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CHAPTER 3: CASE STUDY

3.4. AVARE YILLAR

not enough to provide them even a one-way ticket to Istanbul. Therefore, they decide to work at a cotton factory until they can save up the required money. His grandson’s working at a factory like a lower class person is an outrage for the grandmother since her son, the protagonist’s father, is a decent gentleman from the higher class and it is not appropriate for a gentleman’s son to work at factory like a peasant. However, the protagonist is rather decisive in going to Istanbul and can do whatever it takes.

He and his friend Gazi find a temporary job at a cotton factory but they cannot earn well and the job is extremely difficult for them as well. Although they try to endure for the sake of Istanbul, one day a brawl breaks out because of an accident at the factory and the death of a worker. Seeing all these chaos at the factory, they quit the job. The money required for their journey to Istanbul comes from the protagonist’s aunt; however, it is not for him and his friend Gazi’s dreams for being a footballer, but only for the protagonist’s education in Istanbul. He gets the money and taking his friend Gazi boards on the ship to Istanbul.

In Istanbul, things do not go well as they have expected. Ther friend, Yirmialtılık Mehmet who works at a restaurant, does not help them to find a job or accommodation as they have hoped. He lets them stay in the attic of the restaurant for a couple of days but his boss is also a crusty man who tells Mehmet to get rid of them as soon as possible. Learning this, Gazi and the protagonist find another friend Metroviçeli Necip who was a soldier in Çukurova once and a good friend. Necip takes two friends his house where he lives with his family and gives them a bed to sleep. In the following days, the protagonist and Gazi work at several jobs from street selling to porterage; but they can never get used to the harsh conditions of Istanbul where they came with great expectation. Finally, they return their home, Adana.

The protagonist’s mother comes to Adana for a short time to deal with the paper works to get their lands back from the man called Abdülfettah. However, he does not give them back and his mother asks a relative for a little amount of money to buy some food for her children. As she is rejected in an insulting way, the protagonist decides to confront this fraud man himself. While he is on the way to their old neighborhood where all the lands of their own, an old man who is a family friend recognizes the protagonist. He takes the young man his house and introduces him to his wife and his newly- widowed daughter

Şadiye. For the first time, the protagonist feels ashamed of his outfit, poverty and unemployement and tells them lies about his life. He says that they are still rich enough and he had about to complete his high school education and will going to university.

Admiring and trusting this young man, the old family friend leaves him with his wife and daughter alone. Seeing the old woman sleeping at a corner, the protagonist tries to touch the young widow Şadiye and is rejected by her. Then, feeling a deep embarrassment, he forgets his visit to Abdülfettah and their lands and returns Adana at once.

When his mother returns to Jerusalem, where his father and younger brother Niyazi live now, the protagonist finds a job at a cotton factory as a store keeper. There, he meets a Bosnian girl and falls in love with her. Just as his working at factory like a working class man, his grandmother refuses his marriage to a working class, refugee girl. According to her, a girl working at a factory among a lot of men cannot be a decent woman and not suitable to be the daughter-in-law of a gentleman like her son. However, the protagonist revolts against his grandmother and later his father and asks her father for the girl’s hand in marriage. Getting permission of her father, two young people get married however they do not have almost any money. Just before their wedding ceremony, something startling happens and his grandmother and some other relatives give the bride a lot of jewellery, dresses and household goods. As they say, they are all sent by his father and mother to their daughter-in-law as a wedding gift. However, it comes to light right after the wedding that his grandmother has borrowed all this stuff from her relatives just to show off since she thinks that otherwise her son’s reputation would be damaged. She takes all the gifts given to the bride and returns to their real owners. That incident cannot damage the relationship and love of newlywed couple at all. Ont the contrary, it is the beginning of a life together.

3.4.2. The style and themes in the book

Similar to other works of Orhan Kemal, in Avare Yıllar, social realities of his time are depicted with all its parts from society, to economy, culture and psychology. However, the venue of the book is not limited to rural regions of Adana but also the living conditions in Istanbul as a big city are reflected. He draws a clear picture of labour exploitation and the world of the working class (Aktaş, 1990, p. 43-44). The protagonist’s and his friend’s short journey to Istanbul also touches upon migration from country to town and life of

the suburban in big industrial towns such as Istanbul and Adana (Çavdar, 2007, p. 183).

As the characters in the novel are in a despair and thus apathy, the dialogoues and expressions sound like they are written in a superficial manner. However, it is the result of a meticulous work done to give the impression of people who give up fighting for the better and accept the life in the way it is (Bezirci, 1984, p. 132).

The language and expression of the novel are not different from his prior works. He adopts an unsophisticated language which does not include foreign expressions. He does not use descriptions and adjectives frequently. Instead, the characters describe themselves with the language, dialects and expressions they utter. For instance, the broken Turkish spoken by the Bosnian migrants in a Bosnian accent demonstrates their background. On the other hand, slang expressions used by his friends are also indicators of their education.

Moreover, cultural elements of the community narrated in the novel are reflected commonly. For example, wedding traditions such as dowery, religious expressions, historical characters, propers names of football teams and toponyms are all culture related items particular to the community of those times.

In addition to the abstract concepts of culture, material elements such as clothing, food, means of transportation and accommodation are utilized to provide a clear image of the time and society that Orhan Kemal witnessed. Therefore, it can be suggested that cultural elements are an inevitable component of the author’s novel Avare Yıllar like the other works written by him.

3.5. ANALYSIS OF AVARE YILLAR