Oversensitive The Characteristics of Kemal Basmaci

According to Murphy, a character’ s characteristic can be shown from the character’ s habits 1972: 173. The above quotation shows that Kemal’ s nostalgic trait prompts him to have a habit of picking little stuff from Fusun’ s house. H e loves to bring the stolen stuff to his own house or to Merhamet apartment so that when he misses her while she is absent, he can mitigate the pain by toying the stuffs. Another proof of Kemal’ s nostalgic characteristic is shown in the below quotation. I t was an object that reminded me of her. I put the end marked “30 centimeters” into my mouth, keeping it there for the longest time, despite the bitter after taste. For two hours I lay in bed, playing around with the ruler, trying to recast the hours it had spent in her hands, which introduced a relief, a happiness almost akin to seeing her. p.163 Murphy stated that readers can get a clue about a character’ s characteristics through the character’ s habit 1972: 173. Soon after Fusun disappears, Kemal falls into the habit of playing around with objects reminding him of her. In the above quotation, after learning from Fusun’ s mother that she does not live with her parents any longer, Kemal feel the growing yearning for Fusun. To reduce the longing, Kemal steals a ruler from her house that is often used by Fusun for her geometric lesson. Kemal describes that playing around with the ruler lessens the pain of missing her. It proves Kemal’ s nostalgic trait because it seems that Kemal wants to reiterate the ti me when Fusun is still there. Kemal’ s nostalgic characteristic is apparently what drives him to collect stuffs. He keeps stuffs other people usually banish and throw away. “By the time of his death, he had visited 5.723 museums saving all of his admission ticket” p. 512. Every time Kemal visits a museum, he will keep the admission tickets and place them in a box as a remembrance so that he can recalls the happiness and peace he feels when strolling along the museum gallery. Murphy stated that the charac ter’ s habit can be used to describe a character’ s c haracteristic 1972: 173, hence proving Kemal’ s nostalgic trait. As a nostalgic person, Kemal is fascinated by anything reminded him of the old time. It is implied by his love for museums, a building filled with old stuffs. Below are proofs that shows Kemal’ s liking for old stuffs. Sitting in those airless rooms, surrounded by my mother’ s old vases and dresses and dusty discarded furniture, going one by one through my father’ s amateurish snapshots, I recalled moments from my childhood, and it seems as if these artifacts had the power to calm my nerves. p.21 My mother’ s accumulated old furniture, the boxes, the stopped clocks, the pots and pans, the linoleum covering the floor, the smell of dust and rust had already merged with the shadows in the room to create a little paradise of the spirit in which my mind could wander. p.45 Both of the quotations above describe how those unused and broken items accumulated in the Merhamet apartment affect Kemal in a positive way. According to Murphy, readers can get a clue to a character’ s characteristic from the character’ s reaction 1972: 168. When being around them, Kemal feels peaceful and happy because those items remind him of the old time, especially his childhood. It seems that the familiarity of the old items brings a sense of nostalgia and comfort that can even relieve his nerve. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

6. Indecisive

Kemal very often appears to be indecisive and unable to stick to his plan and goal. He often makes plan or choose something for himself, only to change his mind and do the opposite of what he had planned before. I was so embarrassed I decided to forget about her, the fake handbag, and everything else. But twenty minutes later, as I glanced at my watch, it occurred to me that Fusun might be walking toward the Merhamet Apartments at that very moment with the refund for the handbag; making up a lie to Abdulkerim, I wolfed down my food and rushed off. p. 21 The above quotation occurs after Fusun fails to turn up at Merhamet apartment as planned to return Kemal’ s money. According to Murphy, a character’ s characteristic can be shown from the character’ s reaction 1972: 168. In the above quotation, it is clear that Kemal believes Fusun will come in that fourth day. He reacts to his own belief by running to the apartment. Despite her not coming in the three previous days and Kemal decides to forget about her out of embarrassment for waiting in false hope, he is unable to resist himself going to the apartment yet again, forgetting his resolution. Kemal even feels the need to lie to the friend he is with, only to be able to arrive on time, hence proving his indecisiveness. Kemal’ s indecisiveness is present not only in his behavior, but also in his mind. It seems that as if Kemal is confused about what is going on in his mind, as shown in the quotation. “ Could I be in love with her? The profound happiness I felt made me anxious. I was confused, my soul teetering between the danger of taking this joy too seriously and the crassness of taking it too lightly p. 46 ”. The quotation occurs when Kemal already has an affair with Fusun. The two make love at the apartment in only their third meeting. Aside from Kemal’ s declaration of the profound happiness being too early, happiness and love should only be cherished and enjoyed. Moreover, as a positive feeling, happiness is unlikely to make a person becomes anxious. For Kemal, though, it proves otherwise. Kemal seems to approach the happiness too cautiously. The quotation suggests that Kemal feels afraid to make mistake, which is to assess the situation. Murphy stated that a character’ s characteristic can be drawn through the character’ s thought 1972: 171. In the description, it is implied that Kemal is confused whether he should just enjoy the blissful feeling or whether he should just repress it and act as if nothing has affected him. The first option can leave him with the possibility of feeling heart-broken, while the second option can make him feeling empty for not rejoicing the happiness. Paying more attention to how he should assess his feeling rather than simply enjoying it is a proof that Kemal is an over- thinking person who often has his mind in the cloud. Kemal’ s indecisiveness and overthinking tendency is known by the peo ple close to him. Thus, he is regarded as an impractical person. Below is Osman, Kemal’ s brother’ s advice to him when his engagement party comes near. “Marriage will do you good. You can have children right away. Don’ t wait too long and they can be friends with ours. Sibel is a woman with a lot of sense; she has her feet on the ground. While you sometimes get carried away with your ideas, she’ ll provide a good balance. I hope you don’ t wear out Sibel’ s patience the way you did wit h all those other girls.” p. 44 According to Murphy, a character’ s characteristics can be drawn from other character’ s opinion 1972: 162. The quotation above is a statement spoken by Osman, Ke mal’ s brother, when the two talk . In the dialogue, Osman tells Kemal PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI