Memed, my Hawk by Yashar Kemal - How does the passage covering Hatche's death and Memed's child's orphanage reflect and resolve Slim Memed's moral dilemma about peaceful family life and struggle for justice?

LSK Page 10/05/2007

World Literature Paper

Memed, my Hawk by Yashar Kemal

How does the passage covering Hatche’s death and Memed’s child’s orphanage reflect and resolve Slim Memed’s moral dilemma about peaceful family life and struggle for justice? (pp. 345-346)

The passage including Hatché’s death is the resolution of the main problem of the Turkish novel ‘Memed, my Hawk’ by Yashar Kemal. Steadily throughout the book the author develops the main character, Memed, into a legendary, epic hero, who in the end faces a decisive dilemma – whether to fight for justice and the rights of the people or to live a happy family life. To his misfortune, kismet decides for him. All his life, Memed held one single desire – to be with Hatché and live a life in peace. Remaining true to the epic characteristics, Memed was forced to overcome difficult hurdles in order to keep himself and his beloved Hatché alive. In the chosen passage, his entire life plan collapses as Hatché is hit by a bullet fired by one of several expeditions sent to snare him. The choice has been made for him. He is doomed to be a hero; he is the Robin Hood of Anatolia. His actions and reactions in the passage prove this.

Throughout the book, Kemal consistently distinguishes between the good and the evil and thus achieves a true epic atmosphere. But in this passage the difference between the two opposites becomes extraordinary vivid. Whilst surrounded and called upon by Captain Faruk, “Memed did not reply. He had learned how to escape from the police and was firing in such a manner as to distract his assailants.” (p. 345). Memed is portrayed as the invincible with no fear whatsoever, and at this very moment, he is detached from reality subsisting in a world of his own based upon honour and moral virtues, typical for the geographic origin of the novel. After having persistently run away from the enemy, he finally faces the danger. “Memed had made up his mind. […] It was the first time he had been so neglectful of precautions.” (p. 345). In case the reader failed to notice, the author clarifies the character of the situation by stating that “it was the first time” Memed had been so direct in his actions. The brave hero ran fearless forward towards his enemies, fired numerous shots at them, tossed out hand grenade after hand grenade, and subsequently everything he had been fighting for, everything he desired so deeply, exclaimed: “ ‘I’m hit,’ Hatché cried from behind. Memed stopped dead, rooted to the spot but did not turn back.” The author emphasises the overwhelming action through diction. Memed’s reaction reveals the major passion he keeps for Hatché, especially the verbs stopped and rooted comprise ‘hard’ sounds. They explain the scene in a crystal clear manner and suppress any possible ambiguity – another feature of epic.

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The vivid and dramatic description of this scene and of every move, action and word of it is the fascinating factor that catches the reader’s attention and drags him further into this intense instant. One of many characteristics of epic is the fact that it is truly easy for the reader to visualise the situation, since epic is told by pictures. And this is proven here because no reader will have trouble imagining, for example, Memed firing shot after shot and Hatché crying out her pain. Kemal also inserts short phrases as “Then, like an arrow, he ran to Hatché’s side” (p. 345) in order to advance and facilitate the reader’s understanding of all motion occurring. The tragic nature of the passage is also masterly displayed. The author has taken great care in expressing the subtle. “She lay on the ground, lifeless, the child beside her” (p. 345). It is also worthwhile noticing Kemal’s syntax here since he forces the reader to slow down and read more precisely by extensive use of (,). This yields a sincerely emotional and dramatic reading experience.

Another interesting phenomenon is Kemal’s ability to portray two different sides of Memed within a margin of few words. First “This did not satisfy him and he began to hurl one grenade after another” and soon after “Memed sat with his gun on his knees, his head bent, weeping.” (both p. 345) Without making the scene seem banal and disturbing the reading experience, Kemal splendidly manages to alter the reader’s perception of Memed within 10 lines. In the reader’s mind, Memed is transformed from being the brave and good western-like figure fighting for the right cause, to the sensitive and passionate lover, who weeps over his loss. “Far above, a flock of cranes was passing” (p. 345); the effect of symbolism is fully exploited here. The fly-by of the cranes can be compared to Memed’s own life. Something is passing and never returning. Memed is no longer the same in view of the fact that there is no longer a purpose for living for him on earth. After arranging Hatché’s burial with the local villagers, Memed and Iraz ascended the mountain and sat down in a cave near the peak. There, “the leaves were falling from the neighbouring trees” (p. 346). This is another example of Kemal’s use of the symbolic device. It can be interpreted as if it were not the leaves falling down, but rather his life that was falling apart. Leaves fall down during autumn, which is the end of the blossoming summer. This is an additional piece of evidence keeping in thought that Memed’s happy life with Hatché had ended.

While sitting on the mountain Iraz exclaimed: “Brother, give me this child and let me go off to the villages around Antep. He’ll die in these mountains. […] I’ll bring up the boy.” At this stage Memed had to make the choice whether to fight on longing for justice or live a normal life, bringing up the next generation of a hawk. “Memed slowly handed the child to her.” Kemal doesn’t leave the impression that Memed thoroughly considers his decision. It seems more as if Memed felt, he had no other choice; he was destined to be the hero of the Chukurova. Kismet decided for Memed.

The concept of kismet is used among Muslims to express the idea of ‘fate’, but specifically the inevitability of some events occurring. Both what we do and what ultimately happens to us are pre-ordained. Memed was born to be the saviour of the people suffering under the landlord Abdi Agha’s rule. This is the whole idea behind this novel. It is not only an epic work, but also a social document. “Memed came and took Iraz by the arm. The Child had stopped crying. For a long time he fixed his eyes on the child’s face. ‘Good luck’” (p. 346). Throughout the novel, Memed suffered as the poor victim of evil and then stood up, not only for himself, but also for his fellow villagers. Until this moment where he gives away his own child, his ultimate goal was to live happily with his Hatché and their son. This passage is essential to the entire plot of the book, since Memed’s life fundament dwindles here followed by Memed’s decision to carry on the struggle for justice. However, was it Memed’s decision? From a western European perspective perhaps it was, but from a Turkish perspective one might have the belief that Memed was doomed to continue his struggle. It was kismet, and not his choice. Thus this passage resolves Memed’s dilemma, but it has become clear that the author seeked to display Memed as a passive figure and as the victim and hero of destiny. And so, Memed went on struggling. He completed his prescribed mission by killing Abdi Agha in his bed; nobody has heard of him again. He came as a hero, and disappeared like one.

(Word Count: 1306 words)