Master Osman is the Head Illuminator of the royal workshop and the most senior and respected master miniaturist. He is a fierce defender of the traditional style of miniaturist painting and he dreads the encroachment of European influence. He hates Enishte and disapproves of the secret book. Butterfly, Stork, and Olive all profess to love him, despite the fact that he physically and sexually abused them during their apprenticeship. While Osman and Black are searching for clues about the murderer’s identity in the Royal Treasury, Osman uses the needle of the great master Bihzad to blind himself, just as Bihzad himself did 80 years earlier. He dies two years after going blind.
Master Osman Quotes in My Name is Red
The My Name is Red quotes below are all either spoken by Master Osman or refer to Master Osman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Vintage edition of My Name is Red published in 2002.
Chapter 51
Quotes
Hundreds of years hence, men looking at our world through the illustrations
we've made won't understand anything. Desiring to take a closer look, yet lacking the patience, they might feel the embarrassment, the joy, the deep pain and pleasure of observation I now feel as I examine pictures in this freezing treasury––but they'll never truly know.
Related Characters:
Master Osman (speaker)
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Master Osman Character Timeline in My Name is Red
The timeline below shows where the character Master Osman appears in My Name is Red. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: I Will Be Called a Murderer
...nervous. He knew that rumors were circulating about Enishte and the book, and that Master Osman, the Head Illuminator, hated Enishte. The murderer realized with horror that Elegant was “prepared to...
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Chapter 6: I Am Orhan
...commissioned to create a Book of Festivities for the Sultan under the guidance of Master Osman. The miniaturists still call each other by the nicknames Osman gave them as apprentices: Butterfly,...
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Chapter 7: I Am Called Black
...on the Book of Festivities. Enishte tells Black that he should go to see Master Osman, who Enishte believes is now blind and senile. Enishte has been given responsibility over the...
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Chapter 11: I Am Called Black
...spent there as a young apprentice. Black goes into a warm room and sees Master Osman, whom he has not seen in 15 years. Osman is wearing white and, surrounded by...
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Black can see in Master Osman’s half-blind eyes that he hates Enishte and is suspicious of Black. Osman asks what the...
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Master Osman asks a painter to give Black the “survey” of their workshop, which was originally a...
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...Master Bizhad, who was drunk and blind himself at the time. As Black kisses Master Osman’s hand goodbye, he experiences mixed feelings of adoration, respect, pity, and guilt, in part because...
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Chapter 13: I Am Called “Stork”
Next, Black arrives at Stork’s house. He mentions Master Osman’s question about time, and asks Stork for his thoughts. Stork begins his response by discussing...
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Chapter 14: I Am Called “Olive”
...was away, Black had been jealous of the miniaturists in Istanbul. Black mentions that Master Osman discussed the connection between painting and blindness and Olive reflects that painting brings light to...
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Chapter 17: I Am Your Beloved Uncle
...that he has most faith in Olive out of all the miniaturists. Enishte sees Master Osman and there is an awkward tension between them. Enishte knows that Osman is angry about...
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Chapter 18: I Will Be Called a Murderer
...The murderer recalls that in his youth, he and all the other apprentices loved Master Osman. It was Osman who gave the apprentices their nicknames, and the murderer feels emotional thinking...
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Chapter 21: I Am Your Beloved Uncle
...Black the picture of Death and tells him it was painted by Butterfly, whom Master Osman has been in love with for years. Enishte says he knows that, after they leave...
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Chapter 38: It Is I, Master Oman
Master Osman expresses a wish to counter what he perceives to be false accusations aimed at the...
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The Head Treasurer mentions the book and states that the Sultan thought Master Osman would be too busy to work on it. He adds that the Sultan is furious...
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Chapter 40: I Am Called Black
...Just as Black thinks he is about to die, they remove the vice and Master Osman enters, telling him that the Sultan has ordered that he not be tortured. The Sultan...
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Chapter 41: It is I, Master Osman
Master Osman admits that he was horrified when he first saw the illustrations of the book, and...
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Master Osman answers with a parable about a shah who loved two things: illustrated manuscripts and his...
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Master Osman and Black look through the book and are able to attribute particular illustrations to Olive,...
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Next Black and Osman consider Butterfly. Osman admits that he finds it unbelievable that a man could be both...
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Black and Osman move on to Stork, who Osman claims is “ambitious and conceited.” Osman admits that if...
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Chapter 42: I Am Called Black
Just when Master Osman and Black have finished poring over the illustrations for the book, one of the Commander’s...
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Master Osman states that “no miniaturist in his right mind would depict a horse using a real...
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Chapter 44: I Am Called “Butterfly”
...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...
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Chapter 48: I, Shekure
...to reassure her. Shekure tells Black that he shouldn’t be cooperating with Enishte’s enemy, Master Osman, in order to find Enishte’s murderer. However, Black insists that Enishte cannot see them now....
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Chapter 49: I Am Called Black
...Black slips out and goes to the mosque to pray. He then goes to Master Osman’s house and onto the palace, where he and Osman meet the Commander of the Imperial...
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...feels frightened by the chamber and the huge array of objects held within it. Master Osman asks to see the books that Shah Tahmasp sent as a gift 25 years ago....
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...exhausted from looking at all the paintings and has to take a break. Eventually, Master Osman concludes that by imitating the paintings that came before them, miniaturists have “depicted the gradual...
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Chapter 51: It is I, Master Osman
Master Osman tells a story about Abdullah Khan, a suspicious ruler who did not allow his miniaturists...
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Master Osman wonders if Black and Jemzi Agha have the same intense emotional reaction to the books...
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In the middle of the night, after Black has fallen asleep, Master Osman discovers the enormous Book of Kings. Osman feels distracted as he looks through it and...
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Chapter 52: I Am Called Black
Master Osman shows Black Bihzad’s needle, and tells him that miniaturists have a duty to try to...
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Master Osman declares that he will stay and stare at these books until he is forced to...
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Master Osman goes on to denounce Enishte for leading the miniaturists to betray him. He claims that...
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Chapter 55: I Am Called “Butterfly”
...being an Erzurumi. He went to the coffeehouse to disprove these accusations. Black repeats Master Osman’s words about Butterfly’s “flaws,” and Butterfly is hurt. He accuses Black and Enishte of treachery...
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...room and is tempted to bite Black’s ear. Black asks Butterfly to describe how Master Osman used to caress and beat him, and Butterfly does so with enthusiasm. Butterfly insists that,...
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Chapter 56: I Am Called “Stork”
...the clue of the horse’s nostril suggest that the murderer is Olive, but that Master Osman suspects Stork.
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...Black came to his house “out of loneliness and desperation.” Stork doesn’t wish to insult Osman in front of Butterfly, whose close, erotic relationship with Osman is well-known. Instead, he acknowledges...
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Chapter 57: I Am Called “Olive”
...He thinks that Stork, meanwhile, hopes to “get rid” of all of them, including Master Osman, so that he can become Head Illuminator. Stork and Black seize one of Olive’s leather...
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Chapter 58: I Will Be Called a Murderer
...they’ve painted as if they were their own memories. Suddenly, the murderer declares that Master Osman will either betray and kill them, or they should betray and kill him. There is...
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...great master Bihzad used it to blind himself. He adds that the previous night, Master Osman used it to blind himself in the Royal Treasury, and he threatens to do the...
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Chapter 59: I, Shekure
...altogether. Enishte’s book is never finished; Hasan flees and is never heard from again. Master Osman dies two years after going blind, and Stork becomes Head Illuminator. Butterfly spends the rest...
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