This text has been automatically translated from Turkish. Show Original
'I found a permanent culprit for these kinds of words and actions that I didn't really know whether I wanted or not, but claimed that I didn't want them if the consequences came against me: I called this the devil inside me, I blamed all my actions on him that I was afraid to defend, and instead of spitting in my own face, I was a victim of injustice and a twist of chance. Like an oppressed person, I considered myself worthy of compassion and care. However, what a devil, my dear, what a devil? This is a fabrication of our pride and stupidity... The devil within us is a not-so-subtle way of escape... There is no devil within us... There is the helpless among us... There is laziness... Lack of will, ignorance, and something more scary than all of these: the truth. There is a habit of avoiding seeing...' In this novel, Sabahattin Ali shows the pressure of the social agenda on personalities and the 'trappedness' of the weak person. A sharp look at the darkness of those who pretend to be intellectuals and the 'demon within man'.