Act II
Fikret signs the permits, without suspecting anything. Okçuoglu waxes lyrical on the benefits of progress and the cultivation of rice – so much more profitable than traditional crops. He omits to mention, however, that he intends also to flood the village of Sazlïdere, where the peasant farmers will have no escape from malaria. Nermin, as an absent ringleader, makes ironic comments on these fine words.
Okçuoglu summons the tenant-farmers, to take their land in exchange for their products. The only one, who dares oppose the overbearing landowner is Memed Ali,a Kurd and ex-mountain bandit. Memed accuses Okçuoglu of corrupting the officials, and declares that he will not be selling an inch of his land.
Resul is consumed by the thought that the peasants believe Irmaklï to be corrupt. Incited by the Doctor, he eventually decides to inform him of the agrarian regulations. Irmaklï is dejected and flings himself on to his bed. He falls into a heavy sleep and in a dream Nermin appears, consoles him and spurs him to fight for the law to be respected. Driven by a fresh inner strength, the Kaymakam issues new orders. To start with, he immediately leaves the comfortable house placed at his disposal by the absentee landlords, and settles instead into his office.
In the meantime Okçuoglu has flooded the village, leaving men and animals in the mire. The old lady of the community, Zeyno Karï, incites Memed to rebel. Despite his fury, the Kurd knows he has no way out if he should kill Okçuoglu. A melancholy song drifts from his hut by day and by night. In her disdain, Zeyno leads the peasants’ protest as they march, covered in mud, to the Kaymakam’s office.
Famous quotes containing the word act:
“However great a man’s fear of life, suicide remains the courageous act, the clear- headed act of a mathematician. The suicide has judged by the laws of chance—so many odds against one that to live will be more miserable than to die. His sense of mathematics is greater than his sense of survival.”
—Graham Greene (1904–1991)