For example, one of the secondary characters, Hande suggests suicide to another girl (Pamuk, 113). Nonetheless, at the same time he condemns bigotry among people, who try to cling to this religious tradition. Naturally, Orhan Pamuk does not approve these restrictions, imposed by the government. Headscarf is an inseparable part of Turkish culture and it is rather unlikely this symbol will ever be taken away. The thing is that headscarf is regarded as “a symbol of political Islam” and the reforms of Kemal Ataturk prohibited wearing this article of clothes (Pamuk, 14). Ka needs to investigate the case of mass suicide committed by local women because they had not been allowed to wear headscarves. The writer deliberately chooses to organize plot in this way in order to emphasize an idea that this town is a miniature copy of Turkish society. For a short time Kars is isolated from the rest of the world due to the blizzard. The protagonist goes to a small town Kars, which is located at the eastern border of the country. Learn More Themes explored in the novel The conflict between cultural heritage and modernityĪt the very beginning of this book, Orhan Pamuk introduces the readers into the controversial world of modern Turkish community. The paper aims to analyze the themes explored by Orhan Pamuk in this novel and discuss how his ideas can be related to the works of other Turkish writers and the place of this work in modern Turkish literature. He is unwilling to do it and this is one of the reasons why he perishes. The main character, Ka 1 (Kerim Alakusoglu) is virtually forced to choose between different ideologies, which can be even alien to him. The author brilliantly shows that such atmosphere suppresses individuality as he or she is utterly unable to make decisions independently. Very often the conflict between these extremes verges on absurdity and poses a threat to the lives of people, who do not wish to be involved in it. Overall, it describes the struggles of a person, who attempts to find his place in the community, torn apart by modernity and past, East and West, religious fanaticism and secularism. The novel Snow written by Orhan Pamuk is widely recognized by many critics as a landmark work in modern Turkish literature because it gives the audience in-depth insights in the life of this country and its problems.

Snow by orhan pamuk analysis