The Bastard of Istanbul

While family is very important in the novel, community is, too. Both Asya and Armanoush find senses of community at Café Kundera and Café Constantinople. How do these communities inform their understandings of their identities and aid them in asserting their individualities?

Barsam Tchakhmakchian grew up feeling very insecure about his darker complexion and the relative strangeness of Armenian culture in San Francisco. How might his decision to marry Rose have been influenced by a desire to conform and to seem more typically American?

On the surface, Asya and Armanoush initially seem very different from each other—Asya is free-spirited and sexually experienced, while Armanoush is virginal and obedient. How does the author develop their connection while also foreshadowing the secret connection between them?

The author describes Mustafa’s marriage to Rose as “characterized more by the solace of mutually developed habits than passionate devotion” (284). Furthermore, they have never had more children, though Rose would have liked to. Why do you think Mustafa is content in this type of marriage?

What does Baron Baghdassarian mean when he says that the “cocoon of victimhood” binds the Armenian community (263)? How might this relate to the Tchakhmakchians’ anger over Rose’s decision to marry Mustafa?

Armanoush feels stifled by her overprotective mother, Rose, while Asya longs for closeness to her mother, whom she calls “auntie.” How does the author depict motherhood throughout the novel? How is it more complex than her depictions of fatherhood, and why do you think she distinguishes motherhood?

What is the significance of Zeliha’s recurring dream about the raining cobblestones? What might the dream suggest about the true feelings that she tries to hide with airs of toughness and rebellion?

How does Grandma Shushan’s decision to abandon her husband, child, and hometown for San Francisco parallel Armanoush’s decision to leave her family and hometowns to go to Istanbul? What is similar and different about their purposes in taking these journeys?