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Chapter 16
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 and Herakles paint graffiti later that night. Geryon paints a pair of red wings and the word “LOVESLAVE” on the garage of a priest’s house. Herakles spots some other graffiti that reads “CAPitalISM SUCKS” and writes “CUT HERE” over it. They return to Herakles’s car and drive to the freeway, pulling over at the tunnel to do more graffiti. Herakles suggests they write something cheerful. He explains that all of Geryon’s graffiti is “about captivity” and makes him feel glum. This makes Geryon “fe[el] his limits returning.” He says nothing to Herakles. He remembers when he was a little boy, and a dog ate all his ice cream, leaving him surprised and holding an empty cone. When Geryon continues not to speak, Herakles suggests they go home. They are too tired to sing “Joy to the World,” and the drive feels endless.
Geryon’s “LOVESLAVE” message, accompanied by a pair of red wings that are a clear symbol for himself, reinforces the idea of captivity that has captivated him since childhood. While Geryon’s love for Herakles holds him captive, he relishes the opportunity to connect with another person, something he hasn’t done since he decided to turn inward after experiencing his first incident of sexual abuse. Herakles, who is interested in individual freedom, feels depressed by Geryon’s message because he thinks that being beholden to others sets a person back and leaves them unable to be personally satisfied. He thinks that the self is strengthened by fulfilling his selfish needs, not by convening with others and fulfilling promises made to them. When the boys don’t sing their song, it shows that their opposite views on “captivity” drive a wedge between them. It foreshadows that perhaps their relationship is fated to end prematurely.
Themes
