Memed, my Hawk is the most interesting and entertaining novel I have read in a very long
time. from the very beginning to the very end I was on the edge of my seat. In this video I will
summarise the novel, tell you what the themes are and also what makes this novel so unique.
First let me start by talking about the author.
Yaşar Kemal (1923 – 2015)was born into a Kurdish, worked in a library,
most celebrated in turkey. He was outspoken on Kurdish issues and even received a suspended
jail sentence for an article he published. He wrote about 20 novels but it was his
debut novel he is known for. He famously said in an interview, “I don't write about issues,
I don't write for an audience, I don't even write for myself. I just write.”
When I was deciding what book to pick from Turkey, the obvious choice was something by
Pamuk or Elif Shafak as they are the most widely read Turkish authors in English. I read Pamuk’s
snow and Shafak’s forty rules of love. I was happy with their of them, but then I was curious,
so I read Memed, My Hawk which was published in 1955 so some 65 years ago. OMG. I was completely
blown away. I understood why it is considered a classic Turkish novel. It has stood the test
of time, for a very good reason. It’s simply an amazing novel. Okay, let me summarise the novel.
This is the only novel I really have a hard time spoiling for everyone. Imagine a mountain
with five villages nestled on top. Beyond there are some other villages and a distant town. in
these five villages, there is one man who owns all the lands and everyone works for him. Abdi Agha,
despite his wealth and control, is not a happy man. He’s a brutal tyrant. Like Kim John Un
or Stalin. A dictator. But there is a young boy, Memet, the protagonist of this novel,
who isn’t happy with Abdi Agha’s tyranny. He’s suffered enough. Unlike everyone else,
he just can’t fit in. The repression is too much for him. He runs away leaving his old mother
alone. Finds himself a job in another village as a goatherd. But his Freedom is short-livered. Abdi
Agha finds out and sends men to capture Memet. He is punished. His mother is beaten up. Life
goes on in the village. Then Memed secretly visits the distant town one day. He is so impressed with
the town. the colours. The people. But one thing captures his imagination the most. The town has
no owner. He cannot believe it. How come such a beautiful town has no Abdi Agha? It’s incredible.
Another thing impresses him in town. A man, a rebel, a revolutionary who promises Memed
to help him if he decides to move to town one day. On his return, he tells about his trip
to one person who he cares the most. His secret girlfriend, Hatche. They always meet at night when
everyone is asleep. But before Memed and Hatche can plan their escape, she is forced to marry Abdi
Agha’s nephew. Memed and Hatche escape the village at night. The next day they get to some distance.
But they’re caught in a downpour. They’re freezing so they make fire. This is the most
beautiful scene in the novel. The simple act of making fire. But what happens next defines their
fate. With their body warm sitting by the fire, they make love. Yes, for the very first time,
they make love. Hatche’s body print pressed on the ground remains as a legacy of their love making.
Meanwhile in the village, the next morning the news of their escape is widely circulated.
Abdi Agha assembles a search party. But there is one man in village who can track
anything. He’s so good at tracking footprints, he is a like sniff dog or radar. Ironically,
his name is Lame Ali. Like Tamerlane, the lame guy who conquered the world with one leg.
Everyone in the village tells him not to help the tyrant. But Lame Ali is conflicted. He tries his
best to lead them in the wrong direction, but he is unable. Once he sets off on a footprint,
he loses his mind until he finds the animal or person. He cannot help it. Almost like a machine.
Find, he does. They discover Hatche’s body print on the wet ground, you can only conclude
one thing. They have made love. Now it’s no longer a search, it’s a quest to kill them both.
Finally they catch up to the escapees. Now there is no negotiations. Only guns do the talking.
Memed manages to shoot both Abdi Agha who unbeknownst to Memed survives,
but the bridegroom Hatche was engaged to is killed. Memed
flees the scene promising to Hatche that he will come to rescue her later.
Hatche is brought to the village, Abdi forces everyone to lie that she
was the one who killed her bridegroom. She is swiftly convicted of murder and sent to jail.
Memed has no other options, but join a group of bandits who survive robbing travellers and while
living in the mountains. Despite taking part in looting people of their money and clothes,
Memet is not at ease with mugging innocent people. When he learns Abdi Agha is still alive,
he tries a second time to kill him but instead somewhat accidentally he burns
a whole village. His fame or infamy grows like a wildfire. Now for some villagers he is this
mythical hero who is standing up to the most powerful man in five villages and they
aptly name him the Hawk. But for others he is a villain who burns villages and robs travellers.
