Ms. Muscat
ENG 2D1-01
8 November, 2011
What Is it like to be Left in the Lurch? A boy named Vahan Kenderian was a distinguished individual with moral strengths and high spirits. These qualities helped him endure, when he knew that each day could have been his last when living through the Armenian Genocide. In the beginning of the novel “Forgotten Fire”, Vahan is described as the youngest child of a wealthy, Armenian family. He was very careless and would always need guidance from his family who was afraid of Vahan’s lack of character and discipline. When the Armenian Genocide began, Vahan’s personality slowly started to change as he realized how much he had lost, in terms of love and security. Throughout the novel, Vahan …show more content…
begins to show maturity and discipline as he faces hardships. By the end of the story, Vahan’s change of character is expressed by faith, mental and physical freedom. Vahan Kenderian can be looked as an ideal example of a spoiled wealthy child making his way up to a mature and courageous Armenian who was halfway up to be sent to God’s kingdom. During the Armenian Genocide, Vahan felt mournful and blamed God for his family’s deaths and the Gendarmes cruelty towards the Armenians. Although his grandmother’s inspiration guided him to trust and respect in God no matter how bad the situation was. “My grandmother would have told me that it was man, not God, who made the misery in the world and that it was only God’s grace that made that misery bearable.” (Bagdasarian, p.76)
After remembering his grandmother’s inspirational quote, it made him realize that in terms of cruelty and dishonour toward other people, it’s a human’s choice to act upon such behaviour and that God only watches and tries to act upon that misery. With Vahan barely surviving without food and water, he decides to move to another city to get away from the cruel environment of death and sorrow, called Constantantinople. As Vahan finally arrives to Constantantinople alongside a boy named Gagik, he felt relief and happiness that his journey of fear was finally over. “I dropped to my knees and thanked God, then picked up a handful of dirt, of freedom, and rubbed it on my arms and hands.” (p.261)
Not only did Vahan feel relief and happiness, but he felt shocked of how far he came without facing death, and realized that he’d built incredible strength and spirit from his family’s inspiration to finally reach his goal. While Vahan stood on the banks of the city, he somehow didn’t feel satisfied from being mentally free from the Genocide; like as though he would never forget the tragic events that happened to him while remaining in Bitlis.
“I knew that I was free and that I would never be free” (p.270). Vahan felt free escaping Bitlis to avoid from being harmed or killed by the Turks but felt guilty of being the only one in his family to survive. He knew that the flashbacks of his familiy’s deaths would always remain in his thoughts for the rest of his life. In Constantantinople, Vahan decides to go back to school once he had a place to stay. “I had lost 3 years of schooling, and I was determined to learn as much as I could” (p.268). Vahan realized that if he had no schooling, he wouldn’t be able to have a future leading him to success to fulfill his life with happiness. Vahan illustrates determination and dedication towards a successful existence and to refrain from the past of …show more content…
despair. When Vahan had time to himself, he would visit his family’s graves every week by streetcar and plant flowers beside their graves to feel and smell their compassionate presence.
“These were their graves, and I spoke to them soundlessly, from the deepest part of myself.”(p.271). Vahan felt it was mandatory to pay his respects by visiting their graves every week, since their inspiration helped him fight the hardships he had to face when he was struggling to find shelter, food and meeting different people that he didn’t feel like trusting. After all the tragic events that happened to him, he learns something about life that he never would have thought of, if the Armenian Genocide never happened. “I know, as my neighbours in Bitlis tried to tell me, that there is pain disillusion in the heart of it. I know, as my father knew, that character and discipline are the steel that fortify it, and that somewhere, beyond pain and disillusion, great blessing are made” (Bagdasarian,p.271).
Vahan has now become a character that builds strength to face the hardships when he knows that every day would lead him to prison or to his death. Without the Armenian Genocide, Vahan might have not matured other than by being a spoiled and absent-minded
child.
In conclusion, Vahan’s personality changes from facing adversity and becoming something more because of it. Vahan’s family taught him to be mature and disciplined when making decisions of what’s right and wrong. When Vahan and Gagik were arriving to Constantinople, they never lost their pride to find love and security since they had each other. From a long torturous journey, Vahan’s character showed faith by believing and trusting in God by remembering his grandmother’s inspirational quote. He showed mental freedom by expressing his guilt toward his family even though he was finally free from Bitlis. He showed physical freedom by finally touching the cold, brown dirt of Constantinople with happiness and accomplishment.