Three Daughters Of Eve

“All of that put Peri, the youngest child, in an awkward position, with both parents striving to win her over; her very existence became a battleground between competing worldviews. The thought that she had to make a choice, once and for all, between her mother’s defiant religiosity and her father’s defiant materialism almost paralysed her.”

The internal conflict Peri experiences, trapped between her mother’s religiosity and her father’s materialism, introduces fundamental tensions in Navigating Conflict About Belief and Faith. Describing her existence as a battleground between competing worldviews highlights how Peri feels like she must fight each day, caught between two belief systems and left feeling practically immobile. Although her parents have different perspectives, Shafak uses the word “defiant” to describe each worldview. This highlights the rigidity of each parent’s beliefs, as neither will budge for the other. Seeing no middle ground modeled by her parents makes Peri feel like she must choose one side.

“While her friends seemed as uncomplicated and light as the kites they flew, playing in the streets, joking around at school and taking every day as it came, Nazperi Nalbantoğlu, an unusually intense and introverted child, was busily searching for God.”

Peri’s childhood is filled with ideological conflict and traumatic events, including the death of her twin brother and her brother, Umut’s, arrest, torture, and imprisonment. As a result, she develops an intensity unlike other children her age. This passage employs juxtaposition to contrast Peri’s peers, described as uncomplicated and embodying a lightness akin to kites, with her serious introspection and quest for God. This underscores her deeper search for meaning, something that began at a young age.

“That was when she saw a silhouette out of the corner of her eye. Soft and silken, too angelic to be human. She recognized it—him. The baby in the mist. Rosy cheeks, dimpled arms, sturdy, plump legs; wispy, golden hair that had not yet turned dark. A plum-coloured stain covered one cheek. A cute little infant, except he wasn’t. A jinni. A spirit. A hallucination. A figment of her wired, fearful imagination—although this was not their first encounter.”

Peri sees the baby in the mist for the first time when she is a young girl. She and Selma believe it is a spirit or jinni of some kind; another explanation, as she notes here, is that it is a figment of her imagination, as Mensur dismisses it. The baby in the mist is a recurring symbol and motif. The text eventually reveals that it symbolizes her It is unprocessed guilt over her twin brother’s death. This connects to the theme of The Harmful Impact of Shame, Trauma, and Passivity.

“‘I’ll be good, I promise.’ Yet another promise she would do her utmost to keep from that day forth. Obediently, she would adhere to what was expected of her, tracing her steps back to where she had veered away from the routine, ever so careful not to cause surprises, no shocking incidents. She would be as unremarkable and unthreatening as she possibly could be.”

After a Hodja proclaims that Peri is “prone to darkness” based on her visions of the baby in the mist, Peri grows doubly fearful of herself. Her promise to be “good” to Selma emphasizes how she internalizes ingrained ideas of morality and shame, which she uses to influence her every action and decision. Her choice to be “unremarkable” and “unthreatening” and adhere to expectations obediently leads to Peri’s consistent passivity. This quote emphasizes that this passivity has a foundation of fear and shame.

“‘Baba, doesn’t religion give you a sense of security—like a protective glove?’

‘Maybe, but I don’t want an extra skin. I touch the flame, I burn; I hold ice, I’m cold. The world is what it is. We’ll all die. What’s the point of safety in crowds? We are born alone, we die alone.’”

Peri suggests that religion gives people a sense of security, comparing it to a protective glove that keeps individuals safe. Mensur rejects the need for this. His metaphor comparing religion to an “extra skin” highlights his rationalist viewpoint. He believes that religion prevents people from experiencing and seeing life as it truly is, evidenced by his comparisons to touching flames, burning, and holding ice—all sensations he believes are integral to the reality of life.

“But things had changed dramatically over the last years. Colours congealed into blacks-and-whites. There were increasingly fewer marriages in which—like that of her mother and father—one spouse was devout and the other not. Nowadays the society was divided into invisible ghettoes. Istanbul resembled less a metropolis than an urban patchwork of segregated communities.”

Peri reflects on how views on politics and religion have become more polarized in modern-day society. While her parents’ marriage was a contentious one, it nevertheless survived because there was a possibility for the coexistence of opposing views in the same household. Her description of Istanbul as now filled with “invisible ghettoes” and “segregated communities” highlights the societal polarization. Further, by describing colors turning into blacks and whites, Peri highlights how each belief system is a separate pole of society—with less room for gray in between.

“Education is important, but there’s something far more important for a girl, you understand? If you lose that, no diploma will redeem you. Boys have nothing to lose. Girls need to be extra careful.”

Selma wants Peri to be “extra careful” as she begins her education at Oxford, insinuating she must not engage in a sexual relationship. This conversation highlights two things. First, it underscores the differing values that Mensur and Selma place on education; Mensur believes education will save their family, while Selma is certain that morality supersedes education. Second, by warning that a diploma will never redeem her, Selma’s rhetoric highlights the culture of shame surrounding a woman’s sexuality in which Peri grows up.

