Memed, My Hawk by Yashar Kemal

First published: İnce Memed, 1955 (English translation, 1961)

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Folklore

Time of plot: Early twentieth century

Locale: Turkey

Principal characters

• Slim Memed, a brigand
• Abdi Agha, a cruel landowner
• Jabbar, Memed’s comrade
• Lame Ali, a skillful tracker
• Hatche, Memed’s fiancé
• Iraz, Hatche’s cell mate
• Sergeant Asim, the police chief

The Story:

In a village called Deyirmenoluk, located in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, Slim Memed and his mother, Deuneh, live at the mercy of their cruel landlord, Abdi Agha, who terrorizes them and takes two-thirds of their crops annually. Unable to endure the agha’s beatings, Memed flees from his village, escaping over the mountains to the ranch of Old Süleyman. For several weeks, he lives as Süleyman’s adopted son, herding goats and enjoying himself. One day, however, he drives the goats too far and encounters a man from his village. News soon spreads that Memed is alive, and Abdi Agha goes to Süleyman’s ranch and forces the boy to return. As punishment for Memed’s disobedience, his family has to forfeit three-fourths of their crops, and they nearly starve that winter.

Several years pass, and the oppression continues. As he matures into manhood, Memed grows bitter and callous under the agha’s reign of terror. Only fifteen-year-old Hatche, the most beautiful girl in the village, can inspire tenderness in the young man. Soon after Abdi Agha announces the girl’s engagement to his nephew, Memed and Hatche elope. They make love in the hollow of a rock during a rainstorm.

Furious at Memed’s disobedience, the agha enlists Lame Ali, a skillful tracker, to find the couple. In a violent encounter in the forest, Memed wounds Abdi Agha and kills his nephew, then flees from the scene. Hatche returns to the village, only to be arrested by the authorities for the nephew’s murder. She is taken to the nearest town and imprisoned.

Memed makes his way to Süleyman’s ranch, where he receives a warm welcome from his old friend. Advised by Süleyman to hide in the mountains, Memed joins Mad Durdu’s band of mountain brigands. Durdu is notorious for stopping travelers on the road, ordering them to strip naked, and stealing their money and underclothing. Although Memed does not approve of these tactics, he obeys his leader. As Durdu grows more reckless, however, Memed begins to worry. In one bloody exchange with the police, several of Durdu’s men are killed or wounded, and Memed barely escapes. When Durdu later tries to rob Kerimoghlu, the proud leader of a group of nomads, Memed intervenes, and Durdu vows to avenge the insult.

Accompanied by two comrades, Jabbar and Sergeant Rejep, Memed embarks upon a career as an independent brigand, but he does not have the heart to rob groveling travelers. He decides to return to Deyirmenoluk and punish Abdi Agha. From his mother’s friend in the village, Memed learns that the agha has killed his mother and arranged for Hatche’s imprisonment. Memed and his comrades storm the agha’s house but find only the agha’s two wives and children at home. Sergeant Rejep kills one of the wives and is going to kill the children, but Memed stops him, preferring to exact revenge on Abdi Agha himself. By sparing the children’s lives, Memed earns the respect of the villagers.

Memed then summons Lame Ali and orders him to track down Abdi Agha, who went into hiding after he learned that Memed had become a brigand. Feeling guilty for betraying Memed and Hatche, Lame Ali leads Memed and his comrades to Abdi Agha’s hiding place in a distant village. In an attempt to burn the agha out of his hiding place, the three brigands set fire to the entire village, destroying it. The villagers pursue them into the mountains, where Sergeant Rejep dies from a neck wound that he had received earlier. After returning to Deyirmenoluk to resume his life, Memed learns that Abdi Agha is still alive. He and Jabbar return to the mountains for their safety.

In the village of Vayvay, Abdi Agha has sought refuge with another powerful agha, Ali Safa Bey, who controls a band of mountain brigands led by Kalayji. Ali Safa has promised to use Kalayji to destroy Memed. Kalayji sends Horali, who had been a member of Durdu’s gang, to lead the unsuspecting Memed into a trap. Discerning the ploy, however, Memed and Jabbar kill Horali and Kalayji. Across the countryside the news spreads that Memed has defeated Ali Safa’s man. In the countless retellings of the feat, Memed grows larger than life, until he is a legend. Big Osman from Vayvay starts referring to Memed as “my hawk.” He collects a large sum of money from his fellow villagers, who are tired of being oppressed by Ali Safa, and delivers it to Memed and Jabbar on their mountaintop.

Jabbar and Memed part company when Memed decides to visit Hatche in prison. Later, as the police are transporting Hatche to another prison, Memed ambushes them and singlehandedly frees his fiancé and her friend Iraz. The three fugitives retreat to a cave on top of Mount Alidagh, where they receive supplies periodically from Lame Ali and Kerimoghlu. At Abdi Agha’s prodding, the government sends a former brigand, Black Ibrahim, and a police officer, Sergeant Asim, to arrest Memed. During a shootout on Alidagh, Hatche gives birth to a son; Memed then surrenders to Sergeant Asim, who takes pity on the new father and allows him to escape.

Abdi Agha is furious and frightened. He writes letters to the government, which then sends Captain Faruk after Memed. In yet another shootout, Faruk kills Hatche. Memed, who manages to escape, leaves his son with Iraz and ensures Hatche’s proper burial. He then finds Lame Ali and learns about Abdi Agha’s hiding place. Despite a general amnesty granted to criminals by the Turkish government, Memed goes to the town where Abdi Agha is hiding and kills him. A fugitive once more, Memed returns to the mountains, never to be seen again.

Bibliography

Darnton, John. “Istanbul Journal: A Prophet Tests the Honor of His Own Country.” The New York Times, March 14, 1995. Profile of Kemal describes him as “Turkey’s best-known and best-loved novelist.” Recounts Kemal’s battles with Turkish authorities over what Kemal claims is the government’s racism against Kurds and other minorities.

Edebiyat: A Journal of Comparative and Middle Eastern Literatures 5, nos. 1/2 (1980). Special issue, edited by Ahmet Ö. Evin, is devoted to Kemal and his work. Four articles discuss Memed, My Hawk in detail.

Kemal, Yashar, with Alain Bosquet. Yaşar Kemal on His Life and Art. Translated by Eugene Lyons Hébert and Barry Tharaud. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1999. Bosquet, a French writer, poses a series of questions to Kemal, enabling the Turkish writer to discuss his life, political opinions, the development of his writing, and the influence of both Turkish and Kurdish epic literature on his work.

Prokosch, Frederic. “Robin Hood in Anatolia.” Saturday Review 44, no. 3 (August 19, 1961): 19, 55. Argues that Memed, My Hawk fails as social criticism but succeeds as myth.

Rau, Santha Rama. “Robin Hood of the Taurus Mountains.” The New York Times Book Review, June 11, 1961. Praises the novel for its romantic and epic qualities.

Theroux, Paul. “Turkish Delight.” The New York Times Book Review, July 10, 1977. In a review of İnce Memed II (1969; They Burn the Thistles, 1973), which is a sequel to Memed, My Hawk, Theroux compares Kemal to William Faulkner and laments the Turkish author’s relatively small audience in the United States compared to his audiences in Turkey and Europe.

“Turkish Robin Hood.” Time, June 16, 1961. A representative review of the novel when it was first published in the United States. Touts Memed as a latter-day Robin Hood and speculates about the influence of the author’s life on the narrative.