Forgotten Fire Analysis

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The Armenian genocide ruins Vahan Kenderian’s picture-perfect life. Vahan is the son of the richest Armenian in Turkey and before the war begins, he always has food in his belly and a roof over his head in the book Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian. Life is absolutely quintessential for Vahan, until the war starts in 1915, when he endures many deaths of his family, losses of his friends, and frightening experiences in a short amount of time. He is a prisoner of war early in the book and is starved for days. As he goes through life, he is very unlucky and experiences other deaths, not just the deaths of his family. Vahan ultimately becomes the man his family would want him to be. Vahan’s whole family has been taken to Goryan’s Inn, where the soldiers keep and abuse Armenians. Vahan’s family and the rest of the Armenians walk with the soldiers for a very long time after leaving Goryan’s Inn. They stop to sleep for the night and …show more content…

Altoonian and his friend, Pattoo. Mrs. Altoonian can not have Vahan stay with them anymore, for it is putting her own family in danger. She finds a home for Vahan though, with Selim Bey, the governor of Van. Selim Bey is known for killing and butchering Armenians, which makes Vahan scared for his future with him. Vahan arrives at his new home, but after three weeks has still not met Selim. On page 117 in Forgotten Fire, Vahan thinks to himself, “I was determined to be a fearless representative of my family and my people”. Vahan wants to be brave, even though he is uncertain of what his future holds under the care of Selim Bey. He wants to stand up for his family and his kind, the Armenians. Vahan tries to not be scared, thinking of how his family would want him to be brave and fearless. Before the war began, Vahan would not have been able to do this, be brave. The war has given him so many new and scary experiences, but these experiences have made him grow into the kind of man his family would be proud

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