The Bridge On The Drina Analysis

The Bridge on the Drina a Nobel Prize winning novel, distinctively depicts the agony and suffering that individuals of Bosnia experienced throughout the late sixteenth century to World War I. An extraordinary bridge, that compasses generations and nationalities and assumes the focal point throughout the novel, was constructed hundreds of years ago when a ten-year-old Christian kid who was captured grows up to be Grand Vizier Mehmed-paša Sokolović. The bridge is a witness to incalculable stories of bliss and suffering that occurred upon it. Throughout the novel, the aspect of intimidation on individual and the society is encountered. The practice of Devshirme where young boys are taken away from their parents and the merciless killing of local people terrify the Bosnian people. Thus, this paper particularly examines the fear and suffering that Bosnians experienced.
Devshirme was a system where the Ottoman Empire established

“blood tribute” by kidnapping young boys from Christian peasant villages of Balkans and Anatolia, which horrified the people. Their crying mothers followed them until they came to a river from where the boys were taken across by ferry to Stamboul, halfway across the world. Once they reached their destination, they were converted to become Muslims, renamed and set to work in the administration to either serve in the royal household or recruit in the Janissary. Chapter 2 of the novel narrates the story of one such boy later named Mehmed-paša Sokolović who was taken away from his parents to Stamboul. As he recalls the fear of crossing the Drina by ferry, he feels a sharp pain cutting him, which hurts him terribly. This pain as he realized was associated with the desolate riverbank from where he departed from his mother. It was the very place in the poverty stricken village of Visegrad, that he realized the local residents’ helplessness and misfortune and inability to do anything about it. Thus, whenever he contemplated the incident of being kidnapped, fear rushed through his veins and traumatized him. In those moments of discomfort, he thought he could be free only if he figured out a way to connect the two ends of the road of the East and Bosnia, which was broken by the Drina River, a place where he grew up and witnessed misery. His desire came true 40 years later when he as a Grad vizier commissioned the construction of the stone bridge. Thus, the agony and suffering that he witnessed throughout his life led to the development of the bridge.
Similarly, the village witnessed ruthlessness of the Ottoman leaders.

Abidaga, known for his cruelness, used force when individuals did not follow his instructions while completing tasks. In the Spring Abidaga arrived in the village with the mason, Tosun Effendi to start the construction of the bridge. When he arrived, he warned the people about his ruthlessness and claimed disrespect and excuses was intolerable. This created fear among the locals especially the Christians. Throughout the construction, he looked for imposters. As soon as he recognized one he would instruct one of the staff to beat make them return to work. He threatened the whole town with bad consequences if anyone tried to sabotage the construction process. Radisav was one of the workers who attempted to obstruct the process. This raged Abidaga so he brutally executed Radisav. He forces the whole village to watch the execution, where Radisav is hung in an upright position. A stake is driven from his lower body to his neck while he groans with pain and curses at the

Turks.