Proximity as the Indicator of Human Disconnect in Broken April Anonymous 11th Grade

Most people have a person, a set of rules, or a greater idea that suppresses them, leaving them with a feeling of entrapment. In Isamil Kadare’s Broken April this was the blood code, that left inhabitants of the High Plateau’s in Albania trapped in a century old tradition of killing, that was believed to be inescapable. Kadare additionally replicates this connection between two travelers on their honeymoon, Bessian and Diana, and uses this relationship as a reflection of the relationship between inhabitants of the High Plateau and the blood code. Ultimately, Kadare uses proximity to indicate a disconnect between Bessian and Diana and reveal the destructive nature of the blood code, to demonstrate the depressing reality of a separation between spectators and people that are directly affected by an issue.

In the beginning of Broken April, Kadare establishes the suppressing, omnipotent, unquestionable power that the tradition of the blood code has over the inhabitants of Albania. While Bessian is infatuated by the blood code, telling Diana about “The Accursed Mountains”(62), in an ominous, story-like tone. Diana tries to get involved, asking where the people were. They both peered out the window of their carriage, Bessian pointed...