Adam Bagdasarian Thesis

“Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” This question was asked by Adolf Hitler on August 22, 1939, over 20 years after the Armenian Genocide took place. Adolf Hitler took inspiration from the Armenian Genocide and went on to plan and lead the most horrific human massacres of all time, the Holocaust. Hitler believed that no one would be able to stop the Holocaust because no one had taken much interest or had been able to stop the Armenian Genocide. The historical novel Forgotten Fire, by Adam Bagdasarian, tells the story of a boy named Vahan Kenderian who lives through the Armenian Genocide. Vahan’s family lives in Bitlis, Turkey. Vahan is the youngest child of one of the wealthiest and most respected Armenians.
Among Vahan’s family, his grandmother was someone that everyone seemed to listen to and look up to. She held a position of respect and honor. One day after Vahan’s father is taken away, they are discussing the incident around the dinner table and his mother tries to silence them, but fails. “‘No more talk about this now,’ my mother said. ‘We have to talk about it,’ Diran answered. ‘No more,’ my grandmother said, and the table was silenced” (20). She can command respect and silence even when Vahan’s mother cannot, which shows her strength and influence among the family. She has miraculous stability and strength and can hold it together even in a crisis. When they are prisoners and have been living in unbearable conditions, she still has the strength to pray even if it seems that the world is against them. Most people might give up in their god for not being there and helping them, but the challenges allow her to put more faith in her god. When Vahan’s grandmother dies, Vahan’s family is heartbroken, but can follow her example and keep pushing on. Most of Vahan’s family dies over the course of the Armenian Genocide, but his grandmother’s death was a great loss to his whole family. This teaches Vahan to hold on to the wisdom and comfort while it is there and to always be strong even in the darkest
It changed the way that he felt about other people and acted towards others during the rest of the Armenian Genocide. When Vahan meets Seta and falls for her, he thinks it is happily ever after because they have shelter from the war that is raging around them. But it is not the war that takes Seta from Vahan, it is childbirth. Vahan thinks that he could have a life with her and that they would raise her child together, but his dreams were stolen like a thief in the night. Her death changed Vahan because it seemed that everyone Vahan had loved and cared about in Sivas died or was taken from him. While Seta was dying Vahan could only watch and hope for the best. “Though I was close enough to hear her breathe, close enough to take her hand and caress and kiss her cheek, I could not get close enough to save her life. I could only watch it slip away” (230). Losing Seta, helps Vahan move on from Sivas and all the memories that are there. It frees Vahan from the safe haven that is the Sivas and the Tashian house. Her death allowed him to move on and continue his journey. Seta’s death was devastating to Vahan, but helped him move forward in the hardest way. Her death and memory is what kept Vahan moving through the rest of the Armenian Genocide. The deaths of Seta and Mrs Tashian had similar and different effects on