Okay, if you don't want spoiler, please mute it for the next 90 seconds.
When Memet learns of Hatche’s imprisonment, he secretly visits her. but they sitting next to her
for a an hour or so, they do not say a word to each other. This is funniest scene ever.
They were both tongue-tied. Too shocked to be so close to one another yet so far apart.
After this Memet does the most audacious thing ever. He ambushes the policemen and frees her
and her inmate friend, an older woman. The three of them move into a cave in the mountains
waiting for a rumoured government amnesty. But before the amnesty arrives, Hatche gives birth
to a boy also named Memet. But if you were here for a happy ending, you won’t get it,
I’m afraid. Soon after giving birth, Hatche is shot dead in a shootout with the police.
Now without Hatche, Memet gives his son to the other lady who had lost a son
before going to prison. Now Memet has one mission in mind. Only one thing left for him
to do. To get rid of Abdi Agha to free the five villages. In the middle of the night,
he tracks him down and kills the tyrant inside his own room. Once his mission complete, Memet rides
his horse and vanishes, leaving behind only myths and legends, but most crucially freed villagers.
Okay, let me tell you what some of the themes are and what I think of the novel.
Hero: a rebel and myth There is no doubt that
this novel is about a rebel. Memet is almost a Robin hood type figure
who was triggered by his own terrible experience at the end freed all the villagers from tyranny of
one man. He sacrificed his own life in the village because he wanted to be free. I think Yasar Kemal
based the novel on some real events that had taken place in the mountains of Anatolia a century or
so ago, where a bandit was looting the rich while helping the poor. There is a Marxist undercurrent
brewing inside Memet, the notion of class struggle, a poor peasant rises to topple a tyrant.
But what interested me Memet’s relationship with the villagers. I think Yasar Kemal was
more interested in how heroes are produced in the imagination of the people or in real life.
how the people themselves create the hero’s myths and legends. There is one man who nicknames Memet,
the Hawk, then there a woman who tells Memet that he cannot call himself a man if doesn't kill
Abdi Agha. There are silent villagers whose stare prompts Memet into action. The novel’s
hero is Memet, but the focus is on how he was shaped into a hero by the people. So one
cannot discount the influence of Marxism on the author. Memet couldn’t do it without the help
of the villagers. He relied on them for food, information and shelter. But most crucially,
his mythical persona was only created by the people. In the novel he has many flaws and
experiences ethical dilemmas. Ultimately, his survival or myth depends on the people.
Memet makes sacrifices. He acts upon his words. He faces dilemmas. Makes mistakes.
Atone himself. He is careful. Then careless. Predictable and then unpredictable. He loves.
He hates. He is everything. Sometimes how he and his bandits friends treat their victims make you
throw away the book. Such is the power of this book. Then there are scenes that make you cry.
Other scenes that are funny. The funniest scene is One thing is certain. Memed is never free.
For years it was Abdi Agha’s fear. Then when he left the village, it was his girlfriend and
mother. Then the weight of the entire people was on him. Finally, he was only free when he
vanished from the pages of this book. There was no sunset, but I can only imagine he is free.
It also has a Dickensian feel to it. A boy growing up in the most inhospitable environment
and decides to better his and the lives of those around him. To fight injustice.
Also It has a thousand year old feeling about it. At some point in the novel you feel like reading a
legend. As if the village has escaped civilization and now a boy wakes up to discover a town that
doesn’t belong to one individual. It’s before and after. Before seeing the town and after seeing the
town. A transition from old fixed world to a more fluid one. One lord to multiple lords. I think
ultimately this novel is about being free. free from authority. Free from a government. Free from
repression. I think deep down we are all rebels. That is why we enjoy reading myths about some
heroes. It’s like we are too weak to rebel against our circumstances, but at least we can
escape inside the pages of a novel. This novel is the best of escapes. A wonderful wonferul novel.
The setting is as important as its hero. Dikenli with a five villages is like some mythical place
cut off from the rest of the world perched on the summit of a mountain. Sometimes some of
the description of vegetations or weather or the environment appear unnecessary and
unconnected but they add to the story, and enriches the atmosphere —esp. the thistle is
unforgetful as it terrorize the bare feet of the people. Thistle symbolises the harsh environment
the people live in. I also like the simplicity of the setting. The first time Memet and his
friend arrives in town, they ask who own the town. That’s all you need to know to establish
their world view. It’s such a beautifully told story that captures that naivity, innocence
and unspoiled. Another scene as I mentioned earlier creates a really powerful contrast.
