While reading The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk, I was consistently intrigued by the constantly developing and somewhat bipolar relationship between the narrator and the Hoja. It seems as if there is a constant "game" of sorts occurring between the two. One of the characters constantly gains leverage over the other by capitalizing on the other's fears or emotions. For example, the Hoja utilizes the narrator's fear of the plague to gain some sort of power, however, the narrator is quick to find a weakness in the Hoja.
There are some other interestiong aspects of The White Castle. One aspect of this book that seems to be a reoccurring theme or motif was the subject of dreaming and the scribing of their "stories". The narrator dreams on different occassions such as during the scene in which both Hoja and the narrator are standing before the mirrors. The narrator is quoted as saying, "My life was beyond my control, it was being dragged elsewhere in his hands, and I felt there was nothing for me to do but passively watch what happened to me from the outside, as if I were dreaming." This is only one reference of many, however this is characteristic of the situations that encounter the narrator.
Friday, August 31, 2007
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