Often it seems as though a person cannot
change who they are, but this is not true, crises force people to become the
person they need to be in the given situation, and that the instinct to survive
can override any weakness in character.
In Adam Bagdasarian’s novel Forgotten
Fire, the main character Vahan Kenderian starts off as a carefree
individual who believes he will always be taken care of. When crisis strikes, everything Vahan knows
gets taken away from him, and he is forced to either take charge and grow up,
or be killed. As the story progresses he
begins to show honor, integrity and self-reliance.
In the beginning
of the novel Vahan states, “I walked
with the confidence of a boy who has grown up in luxury, and knows that he will
always be comfortable, always be well fed, always be warm in the winter and
cool in the summer” (4). His attitude
towards life and thoughts about himself are, “My father was afraid that I
lacked character and discipline. And he
was right. As far as I was concerned,
character and discipline were consolation prizes given to the meek, the
unadventurous, and the unlucky” (5).
This mindset shows that Vahan is not interested in succeeding on his
own, he lacks drive and thinks he can always rely on his father to carry him
throughout life.
As time
progresses without even noticing, Vahan begins to start showing the qualities
that he lacked before. After spending
time at Goryan’s Inn , Vahan’s mother tells
Vahan that, “I [the mother] cannot watch them kill you” and that she wants
Vahan and his brother Sisak to leave in the middle of the night (50). Even though this is a tough thing for Vahan
to do, because his mother’s room is the one place he goes to whenever he feels
nervous or unsure, he does it anyway without arguing because he knows that is
what has to be done. Leaving the one
person he goes to for security shows Vahan is starting to understand what is
going on and what needs to be done.
Later, Mrs. Altoonian tells Vahan that no Armenian is safe in Bitlis. Vahan agrees, “though I [Vahan] had wanted to
believe we were safe” (73). Even though
Vahan knows that he is not safe, there is still part of him that would like to
believe otherwise, he still does not want to accept that this is reality and
that his life really has changed.
Near the end of
the novel Vahan finds a part of himself he did not think was there. He has come a long way from the boy who
thought he could float through life, and always be taken care of. He has come to terms with the situation he is
in and understands what he needs to do to survive and just does it. Vahan
finally realizes everything, when he tries to inform Selim Bey about what has
been happening with Seranoush. When Vahan tells Selim Bey about the abuse
Seranoush has endured, Selim Bey’s response is, “Pick your friends carefully
and protect them if you can. Leave the rest to their fate” (138). These words take away Vahan’s last bit of
innocence and show him how cruel the world really can be. When everything in the stable starts feeling
strange, and Mrs. Mahari and her son suddenly disappear, Vahan knows he needs
to watch out for himself, because he could be next. “I [Vahan] had taken the precaution of arming
myself with a pitchfork and a hammer. If the door opened and the old man
stepped inside, I would either run him through with the pitchfork or crack open
his withered pink skull with the hammer” (151) In this situation Vahan stays
very alert and takes control, he is prepared to do what is necessary to
survive. This shows a drastic change in
Vahan, because before he would just have assumed that everything would be okay,
because he was Vahan Kenderian, but know he is much more in tuned to reality,
and has a plan of action.
In this novel,
Vahan Kenderian shows he has all the traits his father believed he was
lacking. Even though he starts off as a
spoiled boy, with a charmed life who has never had to work for anything, he
quickly learns what it is like to work for something, when he is forced to work
to keep the most important thing to him…his life. Even though all the odds are stacked against
him, Vahan shows honor integrity and self-reliance and he embarks on the
journey to freedom from the Turkish soldiers.
It is a belief that people are unable to change who they are, that they
are destined to be a certain way based on the cards they have been given. Everyone is stereotypically categorized by
friends, family and acquaintances, who have gone through life with the belief
that people are one-dimensional. However
whether it is due to a severe illness, losing a loved one, or genocide, there
is always something that can drive someone to become a different person.
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