Riders of the Purple Wage Summary
Philip José Farmer

Riders of the Purple Wage Summary

Farmer answers this question through the paintings of his young protagonist, Chibiabos Elgreco Winnegan, and the teachings of Chib's one-hundred-and twenty-year-old grandfather, Grandpa Winnegan. Chib's paintings are really three-dimensional sculptures made by bending and twisting thousands of wires into different shapes at various depths. When a soft, red light shines through the wires, it reveals subterranean layer upon layer, rather than the mere surfaces of conventional paintings. Chib's art suggests that even in a perfect society, the artist continues to be a restless explorer, returning from his mental journeys with stunning representations of his psychic discoveries. Grandpa Winnegan expresses the second half of Farmer's message. Obviously speaking for Farmer, Grandpa tells Chib that he must learn to paint with his heart, because only then will his paintings be great and true. Thus, the novella demonstrates Farmer's artistic credo, emphasizing the artist's eternal need to ignore conventions and remain...

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