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Chapter 39
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
This chapter describes a photograph Geryon calls “Origin of Time.” In the photograph, four people sit at a table. It takes Geryon a long time to set up his camera for the photo because he feels stoned and aloof. A sudden feeling of wanting to be in love washes over him, followed by a feeling of “wrongness.” “What was that?” asks someone, “centuries later.”
This surreal scene bends the physical constraints of time, place, and distance. Because it describes a photograph Geryon takes, this chapter is an attempt to flesh out exactly the sort of manipulation of time that is possible in photography. The fact that someone asks, “What was that?” centuries after the photographic was taken shows the immortal quality that photography takes on. Lastly, the feeling of “wrongness” Geryon feels provides further evidence that he’s realizing his love for Herakles is ultimately harmful to him.
Themes
