As we have established in class, Geryon is an outcast. A little red winged monster, in a world full of humans who neither see the world the way he sees it, nor understand his way of seeing it. Humans have a tendency to try to categorize everything, and not fitting into any category or being categorized as an outcast does something with a person. It leaves them isolated and lonely, robbing them of the “home” one can find in community. The same happens to Geryon, who is not only isolated but also seems to lack a common language in which he could articulate himself, advocate for himself and make himself heard. Because of his different way of trying to communicate, which is not being understood by others, he is repeatedly called stupid. How “estranged” his attempts of articulating himself must seem to himself can also be seen by the way how he heard himself speak (“Geryon heard Geryon say”) (p. 39).
Language and identity as well as power are closely intertwined with each other, as we have experienced in various class readings such as Brokeback Mountain or Eli Clare. Therefore, by not having a language to articulate himself in and be understood, Geryon is both isolated and left powerless. I think that he realizes this already at his young age, and that both the process of creating his autobiography as well as his interest in photography are (desperate) attempts to be understood. He is trying to switch to other means of communication, where words and oral communication have failed him.
The day after he got abused by his brother for the first time, he started working on his autobiography, where he “set down all inside things particularly his own heroism” (p. 29). Since nobody else believed in him, it was on him to believe in himself and his heroism. Additionally, it is important to have a place to offload/ outsource some of the heavy “inside things” we carry around with us. If we have no other person who understands us, we need other measures, for instance an autobiography. Especially heartbreaking is at what a young age Geryon seems to have learned (or had to learn!) this, since he started his autobiography as a sculpture, not knowing how to write yet.
The other measure of communication Geryon tries after words fail him is his camera. The first time the camera is mentioned is after he met Heracles, when his mother is trying to have a conversation with him about Heracles. He is adjusting the focus of the camera and does not (verbally) answer because “he had recently relinquished speech” (p. 40). While before Geryon had trouble communicating and being understood, his troubles seem to have worsened, and he does not speak anymore. Instead, he is zooming in on the throat and mouth of his mother while she is talking to him. This can clearly be connected to language, since the throat and mouth are the two primary speech producing organs that are visible “from the outside”. It seems as if he is trying to desperately make sense of language and find access to the language everyone around him but himself seems to speak.
I think that his autobiography and the use of his camera are two attempts of Geryon to find his language or, rather, to adapt and convert himself to another language frequency, so that other people around him can understand him and he can finally experience some of the comfort and community that a shared language can bring.
I really like your reading of this. I think it could also be interesting to look at Geryon finding a way to tell his story in perspective with the fact that in the Hercules myths, Geryon is the “bad guy”. Also, I think the fact that the story is told in third person instead of first can connect to your point of Geryon not really connecting with verbal language. It’s also interesting that Carson set the novel in a more modern society, which allowed Geryon to have other modes of communication, like photography.
It really is interesting how Geryon turned to photography as the form of his biography. It makes sense with his relationship with language that you described– he best expresses who he is through images and the experience of taking the photograph. One part that really stuck with me in this book was when Geryon took a long exposure photograph of a fly dying in water (page 71). When he first started the picture, the fly was alive, but by the end it had died, which communicates the immortality of photographs. The idea of immortality is a big one in this novel, starting with the introductory poem by Emily Dickinson and then culminating within the final chapters. I think that photography was important as an art form for Geryon because of the experiences that came with capturing each photo. He had to live in order to photograph unique things, and I think that he was given immortality through his art.
Art as a medium to tell a story, is such a powerful tool. I find that art helps continue words and language when pure words can’t share those nuances. I also find it so interesting that within this course language is continuously a topic that we contend with. In many ways I think its because to describe our own experiences, words often don’t give us the full story — and yet the words we do paint such a powerful message behind our intentions.
When I think of Geryon, I was actually really confused reading it in the beginning and not really grasping at the conflicts of the human qualities and seemingly animalistic tendencies. Going off of Baz, art is often a response to something and in a way could be a response to the already written stories of himself. Through the use of photography, it also makes me wonder what is special about the physical image or even the process behind pictures. Within this temporality it also becomes a permanent instilled image immortalized to a tangible object.
The intertwined nature of language, power, and identity is an important observation that certainly circles back around toward the end of the book. When Ancash shares his knowledge about the Yazcol Yazcama, it provides Geryon with a sense of familiarity, and understanding in someone other than himself finally. It is language, and the lingering stories of the Yazcol Yazcama people that give power to their feats, and therefore, those of Geryon as well. This moment seems to provide Geryon with a powerful shift in the way he views and understands his own identity.