“Won’t abandon religion, for you never know if there’s life after death, better to play it safe. Doesn’t want to let go of freedoms either. A bit of this, a bit of that. The great fusion of the times: Muslimus modernus.”

Shirin describes Peri as a “Muslimus modernus,” referring to her inability to entirely let go of either religious prescription or freedom. In the present day, Peri labels herself as a “modern Muslim” as well, indicating how, years later, she is still caught in this conflict of faith. In Shirin’s view, it is fear and ignorance that keep a Muslim caught in the middle; Peri’s story, however, indicates that genuine curiosity and persistent questioning have also contributed to this adherence to the middle path.

“That same night Peri wrote in her God-diary: Some people want to change the world; others, their partners or friends. As for me, I would love to change God. Now that would be something. Wouldn’t everyone in the world benefit from that?”

Peri notes in her “God-diary” that what she most wants to change is God. By comparing this desire to other’s tendency to want to change partners or friends, Shafak reasserts how Peri feels different from her peers. This quote also highlights Peri’s underlying belief that there may be a God responsible for the world, albeit one that doesn’t ensure justice. Peri’s use of the rhetorical question depicts her grappling with the world’s inequities. As a result, she is caught between anger and disbelief.

“Peri’s eyes fell on the risotto congealed on her plate. She could have let the comments pass; a bit like other people’s cigar smoke, unwanted but tolerable to an extent. But she had promised herself, years ago, right after she left Oxford, never to be silent again.”

Peri takes note of the conversation at the dinner table and, unlike what she has done in the past, responds to the comments people make with her honest opinions. This marks a discernable shift in her character arc as she realizes the importance of speaking up. Comparing the comment to cigar smoke—unpleasant but moderately tolerable—Peri emphasizes the pervasive nature of these beliefs. Unlike her time at Oxford, Peri has resolved to no longer stand by and be silent.

“It was the title of a poem by Rumi. Peri even remembered a few verses: There are two kinds of intelligence, one acquired, as a child in school memorizes…from books and what the teacher says…the other…intelligence…fluid…a fountainhead from within you, moving out.”

Peri is drawn to the bookshop, “Two Kinds of Intelligence,” where she eventually works. The title is an allusion to a poem by Rumi, an Islamic scholar, poet, and mystic from the Sufi tradition. The two kinds of intelligence here correspond with the rational and the mystical, which is what Peri is perpetually caught between. The poem emphasizes the dual paths Peri navigates, demonstrating that each can coexist and one need not choose one over the other.

“Peri noticed her hands, manicured and hennaed, and her palms, studded with red crescents. It was this detail that affected her more than anything she witnessed during this miserable night. The marks a young woman digs with her fingernails during a virginity examination.”

Peri notices how distressed and traumatized Feride is after being dragged to the hospital for a virginity examination on her wedding night. Feride’s experience is an example of how shame and trauma impact women, especially when subjected to patriarchal cultural practices. Feride must undergo a virginity examination, while no such questions are being asked of her husband. Peri’s observation of her fingernail marks juxtaposes against her beautifully adorned hands prepared for the wedding, a detail that physically depicts Feride’s discomfort.

“‘Don’t tell me you are planning to take ‘God’?’

‘Why not?’ Peri asked. ‘What’s wrong with it?’

‘Everything,’ Troy said. ‘The guy’s a wolf in professor’s clothing!’”

Troy attempts to warn Peri away from Azur’s seminar, using metaphoric language that compares him to a wolf. This highlights his predatory nature and the theme of Power Dynamics in Institutional Spaces. Although Troy’s assertions that Azur is problematic are exacerbated by the fact that he ejected Troy from his class, there is also a kernel of truth in his point. This foreshadows how Peri will independently grow uncomfortable with Azur’s methods and approach when she eventually does take his class.

“‘Innocents slaughtered,’ cut in Shirin almost shouting. ‘Why, because some depraved bastards believe they’ll go to paradise if they kill in the name of God. It’ll get worse, you’ll see. Now all Muslims will be vilified. More innocents will have to suffer from all sides.’”

Peri and Shirin speak on the phone after the incidents of 9/11, and Shirin is furious. Shirin’s anger and frustration with religion and God come from incidents like this; she cannot tolerate extremists enacting violence in the name of a God whom she does not believe even exists. She emphasizes the further harm it will cause, as innocent Muslims will be religiously profiled, especially those wearing visual indicators such as Mona’s headscarf.

“There was something else that troubled Peri. If every person around her had been selected so as to assemble a miniature Babel, why had she been chosen? What could Azur know about her when she had told him so little? The more she racked her brain, the more insecure she felt.”

