The Museum of Innocence

Earrings are a major symbol of romantic desire and Objects as a Representation of a Lost Past. In the first chapter, Füsun loses one of her favorite earrings while she and Kemal are having sex, a moment that Kemal describes as the single happiest moment of his life. Füsun asks Kemal to find and return the earring to her, with the earring’s retrieval representing a test of Kemal’s devotion to her. If he really loves her, then he will understand how important the earring is to her and hasten to return it.

Kemal tries to replace Füsun’s lost earring with the earrings his father, Mümtaz, intended to give to his mistress. Füsun’s indignant reaction signals her unwillingness to accept anything less than a standard that signals he really cares for her. Consequently, when Kemal manages to return the lost earring, Füsun reconnects with him, allowing him to pursue her again after he has ended his engagement with Sibel. She is unaware that it was actually the maid, and not Kemal, who found the lost earring.

The earrings reappear one more time at the end of the novel when Füsun decides to wear them on the trip to Europe as a surprise for Kemal.