Tyler Jackson Ms.

Stringer ELA 11 17 February 2011 Book Reflection: Forgotten Fire Throughout Forgotten Fire, the reader can easily observe the development of the protagonist, Vahan, into a stronger, more mature person. In the beginning of the book, it is clear that Vahan is a rich, spoiled young child. He is content on coasting through life with the knowledge that his fathers large sum of money will always be there for him. But before too long, he finds that his entire world has changed. When the Armenian genocide ensues, he discovers that he must do anything he can to survive, because his father can no longer protect him and he must now fend for himself. He describes this situation when he and his brother, Sisak, are trying to escape, saying, I did not realize that as far as the world was concerned we were nothing more than two vagrantswet, unarmed, and extremely vulnerable (58). Eventually, Vahan finds that even his brother will no longer be there to protect him. Before long, he too is killed by the gendarmes. For over three years, Vahan does anything and everything he can to find food and shelter, even if that means swallowing his pride and begging for food that he desperately needed. He searched far and wide for any Armenian who had somehow managed to survive in this war-ravaged country. Although he finds protection with old friends as well as people hes never met, it is often short lived, because should the gendarmes discover that his protectors were hiding Vahan, both they and Vahan would be killed. Vahan shows his determination to survive when he begins working as a slave for one of the most wretched

Jackson 2 murderers of the Armenian people, Selim Bey. Although he detests having to work like the people who served him before the war, he knows it is what he must do. Eventually, Vahan escapes, and poses as a mute among a group of Turkish refugees. After a short while, most of the refugees accept him as one of their own, and he makes many friends there. Despite this, Vahan kept his race a secret, because he knew that should they find out he was an Armenian, there would be a very good chance that he would be killed. Eventually, Vahan flees from the colony, in search of the great city of Constantinople. With the help of a few fellow Armenians, he is finally able to board a ship that takes him there. Many unfair treatments of Armenians are displayed throughout this novel. The Turkish people have a sense of ethnocentrism, believing that they were superior to the Armenian people. It seemed that overnight, the Turkish people went from welcomingly assimilating the Armenians into their society, to displaying a prejudice against them because of their differences in religious beliefs. For this reason, a countless number of Armenians are massacred. In almost every sense, Vahans life is completely different from my own. Never in my life have I had to endure such grueling experiences. He saw many of his own race murdered in cold bloodan experience that I cannot even begin to imagine. For my entire life, I have lived in comfort and have known that I will always be safe. Vahan once had this feeling, until the day that the gendarmes came through his front door. Nothing I have ever experienced can even come close to many of the horrible things that Vahan has seen, and I admire his strength and will to survive.

Jackson 3 Works Cited Bagdasarian, Adam. Forgotten Fire. New York: Laurel-Leaf Book, 2002.