Autobiography of red5/22/2023 In Geryon’s early childhood, his older brother initiates an abusive “economy of sex for cat’s-eyes” (28). At the end of the story, his wings are a potent symbol of freedom in self-acceptance, as Geryon, who “has not flown for years,” suddenly decides “why not,” and takes flight (145). When we learn that Geryon has been denying himself the freedom of flight, we see how much he wants to fit in and be loved. When we learn that Geryon has to wear a back brace and “lashed the wings tight” to conceal them beneath his jacket, the wings become a symbol of physical difference, drawing attention to the arbitrary physical traits that people are taught to feel ashamed of. But most of the time they are forgotten, and the pervading sense of Geryon is as a moody, introspective teenager whose low self-esteem has typical origins. When Geryon’s wings appear in the story, they serve to puncture the illusion of realism in the story, marking him as an otherworldly and mythological creature.
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