This is the implied counsel of Pamuk's story. Learn from the past, as he urges readers to do by writing a historical narrative. However, do not slavishly follow or copy the past, or lock the self away from outside influences, including those influences of other religions and cultures. Pamuk suggests that a unilateral idea of Western selfishness is not sustaining, and he provides instruction for Westerners how to view the concept of the self to understand Islam, but ultimately a modern artist cannot live blind like Osman, blind to the presence of other points-of-view, however beautiful Osman's art may have been. Utter self-annihilation in art and in life leads to stasis. Ultimately, My Name is Red is a modern version of the past. And all versions of the past are just that -- modern versions. Although the Sultan's desire to mimic and impress the West may be shallow, to despise the West is not therefore better and deeper, as espoused by radical isolationist clerics who see only immorality in modernity. In his shifting perspective, Pamuk creates a series of...
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