by Orhan Pamuk
Sometimes we would sit quietly and simply gaze at each other as if we’d just met for the first time. I would pick off a piece of lint from his woollen sweater, or touch a button that was about to fall off his shirt, or gently comb his messy hair with my fingers. So many times I wanted to ask him how much he remembered of his childhood, why he’d been so angry all the time, why he’d put a bullet in his father’s eye, and why he seemed so peaceful now, but I always resisted the urge. I would just hold his hand, and caress his arms, his shoulders, his back, his neck. He, in turn, would cradle his sixty-year-old mother’s hands in his and kiss them as fervidly as a lover.
On the day of the last Feast of the Sacrifice, we sat together again and looked into each other’s eyes before embracing without a word. It was a sunny autumn day. He told me he would finally start working on the novel in which he would explain “everything.” There were, he said, as many thoughts in his head right now as there were stars in the sky beyond the window of his cell at night. It was difficult to comprehend all those stars, no less difficult than to put all his emotions into words. But he would turn to other books for inspiration. Political books weren’t allowed in the prison library, but he’d found Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, old poetry collections, and an anthology called Dreams and Life. He was going to read them all just as his father had done as a young man, and once he understood how they’d influenced him, he would be able to put himself in his father’s place. He asked me to tell him about his father. I answered his questions enthusiastically and gave him a joyful hug, upon which I was ecstatic to notice that his neck still smelled as it had when he was a child: a mixture of plain soap and biscuits. As the end of the visit approached, I pleaded with God to comfort my son at our parting on this holy day.
“I’ll be back on Monday,” I said with a smile. I pulled out the taped-up picture of the red-haired woman by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and handed it to him. “I’m so happy to hear you’re going to write your novel now, my darling boy!” I said. “You can put this picture on the cover when it’s finished, and perhaps there may even be some room in there for you to write about your beautiful mother when she was young. See, this woman looks a bit like me. Of course you know best how your novel should start, but I think it ought to be sincere and mythical at the same time, like the monologues I used to deliver at the end of our performances. It should be as credible as a true story, and as familiar as a myth. That way, everyone, not just the judge, will understand what you are trying to say. Remember: your father had always wanted to be a writer, too.”
January–December 2015
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006. His novel My Name Is Red won the 2003 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His work has been translated into more than sixty languages.
The Red-Haired Woman
By Orhan Pamuk
The discussion questions, and suggested reading that follow are designed to enhance your group’s discussion of The Red-Haired Woman, the latest novel by Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk.
Discussion Questions
1. At the start of the story, we are told that Cem’s father has disappeared, but that it is not the first time he has disappeared and he “didn’t always disappear for the same reason” (this page). What are the reasons for his disappearances and how does his absence affect young Cem? Does Cem ever come to terms with his father’s disappearance?
2. The Red-Haired Woman is said to be a novel in the tradition of the conte philosophique, or philosophical tale. How does the novel fit in with this genre and what are some of the philosophical and social ideas and arguments the novel puts forth?
3. Evaluate Cem’s relationship with Master Mahmut. Would you characterize it as a father-son relationship? Why or why not? How does it differ from Cem’s relationship with his own father?
4. A motif of storytelling runs through the novel. Which of the characters are storytellers, and what kinds of stories do they share? Do their stories have anything in common? What seems to be the role or purpose of storytelling?
5. When Cem shares his version of the story of Oedipus with Master Mahmut, Mahmut replies, “Nobody can escape their fate” (this page). Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Does the story ultimately support or overturn the notion of fate? How much do the characters seem to be driven by forces beyond their control and how much seems to be the result of their own actions and free will?
6. When does Cem believe he is “most completely [him]self” (this page)? How does he believe a father’s presence affects this? Do you agree with him?
7. The Red-Haired Woman tells Cem that he should simply find a new father. “We all have many fathers in this country” (this page). What does she mean? Who or what are some of the other father figures to which she refers?
8. Why does Cem ultimately abandon the dig and return home? How does his decision affect him in the years ahead? What does Cem decide is “the best thing to do” (this page)? Do you agree with him?
9. Through detailed descriptions of the landscape, the author provides a snapshot of a rapidly changing world. Does the book ultimately offer a statement about progress and modernization versus tradition? Is the modernization of Turkish culture as represented in the book primarily positive? What has changed? What, if anything, seems to remain the same despite modernization?
10. In chapter 28, Cem notices the major difference between the story of Oedipus from the West and the story of Rostam and Sohrab from the East. What is this difference and why might it be notable?
11. After visiting with Mrs. Fikriye the librarian, Cem realizes a new commonality between Oedipus and Sohrab. What is it and how does it affect Cem’s understanding of the events of his own past? What do both stories say about loyalty?
12. Why does Ayşe call in a panic when she realizes that Cem has attended the Sohrab meeting even though he said he would not? What happens to Cem, and who is responsible? Does the book seem to suggest whether this outcome could have been avoided? If so, how?
13. When the Red-Haired Woman ends up at the same table as another woman with red hair who challenges the authenticity of her appearance, how does she respond? What does she see as the main difference between her and the other woman? How does this new knowledge contribute to the book’s more expansive dialogues about identity, desire, choice, and fate?
14. Evaluate the corresponding themes of innocence and guilt. Where do these themes surface in the book? Is it easy to determine which of the characters in the book are innocent and which are guilty? Why or why not? Does the book ever answer the question of how one’s innocence or guilt is determined? Why does Cem come to the conclusion that Oedipus and Rostam may be considered innocent, for instance? Through its exploration of these two overlapping themes, what view of morality does the author ultimately offer?
15. The Red-Haired Woman wishes to talk to Ayşe to tell her “as women, we were not responsible for what happened, for it had all been dictated by myth and history” (this page). What does she mean by this? Do you agree with her? Why or why not? Are the Red-Haired Woman and Ayşe truly innocent, or are they somehow complicit or even responsible for what has happened?
Suggested Reading
Deb, Siddhartha. The Point of Return
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment
Ferdowsi. Shahnameh
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner
Kemal, Yashar. Memed, My Hawk
Lawrence, D. H. Sons and Lovers
Matar, Hisham. Anatomy of a Disappearance
Shafak, Elif. The Bastard of Istanbul
Sophocles. Oedipus Rex
Tanpınar, Ahmet Hamdi. A Mind at Peace
Turgenev, Ivan. Fathers and Sons
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