titling a photograph of the scene “Human Valentines.” Herakles loudly remarks on how he snagged an air-conditioned rental car. Ancash’s mother is silent but climbs into the driver’s seat.
Geryon’s dream of “strangely lovely” dinosaur-creatures symbolizes the possibility that he might begin to see himself and his own creature-like qualities in a new, “strangely lovely” light after Ancash sees him for who he is and accepts him. The title he offers the photograph of the dream, “Human Valentines,” further points to the themes of love, affection, and connection that underly his dream.
Themes
The travelers leave Lima and begin to ascend a winding road up a mountain. They’re entirely alone on the road, and Herakles is uncharacteristically quiet. Geryon considers how he had no idea what Herakles was thinking, even when they were dating. Meanwhile, Herakles had not bothered to ask what Geryon was thinking. Herakles had once voiced a fantasy about having sex in a car, and Geryon wonders if he’s thinking about that now. The car goes over a rocky patch of road, and Ancash’s mother swears. They continue onward, and the day slowly fades into night.
The journey into a volcanic region mirrors the earlier trip Geryon took to see the volcano in Hades with Herakles and Herakles’s grandmother. Whereas that trip ended in loneliness and heartbreak for Geryon, perhaps this journey will have a more positive outcome. Certainly, Geryon’s realization that Herakles has never asked nor seemed to care about Geryon’s inner life points to the possibility that Geryon is moving on from Herakles and learning to find validation, acceptance, and affirmation in people like Ancash.
Themes
