remind them of their happy time. Kemal lets his emotion known by staring at Fusun without blinking. The gesture is passive-aggressive because while it is non-
threatening, Fusun may feel intimidated.
B.
Kemal Basmaci’ s Attitude and Behavior
That Reflect Obsessive Love
In this part, the writer answers the second problem formulation. Here, the
writer focus on presenting the case of Kemal Basmaci’ s obsessive love reflected
through his attitud
e and behavior. In analyzing it, the writer uses Susan Peabody’ s
theory taken from her book titled Addiction to Love: Overcoming Obsession and Dependency in Relationships 2005: 37-55.
1. Love at First Sight
As a form of immediate attraction, love at first sight is almost always triggered by the charm and physical beauty of the object of obsession. Below is
Kemal’ s reflection on his first meeting with Fusun. “
It took a few seconds, perhaps, for that luminous state to enfold me, suffusing me with the deepest
peace, but it seemed to last hours, even years p. 3
”.
Peabody stated that obsessors often feel immediate rapport with someone they barely know 2005:
37. The above quotation shows that, as recounted by Kemal, when he sees Fusun for the first time, he already feels an instant bond with her. Kemal describes that
seconds upon seeing Fusun, he feels the deepest kind of peace lasting long in him. In reality, it is strange, if not impossible, to feel the deepest peace when
seeing a new person. Another proof
of Kemal’ s love at first sight is as followed.
At first I thought there was no one there, my eyes were still adjusting to the gloom after the noonday sunlight. Then I felt my heart in my throat,
with the force of an immense wave about to crash against the shore. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
“I’ d like to buy the handbag on the mannequin in the window,” I manage
to say, staggered at the sight of her.
“Do you mean the cream
-
colored Jenny Colon?” “The handbag on the mannequin in the window,” I repeated dreamily. p.
5 The above quotat
ion shows a definite proof of Kemal’ s love at first sight. He
describes the effect he feels when seeing Fusun for the first time is like a powerful wave crashing onto shore. Peabody stated that obsessors often feel
immediate attraction toward the object of their obsession 2005: 38. While
seeing an attractive new person might be pleasant, Kemal’ s reaction is highly
exaggerated as he describes feeling his heart jumping to his throat. The last line of the quotation even suggests that Kemal is awe-struck as he speaks.
Physical attractiveness plays a major role in developing love at first sight as it is usually what people notice first. When a man seeing a beautiful woman,
for example, it is likely that he will become more interested in her compared to him see
ing an average one. Kemal’ s love at first sight also likely happens due to Fusun’ s physical attractiveness, as shown in below quotation.
There was a silence. I looked again into one of the pockets she had just pointed to inside the bag. Her beauty, or her skirt, which was in fact too
short, or something else altogether, had unsettled me, and I couldn’ t act
naturally p. 6
The quotation shows that it is very likely Fusun’ s beauty and sexiness that actually capture Kemal’ s attention first and foremost. Pea
body stated that
obsessors’ love at first sight is often merely a lust 2005: 38. As Fusun is easily
the most beautiful girl Kemal has ever seen, he mistakes his exaggerated escalation for love. The quotation shows that Kemal also feels awkward, just as
a
nyone feeling in love. In a healthy relationship, one’ s admiration for the
partner’ s physical attractiveness is completely normal. The only difference is that
such admiration will gradually shift from something superficial to something deeper, which is no
t the case with Kemal as the story goes. Kemal’ s love at first
sight is proven by his desire to kiss Fusun at their first meeting. He even fantasizes kissing her in a corner of heaven, which proves the love Kemal feels is
actually an infatuation because everything is beautiful and perfect.
“
For a moment I paused; my ghost had left my body and now, in some corner of heaven,
was embracing Fusun and kissing her p. 7
”.
There are times when Kemal can be considered as being delusional, believing that he has found his soul mate in Fusun after their first meeting as
shown in the below quotation. As much as I wanted to dismiss the feeling as ordinary, I could not deny
the startling truth that when looking at Fusun, I saw someone familiar, someone I felt I knew intimately. She resembled me. I felt I could easily
put myself in her place, could understand her deeply p.15
In this part, Kemal is delusional because he believes that Fusun is similar to him. Kemal feels that he has known Fusun for a long time. He feels that he can
understand her very well although they have just met. The quotation serves as a
proof of Kemal’ s love at first sight since Peabody state that obsessors tend to feel
premature bonding 2005: 37. Kemal already feels intimate toward Fusun ever since their first meeting. This is highly unlikely in the case of real love since
intimation and understanding are things people accomplish as a relationship progresses. .
2. Exaggerated Fear in Relationship
Susan Peabody notes that obsessors are always inherently needy and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
