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
It’s nearly dawn. Geryon has been walking for an hour. He steps inside Café Mitwelt and writes a postcard to Geryon’s mother, describing all the girls there as being “cigarette girls.” A man, whom Geryon calls a “yellowbeard,” asks to join Geryon and pulls out a chair before Geryon can respond. Geryon thinks the man’s mouth looks like a small nipple. The man asks Geryon if he is from the U.S. Geryon says no. The man asks Geryon if he’s in town for an academic conference and mentions that there’s a big philosophy conference on Skepticism happening in town. “Ancient or modern?” asks Geryon, despite his efforts to remain uninterested.
Geryon’s comment about the “cigarette girls” to his mother fulfills a similar purpose as the comment he made about not smoking in his earlier phone call to her. It’s an attempt to relate to her by bringing up one of her habits, but without actually saying anything honest that would put him in a vulnerable position of having that honesty be rejected or misunderstood. Geryon wants close relationships with his family but doesn’t know how. Geryon’s’ decision to refer to the philosopher as the “yellowbeard” implies a certain skepticism about the man—or, at least, that Geryon doesn’t feel an initial closeness or comfort around him, since Geryon associates with the color red, not yellow.
Themes
The yellowbeard tells Geryon that he flew in from Irvine and is giving a talk at 3:00 about Emotionlessness, or, as the ancients called it, ataraxia. He tells Geryon that he wants to study “the erotics of doubt […] as a precondition […] of the proper search for truth.” Geryon and the yellowbeard leave the café. The yellowbeard invites Geryon to come to his talk, and Geryon asks if he can bring his camera.
Ataraxia is a concept from Ancient Greek philosophy first used by Phyrro and, later, the Stoics. It refers to a state of tranquility that occurs when one is free from distress and worry. This is the state of mind Geryon has longed to achieve his whole life, so this is a significant moment of development in the book and perhaps foreshadows a resolution to some of his interpersonal problems.
Themes
