Red Geryon Autobiography Of Red

What Makes A Monster
An Analysis of All The Broken Things and Autobiography of Red It is hard to describe, in words, the border between what can be considered normal, and what is perceived as unusual. In a world where living things come in such a variety of shapes and sizes, it’s very difficult to find the line that separates a normal person from something more monstrous. In fact, drawing this kind of line would often be called unethical or impolite. Despite the moral issues of ostracization (whether it be physical, emotional, or socially based, it’s something that people around the world do everyday. It’s something that has been hardboiled into our minds from the day we were born. The world around us teaches us to see people visibly

Though Geryon’s beginnings are very different than Orange’s, his isolation and separation from the world around him can be related back to actual people in his life. In Autobiography of Red, Geryon is a literal monster. He is a fantasy creature with red wings from an old mythological story. However, Geryon’s physical differences can be interpreted as a metaphor for his inner issues and his opinion of himself. Geryon is different from what may be considered normal, for he is darkly introverted and homosexual. Stuck in a society that is very different than him, Geryon feels isolated and confused, and a lot of this is arguably the result of a troubling childhood and home life. Geryon’s mother, though well meaning, was never able to be a proper parent to him, and his older brother repeatedly sexually abused him. After the first episode of sexual abuse, Geryon began to think about “the difference between outside and inside”, coming to the conclusion that “inside was mine” (Carson, 29). This passage shows the beginning of Geryon's introverted nature and the belief that he is only truly himself on the inside. This is the isolation that is metaphorically represented through his physically monstrous appearance, showing us that the very things that define this character and make him abnormal are the result of humans (i.e. his brother) and not entirely nature. Even the fact that Anne Carson

As mentioned earlier, towards the end of All The Broken Things, a character named Morgana, who belongs to the same freak show as Orange, points out that while the other freaks are man-made or god-made, Orange is man-made. It can be argued, however, that all of the freaks are entirely man-made, just through the labeling and degradation that had been bestowed upon them. Even though the sword-swallowing freak had discovered that talent himself, it’s sleazy characters such as Max who put him on display, labeling him as a monster to society. Even though the origin of a monster influences its depiction, ultimately, the way the person is treated by others in day-to-day life is what decides whom or what is truly inhumane. A journal titled Monsters, Disgust, and Fascination, analyzes the structure and intentions of monsters in horror stories. It explains that horror movies are “intended to produce the emotion art-horror” explaining that “these emotions are responses to monsters which are viewed by the characters as disturbances in the natural order” (Feagin 75). Though Autobiography of Red and All The Broken Things aren’t horror stories, this idea of monsters being used to artfully enforce emotions is a great way to describe the way abnormal things are presented in popular