Raif Efendi

Raif Efendi is the central character / protagonist. The most significant aspect of Raif’s character is his refusal to form connections with other people, which eventually leads to him unnecessarily wasting his life performing meaningless tasks surrounded by people he does not care for.

A brief respite from Raif’s self-imposed isolation occurs while he is in Berlin and forms an intensely close and intimate bond with the painter Maria Puder after first becoming interested in her after seeing one of her paintings at a gallery. For the first time in Raif’s life, he feels connected to and understood by another person. Unfortunately, this relationship does not serve to convince Raif to open himself up to more people. Instead, when Maria inexplicably stops responding to his letters, Raif commits to remaining detached and alone for the rest of his life in response to the bitterness he...