Autobiography of Red

by

Anne Carson

Volcano  Symbol Analysis

Volcano   Symbol Icon

Volcanoes symbolize the ambiguity between the “inside” world and the “outside” world, and Geryon’s struggle to navigate this liminal space. One of Geryon’s central struggles throughout the novel is how to express his inner thoughts and develop meaningful, intimate relationships with others. After suffering abuse at the hands of his older brother, Geryon turns inward, rarely confiding his true thoughts and desires with others. Geryon explicitly compares “the cracks and fissures of his inner life” to the “lateral fissures called fire lips” of volcanoes. Unlike a “healthy volcano,” however, which periodically purges itself of its inner “pressure,” Geryon cannot regulate the expulsion of his “inner life.” Volcanoes fascinate Geryon because he longs to master the divide between inside and outside and learn how to project his inner turmoil outward so that he can use it to express himself to others rather than alienate himself from them. Geryon also associates volcanoes with his passionate but tumultuous relationship with Herakles, since it was Herakles’s grandmother’s photograph of a volcanic eruption, “Red Patience,” that first attracted him to volcanoes. On the same visit to Herakles’s hometown of Hades when Herakles first saw the photograph, Geryon, Herakles, and Herakles’ grandmother visited the volcano that was the subject of her photograph, as well. Geryon is also struck by Herakles’s grandmother’s story about Lava Man, the sole survivor of the 1923 volcanic eruption. Although Lava Man suffered severe burns, his residual scars symbolize the melding of his “inside” and “outside” worlds, something Geryon desperately longs to achieve in himself.

Volcano  Quotes in Autobiography of Red

The Autobiography of Red quotes below all refer to the symbol of Volcano  . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 14 Quotes

What if you took a fifteen-minute exposure of a man in jail, let’s say the lava
has just reached his window?
he asked. I think you are confusing subject and object, she said.
Very likely, said Geryon.

Related Characters: Geryon (speaker), Herakles’s Grandmother (speaker), Herakles
Related Symbols: Volcano 
Page Number: 51
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

I am a drop of gold he would say
I am molten matter returned from the core of earth to tell you interior things

Related Characters: Herakles’s Grandmother (speaker), Lava Man (speaker), Geryon, Ancash
Related Symbols: Wings , Volcano 
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30 Quotes

It is
because of her I began to notice moments of death. Children make you see distances.

Related Characters: Lazer (speaker), Geryon, Herakles’s Grandmother
Related Symbols: Volcano 
Page Number: 94
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 38 Quotes

What Geryon was thinking Herakles never asked. In the space between them
developed a dangerous cloud.

Related Characters: Geryon, Herakles, Ancash, Ancash’s Mother
Related Symbols: Volcano 
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39 Quotes

A volcano is not a mountain like others. Raising a camera to one’s face has effects
no one can calculate in advance.

Related Characters: Geryon, Herakles, Ancash, Ancash’s Mother
Related Symbols: Volcano 
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 45 Quotes

There is one thing I want from you.
Tell me.
Want to see you use those wings.

Related Characters: Geryon (speaker), Ancash (speaker), Herakles
Related Symbols: Wings , Volcano 
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 46 Quotes

This is for Ancash, he calls to the earth diminishing below. This is a memory of our
beauty.

Related Characters: Geryon (speaker), Herakles, Ancash
Related Symbols: Red, Wings , Volcano 
Page Number: 145
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 47 Quotes

We are amazing beings,
Geryon is thinking. We are neighbors of fire.
And now time is rushing towards them
where they stand side by side with arms touching, immortality on their faces, night at their back.

Related Characters: Geryon (speaker), Herakles, Ancash, Stesichoros
Related Symbols: Wings , Volcano 
Page Number: 146
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Autobiography of Red LitChart as a printable PDF.
Autobiography of Red PDF

Volcano  Symbol Timeline in Autobiography of Red

The timeline below shows where the symbol Volcano  appears in Autobiography of Red. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11. Hades
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...the other side of the island. Herakles asks Geryon if he has ever seen a volcano. He tells Geryon about the volcano in Hades that last exploded in 1923. Herakles’s grandmother... (full context)
Chapter 13. Somnabula
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...scolds him. Herakles smiles at Geryon and asks if Geryon would like to see a volcano. (full context)
Chapter 14. Red Patience
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...is a 15-minute exposure that captured the ash and lava as it rolled down the volcano and eviscerated everything in its path. Geryon doesn’t know why he’s so fascinated by the... (full context)
Chapter 15. Pair
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...Geryon fakes a smile and says he’s fine. They make plans to drive to the volcano tomorrow so Geryon can take pictures. Geryon pulls his jacket over his head, covering his... (full context)
Chapter 19. From the Archaic to the Fast Self
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...time of day did Krakatoa erupt” as an alternate last question; he’s been reading about volcanoes in the encyclopedia.  (full context)
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...instructing Herakles to get dressed: he and his grandmother are taking Geryon to see a volcano today. In Geryon’s autobiography, the page about today will feature a photograph of a red... (full context)
Chapter 20. AA
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...drifts in and out of sleep as he, Herakles, and Herakles’s grandmother drive to the volcano. Herakles and his grandmother are talking about feminism and life in Hades. Geryon thinks about... (full context)
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
They reach the volcano and get out of the car. The landscape around them is entirely bare. Herakles’s grandmother... (full context)
Chapter 21. Memory Burn
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...Yeats was actually talking about politics, but Herakles’s grandmother claims he was talking about a volcano. They talk about the silence of photographs. Herakles returns, and Geryon tells him his grandmother... (full context)
Chapter 33. Fast-Forward
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...Mitwelt. Herakles tells Geryon that he and Ancash are traveling throughout South America to record volcanoes for a documentary about Emily Dickinson. Ancash hands Geryon a tape recorder and headphones, explaining... (full context)
Chapter 37. Eyewitnesses
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...In Jucu, a volcanic region, they have odd beliefs. In ancient times, people worshipped the volcano as a god and sacrificed people by throwing them into the volcano. Those people that... (full context)
Chapter 43. Photographs: I am a Beast
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...Herakles that the town of Juco is built into the slope of Icchantikas, an active volcano. The locals bake bread in holes that form in the side of the volcano. Herakles... (full context)
Chapter 45. Photographs: Like and Not Like
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...Ancash silently returns to the hotel. Herakles tells Geryon it’s time to travel to the volcano. Geryon looks at his face, which is white and resembles an old man’s face. Later... (full context)
Chapter 47. The Flashes in Which a Man Possesses Himself
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...of Jucu on this cold, dark night. They turn a corner and reach their destination: “Volcano in a wall.” They watch men form balls of dough and place them into holes... (full context)
Interview (Stesichoros)
Identity and Creativity Theme Icon
Communication and Mystery Theme Icon
Time Theme Icon
Self and World Theme Icon
...the subject. The interviewer suggests talking about description. Stesichoros replies that “the difference between a volcano and a guinea pig is not a description.” Next, the interviewer tries to discuss Geryon,... (full context)