SHADES OF RED

"The first one came out ruddy, like a hairy mantle all over, so they called his name: Esav/Rough-One."
—Genesis 25:25

"Esav said to Yaakov: Pray give me a gulp of the red-stuff, that red-stuff, for I am so weary! Therefore they called his name: Edom/Red-One."
—Genesis 25:30, both verses from The Schocken Bible: Volume I: The Five Books of Moses, translated by Everett Fox

"Grandma often wants to hurt Red for reasons that remain her secret. At such times, she patiently constructs an edifice of Red's wrongdoing that, when complete, stands as witness to his crimes, crimes that must be punished. Sometimes these aberrant exercises in domestic sadism take Red into areas of his mind that are darkly inexplicable, but that, even so, act as antidotes to the poisons that surround and invade him."
—page 70, Red the Fiend by Gilbert Sorrentino

"Suddenly Geryon's brother stepped behind Geryon and seized him by the neck. This is the silent death hold, Geryon, in war they use this for knocking out sentries. With one surprise twist I can break your neck."
—page 31, Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

Today, I am three-quarters of the way through Red the Fiend by Gilbert Sorrentino. This novel is a brutal description of one boy's life, as he is physically, emotionally, and verbally abused by his grandmother while his "mollycoddle" grandfather, "tramp" of a mother, and absent "drunk" of a father stand by and allow it to happen. Red is slowly being sculpted by Grandma's abuse into the very person she claims to be trying to save him from becoming. A harrowing look at life in one poverty-stricken dysfunctional family in Depression-era New York, Red the Fiend is nothing if not brutal. It is like watching the aftermath of a car crash. I want to look away but cannot. I am pulled into the story, even as I find it difficult to identify with any of the characters. It is even somewhat to identify with Red, since he is a difficult character to love in spite of the abuse he endures. He is not very sympathetic.

Today, in our weekly staff meeting, we read the story of Esau and the "abuse" he endures at the hand of his brother Jacob. He sells his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew! The "hunter" is "vanquished" by the "civilized" brother. Soon, he will also lose the blessing of his father, as the first-born son, to the continuing trickery of his brother, with the help and encouragement of his own mother. He will, of course, fight back, but ultimately "lose." It is also, I fear, what is coming for Red as he is transformed into Red the Fiend.

Both stories remind me of Geryon in Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson. He is also Red, in actual coloring, and in spirit. He is also abused by those who love him: first by his older brother, and later by his lover Herakles and Herakles' new lover Ancash. It is another story of a Red who is treated poorly by those who supposedly love him. Geryon, though—unlike Red, who is becoming a monster, and Esau, who is monstrously grotesque ("like a [red] hairy mantle all over")—is a monster who in some ways is the most human of the three Reds, is the most easy to identify with. We can easily feel his pain and predicament, while loving him deeply.

Still: today is not a good day to be Red.