Peri recognizes that the selection of students in Azur’s class is extremely intentional. She alludes to the Tower of Babel, which in biblical literature focuses on the existence of diverse human languages. In this reference, she acknowledges that Azur intentionally constructs diverse viewpoints in selecting his students. This makes his classroom like a mini-Babel. She wonders what her own place is and grows increasingly insecure.

“She said, ‘But we’re not philosophers. We’re undergraduates.’

‘That’s the thing. All the dons give us space—except Azur. He pushes us hard. He believes that, whatever our call in life, we must all be philosophers.’”

Ed claims that Azur changed his life, describing how the professor’s advice and belief that they must all be philosophers impacted his romantic relationship. Peri’s skepticism at Azur’s methods grows in the face of Ed’s testimony, foreshadowing how the narrative will soon shift regarding Azur and Power Dynamics in Institutional Spaces.

“In Azur’s words she found a passage out of the tiresome duality she had grown up with in the Nalbantoğlu household. Next to Azur she could embrace the many facets of who she was and still be welcomed. She did not have to suppress, control or hide any side of her.”

Azur’s classes provide Peri a much-needed respite from the conflict of her childhood because they allow her permission to exist within conflict. This is a powerful thing for Peri, who has lived her entire life in fear of either shaming her mother or disappointing her father. The acceptance that Azur offers Peri’s duality is much needed. It also sparks the infatuation Peri develops for him, as she believes he is a man who will accept her as she is.

“We’ll bring irreconcilable ideas and unlikely people together. Imagine, an Islamophobe develops a crush on a Muslim woman…or an anti-Semite becomes best friends with a Jew…on and on, until we grasp categories for what they really are: figments of our imagination. The faces we see in the mirrors are not really ours. Just reflections. We can find our true selves only in the faces of the Other.”

Azur’s perspective on the “Other” is ironic, as he attempts to dismantle categorical boundaries while he simultaneously manipulates interpersonal dynamics between his students. As he asserts here, he pairs Bruno and Mona together for an assignment in the hope that an “Islamophobe will develop a crush on a Muslim woman.” Similarly, he pushes Shirin toward a friendship with Mona, a woman with entirely opposing views, to engage with each other.

“Though she was neither brave nor eccentric, a seed of unorthodoxy had been sown in her heart somewhere along the journey of her youth, germinating unnoticed, waiting to burst through the topsoil. Nazperi Nalbantoğlu, always proper and careful and balanced, yearned to transgress, yearned to err.”

Peri is aware of her growing feelings for Azur, and though she understands they are inappropriate, a part of her desires to indulge in this inappropriateness. Shafak compares Peri’s desire to a seed geminating under the surface, waiting for the right moment to break through. She juxtaposes this against Peri’s typically balanced disposition. As the novel nears its end, this quote marks Peri beginning to subvert The Harmful Impact of Shame, Trauma, and Passivity.

“For her, it always depended on the context. Whoever was the disempowered, the disadvantaged side in a given place and time, she wanted to support them. Hence she was not categorically for anyone, save the weaker party.”

Peri refuses to take sides in Shirin or Mona’s arguments, holding onto her neutrality by citing context as all-important. Peri’s ability to take this perspective is a function of her constantly existing in conflict: She values her father’s secular outlook on life, but she has also seen value in Selma’s affinity for religion, especially when it functions as a source of strength. Peri’s ability to see both sides allows her to empathize and understand the “Other” in precisely the way Azur hopes for.

“She put so much effort into being normal that often she had no energy left to be anything else, leaving her with feelings of worthlessness.”

Although Peri’s refusal to take sides in conflicts positions her for perspective and empathy, it also leaves her exhausted. The author vividly describes how this wears her down, as she feels worthless with no additional energy to give. This leaves her with a lowered sense of self-esteem.

“‘He seems to enjoy interfering in his students’ lives.’

‘Huh,’ said Shirin. ‘How else can he teach? How do you think scholars trained their pupils throughout history? Masters and apprentices. Philosophers and their protégés. Years of hard work and discipline. But we’ve forgotten all that.’”

When Peri confronts Shirin and questions Azur’s teaching methods, Shirin fiercely defends Azur. Shirin’s assertions highlight how, despite Azur’s belief that he is doing nothing wrong in his affair with Shirin, the power dynamic is unbalanced. While Azur is not officially Shirin’s professor anymore, her attraction toward him lies in his institutional power and ability to teach, guide, and mentor her. Thus, she still considers herself his student and disciple. This further emphasizes the author’s exploration of Power Dynamics in Institutional Spaces.

“Years had to pass before she came to the realization that her passivity actively contributed to the ruination of the man she loved. When she betrayed Azur, she betrayed the truth.”

Frozen by her alternating feelings of love and loathing toward Azur, Peri walks away from the committee meeting and refuses to testify. Peri then believed that passivity was the safest option because it contributed nothing to a situation; however, she now realizes the opposite is true. Her inaction actively led to Azur’s disgrace. This marks a discernable shift in Peri’s arc regarding her previously characteristic passivity.