My Name is Red

After Erzurumi’s mob leaves the coffeehouse, Butterfly surveys the damage. Bodies litter the floor, and the storyteller is dead. Black arrives; he and Butterfly journey to Butterfly’s home, which Black intends to search, hoping to discover the murderer. Black tells Butterfly that the last page of the secret book is missing; whoever killed Enishte took the illustration and probably still has it. The two men discuss Butterfly’s artistic reputation as the most talented miniaturist; Butterfly expresses his belief that Enishte’s book was sacrilegious due to its Venetian style.

While Black searches the house, Butterfly grabs his sword and pins him to the ground. Butterfly admires the artistry of the scene, but Black focuses on the investigation, asking Butterfly about Master Osman’s past treatment of the miniaturists. Butterfly loves Master Osman, despite frequent beatings. Black then explains their need to find the murderer of Elegant and Enishte and relays Master Osman’s suspicions of Olive and Stork. Black and Butterfly decide to inspect the homes of the other miniaturists. They head to Olive’s home, which is unoccupied. They study Olive’s artwork and find a drawing of a horse with slit nostrils. Butterfly believes Stork drew the horse.

At Stork’s house, Butterfly and Black demand to know which miniaturists drew which illustration. Stork made the dog, Butterfly drew Death, and Olive drew Satan. Stork also reveals that Olive drew the horse. He expresses sorrow about the raid of the coffeehouse while Black and Butterfly ransack his belongings and find Stork’s armor. Under Butterfly’s direction, Stork dons his armor, explaining that he has witnessed battles and draws them as they appear in real life. Offended, Butterfly maintains that artists should try to represent the world as Allah sees it. Stork retorts that Allah can see just as humans see. Black and Butterfly cannot find the book’s final missing picture.

Black finally tells Stork about the drawing depicting the clipped horse’s nostrils and explains that Master Osman suspects Stork of murdering Enishte. Stork suggests that the group jointly investigate Olive, who is currently at the empty dervish lodge.

When the group approaches Olive, he hugs Butterfly and asks, “why are they killing us?” (374). Black explains that the murderer may be one of them and asks Olive about the images he drew for the secret book. Olive drew the dervishes and Satan but denies drawing the horse. Black replies that the unique way the horse’s nose was drawn identifies Olive as the artist. Olive, however, still claims he didn’t draw it. Black insists that the group must search the lodge for the final picture stolen from Enishte.

Olive watches the group search his things. They uncover a number of indecent drawings, but do not find the missing picture. Dismayed, Black reminds the men that they will now face torture. Olive starts crying and Black comforts him. The miniaturists reminisce about their youth and their experiences training under Master Osman.

The murderer sits with the other miniaturists and talks about their shared past, but for him, the world they describe seems like a dream. In the middle of the conversation, the murderer blurts out that Osman will betray them and suggests that they preemptively kill the master. Realizing the truth, the other miniaturists attack the murderer. Pressing a knife to the murderer’s throat, Black tries to get the murderer to reveal the location of the final image. He refuses to talk. Finally, Black reveals Bihzad’s needle and threatens to blind the murderer if he doesn’t tell them the picture’s location. The murderer tells them that blindness won’t matter as eventually the European style will overtake the Eastern style and they will become unnecessary. In anger, Black blinds the murderer.

The murderer finally talks, explaining how he killed Elegant. He refuses, though, to confess to murdering Enishte. Elegant’s murder, he insists, was justified, as Elegant not only believed the miniaturists were going to hell for painting heretical pictures, but also was greedy. The other miniaturists agree that they also would have killed Elegant. With tears, the murderer then admits to the murder of Enishte, noting that just before he killed Black’s uncle, he asked the older man if the murderer had an individual style.

Although the murderer begs to be set free to see the world before he goes completely blind, Black demands that he show them the final drawing. The murderer shows them the picture, in which he has replaced the face of the Sultan with his own face. The murderer admits that he wanted to be worshipped and understood as an individual, but now that he has created this idolatrous picture, he only feels isolated and lonely. He killed Elegant and Enishte in order to protect the workshop and its artists. The other miniaturists condemn the murderer, but he reminds them that “to God belongs the East and West” (400). Finally, in a scuffle, the murderer sticks his dagger into Black’s nostril. He tells Black that he will let him go if Black promises to take care of Shekure and her children. Black agrees, but the murderer still attempts to kill Black, barely missing his neck.

After kissing Butterfly, the murderer escapes and heads to the workshop. There, he encounters Hasan, who thinks that the murderer is one of Black’s companions who helped him retrieve Shekure. Hasan beheads the murderer, who continues to observe the world as he dies.

A severely injured Black returns to Shekure who cares for him and nurses his wounds. They learn from Esther that Olive was beheaded by Hasan and the pictures in his bag proved he was Enishte’s killer. Shekure then engages in oral sex with Black.

Black lives for 26 years after these events. While she and her sons are happy, Black remains sad, and his wounds never heal, although he finds work as a secretary for a pasha. Shekure attributes his sadness to possession by one of the jinn, which he tries to appease by drinking, taking an interest in art, and chasing pretty boys.

The Sultan dies four years after the story and his replacement is not interested in art. When the Queen of England sends the new sultan a clock, he shatters the gift with a mace. The Sultan also forbids the miniaturists to work on the books his predecessor commissioned. Islamic art ends and Enishte’s book is never completed.

Shekure confesses that she’s always wanted two pictures made—her portrait and “a picture of bliss” (412), depicting a mother with two children. Orhan tells her that such a picture is impossible and Shekure agrees, believing that happiness should be found in life rather than art. She concludes by explaining that she told this story to Orhan but that her son may have embellished the tale to make “a delightful and convincing story” (413).