Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Name is Red, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Storytelling, Identity, and Perspective
Creation vs. Representation
Life, Death, and Consciousness
Virtue vs. Sin
Love, Desire, and Greed
Summary
Analysis
Around the time of evening prayers, someone arrives at Butterfly’s house and announces the Sultan’s horse-drawing competition. Butterfly is happy to participate but frustrated that the horse must be drawn in blank ink, because, of all the miniaturists, he makes the best use of color. He stares at the page and tries to envision a horse that will please both the Sultan and Master Osman; immediately, he begins to draw at a fast pace. Butterfly basks in his own talent as he draws, thinking about how everyone will be impressed by the horse. He imagines winning the prize and being given compliments and a bag of gold coins by the Sultan. When he is almost finished, he takes time over the final details in order to make it clear that he worked hard on the picture. He concludes: “When I draw a magnificent horse, I become a great master of old drawing that horse.”
This passage proves that Master Osman’s opinion about Butterfly is correct. Clearly, Butterfly is desperately eager to please, as shown by the fact that he tries to envision a horse that will satisfy both the Sultan and Master Osman and that he fantasizes about the Sultan giving him compliments when he wins. Because of this, Butterfly does not have much of an original style as an artist, which, in fact, makes him a better miniaturist in the traditional sense. Butterfly’s fidelity to the traditional style is confirmed by his statement at the end of the chapter that when he draws a magnificent horse, he becomes a “great master.”
Themes
