kes the monster the protagonist, and the legendary hero the antagonist. She makes the reader form sympathy with Geryon, while having distaste for Herakles. These attacks on convention bring the reader into this subjective world, while leaving the objective world behind.Beyond simply the writing style, the uncertainty of everything in Autobiography of Red is further carried through the subjectivity of the facts. Before the narrative of the novel even begins and after you have encountered the subtitle “A Novel in Verse,” Appendix C introduces the reader to the incredible subjectivity of the book. It contains a whole series of facts determined by deductive reasoning, except for every fact is denied or refuted just as it is being stated. Fact One states: “Either Stesichoros was a blind man or he was not.” (18). Other facts read as such: “If Stesichoros was a blind man either his blindness was a temporary condition or it was permanent.” (18) and “If we call Helen up either she will sit with her glass of vermouth and let it ring or she will answer” (18), and finally ending with “If Stesichoros was a blind man either we will lie or if not not.” (18). Autobiography of Red is a subjective world, and reality is not defined. The novel creates its own reality, and refuses to subscribe to anyone else’s world. One passage of Autobiography of Red stands out as being a representation of Geryon and the book as a whole. While Geryon is mesmerized by Herakles’ grandmother’s photograph of the volcano, they have the following exchange which concerns the concept of subject and object: “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.” (52). There are many ways to read this ambiguous concept of sub...
