Memed

Memed is the hero of the story. He begins as the poor son of the widow Deuneh. Despite his fear of Abdi, at the age of eleven he runs away from Deyirmenoluk village and is sheltered by the old man Suleyman. Memed lets his presence at harvest time be known to Deyirmenoluk, since he knows that his mother will not be able to bring in the harvest by herself. For running away, Memed and his mother are deprived of an even bigger portion than usual of their food. They barely survive being starved to death. When Memed elopes with Hatche at age eighteen, he fears what will happen to his mother but elopes anyway. Memed and Hatche are followed, and Memed kills Hatche's bridgegroom and wounds Abdi.

Memed becomes a brigand under the outlaw chief Mad Durdu. Early on, Memed is disgusted by Durdu's wanton cruelty and then...