Memed and Hatche caught up in rain and cold, try making a fire. Here nature
is merciless but society is even worse. But as soon as they make fire, their body is warm and
they make love. How life can be so simple and yet so beautiful, without the social tangles.
The landscape the hills and mountains and the plains the villages are characters in the novel.
Theme: Fear Fear is central theme in the novel.
Fear is the root of all evils. Abdi despite being the most brutal and powerful man is also the most
fearful that he escapes abandoning his entire family to hide in town from the moment he hear
memet has become a bandit. Memet too with Abdi Agha alive cannot relax. Fear brings
the worst of humans. The same with animals. Fear is perhaps the most primitive emotion.
This novels also highlights the best of humans and the worst of humans. Memed is in the middle.
On a slippery slope. Despite his best effort to keep himself on the good side
his circumstance and environment pushes him to the wrong side. He saves people and then burns
a village. But good and evil is an strong element in this novel like in shahnameh. The reference of
riza and other men growing like a poplar tree and strong that throws a javelin are
similar to feedowsi s language. I think Yasar Kemal was writing his own Shahnameh in a way,
about the myths and legends of the people who lived in the mountains of southern Turkey.
There is a beautiful insight in the novel. When you’re asleep you’re innocent. Hatred grudge
love and fear care and courage all smothered in a deep sleep. I liked how he see. being
sleep makes us defenceless. Being defenceless is somewhat akin to innocence.
Science and power While I was reading the
part about Lame Ali I thought about how science is used in society. It usually helps the powerful.
Lame Ali has a skill that nobody else has. He can track anything.
Abdi Agha uses him. Lame Ali is like a drone, or a homing pigeon.
His ability to track footprints is like science in the hands
of terrible regimes that make atomic bombs.
It’s funny but as well as a terrifying scene when he is trying to avoid helping them.
But What stands out the most about Memed My Hawk is storytelling.
Memet my hawk is quite conventional. A clear plot, a central protagonist, it has a clear beginning,
middle and end. What makes this novel so wonderful and unique is its storytelling and the world it
creates. It’s pure joy to read and one that also breaks your heart or gives you a few heart attacks
along the way. Sometimes the tension can be quite unbearable. You might feel angry and frustrated
or shout at those around you. My suggestion is you read this in one day. Leave your day empty and
start reading, you won’t stop. Trust me. Despite its melodrama it reads like a true story. I guess
the language seems very genuine. There are parts that reads like a legend but perhaps for Turkish
speakers it might be different. Because the world is so distant from me that I felt it must be true
because the writing is so convincing. I would read this book even if I have to miss my lunch.
The writing is so good like a music conductor. The description of life and sounds and movement
and everything that sway from here to there appear like Yasher Kemal compose music on pages.
These are musical notes. An orchestra with words. For example In Chapter 11 when villagers hear the
news of agha’s death everything sway people animals trees and the world celebrate. The
way allegiance shift from one to another or the way silence is broken by a single rooster or dog
barking then the whole village start gossiping. The way fire spreads is similar to how the news
travels. Absolutely fantastic and very musical. The whole novel is a roller coaster of emotion
due to mastery of writing and storytelling. Yasar Kemal was a genius storyteller.
It's very difficult to talk about its weaknesses. It really doesn't have any weaknesses as far as i can tell.
There are a few scenes are quite upsetting. I particularly felt bad about the
violence against Memed's mother. It is a bit excessive i think. Other than that it's
a wonderful novel. I think of myself someone who is cold-blooded like a crocodile but this
novel melted my heart and brought terror to my back. Oh man! This novel turns you into a child
terrified of what would happen next. The ending is a bit bittersweet. Sometimes you hear about
a novel people talk about a lot and you say, it's not a big deal, it can't be that
good but trust me this is a wonderful book. In the next video i'm going to talk about Dede Korkut
the legends of the Oghuz Turks so please tune in next week. Thank you Turkey! Thank you Yasar Kemal
for writing such a wonderful novel. Let me know what you think about the novel.
Have you read it or are you planning to read? And leave a comment down below. Thank you very much!