The Carriage as an Indicator of False Fairytale’s in Broken April Anonymous 11th Grade

The carriage is elegant, decadent, and a true symbol of luxury and privilege. The carriage blocks out its surroundings as it is the main focus, and things around it seem minute. It is elevated, allowing the passengers to peer through the windows, observing the surrounding environment, while highlighting the sense of superiority that it evokes. The carriage mimics the ivory tower in which Bessian and Diana sit in as they overlook and try to examine the tradition of the High Plateau. In Broken April, Ismail Kadare creates a strong connection between Bessian, who represents individuals of privilege and power, and the carriage, which supports and elevates the privilege, in order to condemn the notion of superiority that the carriage gives its passengers and expose the harsh reality that despite materialistic items all individuals are equal.

At the start of the book, Kadare uses the carriage to establish the disparity between those of privilege and those of the High Plateau, in order to reveal how privilege blinds individuals from understanding a foreign tradition. Before introducing Bessian and Diana, Kadare describes the carriage as being a very elegant vehicle, draped in “black velvet”(61), and rolling “along on that rather poor...