Meaningful Art

In Bluebeard, the protagonist Rabo Karabekian struggles with the creation of what he calls "soulful art." Although he has produced art since he was a teenager up until the present, Rabo begins his autobiography by stating that he is only an art "collector," though a very good one. This insecurity concerning his own ability to produce meaningful art was initially spurred by his mentor, Dan Gregory, who praised his technical skill but stated that Rabo's work lacked soul.

Thus, throughout his entire career, Rabo qualifies his contribution to the world of abstract art by claiming that he is a "collector" rather than a producer of abstract art. Even though he is skilled at this collection, it is clear that he is pained by his perceived lack of ability to contribute his own work to a field of expression he is so passionate about.

However, at the end of the novel, when the painting in the potato barn is eventually revealed to the world, it turns out to be a masterwork: a soulful representation of his painful experiences from the war. Borne out of the intense grief that he experienced following his second wife's death, the painting of his wartime experiences reveals how soulful art must be mined out of the depths of what is deeply personal. Moreover, rather than being abstract, the painting was done in the photorealistic style that Rabo excelled in. Thus, by completing his life's triumph in this style, he ultimately overcomes the scathing criticism that Gregory delivered to him as a teenager—proving that this style could exhibit the same soul and depth as abstract expressionism.

Racism and the Immigrant Experience

As Rabo relates his story, readers learn a lot about his family and culture. Rabo is a first generation Armenian American, born in the early 20th century. His mother and father narrowly escaped Turkey during the Armenian genocide. They then settled in San Ignacio, California, but their lives were not significantly improved by this change, and Rabo's father still struggled to earn a living to support his family. Because of his racial identity, Rabo's father is consistently denied better work opportunities, a situation that is only exacerbated by the onset of the Great Depression. Despite being a teacher back in Turkey, the only work he can find is as a cobbler.

The hardness of Rabo's father's life takes its toll on him. Nearly massacred in Turkey, swindled into buying a piece of property in America that did not exist, forced into a demeaning profession in an unwelcoming country without a supportive community, and finally suffering the loss of his wife to illness—the unceasing tragedy of his life proves to be too much after this final loss, and he goes slightly mad.

While in some instances the family's Armenian identity seems to be an asset—for example when they solicit Dan Gregory, who is also Armenian, to accept Rabo as his apprentice—their overall experience of race in early twentieth century proved to be restricting to their social capacities, and it severely limited their ability to escape the destitute situation they found themselves in. Rabo is constantly reminded of his "otherness," and while he comes to accept it with a wry sense of humor, it is clear that this consistent social stigma became inextricable from his perception of himself and his feelings of self-worth.

Modernity versus History

In his old age, Rabo is perplexed and annoyed by young people. He establishes this annoyance by observing his cook's teenage daughter, Celeste, who he believes does not and cannot remember anything that did not appear on television within...