66 pages • 2 hours read
Broken April
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BetaChapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Gjorg Berisha, a young man living in the remote High Plateau of Albania, sets out at dusk, rifle in hand, seeking revenge for his brother’s death. He plans to kill Zef Kryeqyqe, a man from another family in the same village. Night creeps in, and Gjorg contemplates what his fate will be and if he will be successful in his pursuit. Six months prior, he failed to kill Zef, wounding him in the neck instead. Gjorg searches. He finds Zef again and takes aim. Before firing, Gjorg calms himself, hoping he won’t make the same mistake as last time: “Please not a wound this time, Gjorg said to himself in a kind of prayer. His family had had great trouble paying the fine for the first wound, and a second fine would ruin them. But there was no penalty for death” (8). Gjorg warns Zef before he fires, honoring the ancient set of laws practiced on the High Plateau, the Kanun. He shoots, killing Zef.
Gjorg places Zef on his back and puts his rifle near his head, an honorable death according to their Code. The deed done, Gjorg sprints down the road, away from Zef’s body. He encounters a group of people and is forthcoming about having just killed a man. He asks the travelers to please make sure the dead man is placed correctly. The fighting between the Berisha and Kryeqyqe families, commonly referred to as a blood feud, is legal on the High Plateau, but it must be performed in a specific way.
Before night completely takes hold, Gjorg reaches his family’s stone hut, or kulla. He tells them what happened, and the family reports the killing to the rest of the village. Zef’s body is retrieved and given to the Kryeqyqes. Since Zef was killed in accordance with the Kanun, the Kryeqyqes grant Gjorg the bessa: a 24-hour truce during which they pledge not to hurt him. At the encouragement of his father, Gjorg reluctantly joins the funeral procession for Zef. He stays for their funeral dinner and is quiet and cordial. Because all the traditions of the Kanun continue to be honored, Gjorg is granted the long bessa, a 30-day extension of the truce. Gjorg doesn’t know what he’ll do in that time. First, he must journey to the town of Orosh to pay a death tax for killing Zef.
Chapter 2 Summary
Gjorg sets out for Orosh. A heavy mist engulfs the countryside, and he traverses the murky landscape. He passes a caravan carrying newlyweds and remembers when he was arranged to be married, but his fiancé died from illness before the ceremony. Thinking about it now, Gjorg feels relieved: “perhaps it was better for her that she had gone first to where he would soon overtake her, rather than to have before her a long life as a widow” (27). Gjorg treks along, observing the landscape, noting many dwellings untouched by the blood feud that encompasses so many families in the region. The Berishas themselves were once free from any blood feuds. Seventy years ago, however, a stranger visited the Berisha family. After he spent the night with them, when the stranger went to leave town, a Kryeqyqe shot and killed him. House guests are revered on the High Plateau. Because the stranger was technically still under the care of the Berishas, a blood feud began.
The rain picks up, and Gjorg seeks refuge at an inn. Shortly after, a group of men enters the inn as well, including Ali Binak, a famous interpreter of the Kanun. Gjorg wonders what dispute Ali and his colleagues have come to solve, but he resumes his journey to Orosh before finding out. On the road again, he sees a ruined house. Examining it closer, he reasons that the house was destroyed because its inhabitants disobeyed the Kanun. Other nearby houses also lay in ruin. Gjorg can only imagine what misdeeds caused the whole village to be punished. The site of the dead village oppresses Gjorg, and he quickens his pace: “Gjorg noticed that as the penalties came thronging to his imagination, he walked faster, as if he wanted to escape them” (44). He never wanted to kill Zef, but he fears the punishment and dishonor that comes from disobeying the Kanun even more.
The day drags on endlessly. Gjorg’s journey to Orosh feels hopeless. Finally, he arrives. He goes to a castle, or kulla, called Orok. There, he can pay the death tax for killing Zef. He is led to a waiting area, where he finds other men waiting to pay the death tax. Gjorg may end up waiting several days before officials call on him to pay his tax. He observes the other men, knowing they carry similar stories to his own. Slowly, they share their tales with one another. They ponder how they’ll spend the time afforded to them during their long bessas. A fire is lit in the room, but Gjorg feels no warmth. He waits, and another man enters the room and joins the line to pay the death tax.
Chapters 1-2 Analysis
The first two chapters of Broken April introduce Gjorg, one of the primary protagonists of the story, and immediately throws him into turmoil. By the second page, Gjorg shoots and kills Zef. Placing this action so early in the story creates a sense of urgency, quickening the pace of the narrative and serving as a powerful inciting incident to grab the reader’s attention. At the same time, Gjorg’s reaction to killing Zef reveals the type of person he is. Approaching Zef’s body, Gjorg displays empathy: “Gjorg bent down and laid his hand on the man’s shoulder, as if to wake him. ‘What am I doing?’ he said to himself. He gripped the dead man’s shoulder again, as if he wanted to bring him back to life” (8-9). Gjorg takes no pleasure in killing another man. His only reason for shooting Zef is to honor the traditions he’s been raised in. Showing Gjorg’s empathy and sensitivity helps him become a protagonist and not a villain.
The peculiar world of the story is also established: the High Plateau of Albania, and the set of laws that govern it, the Kanun. Quickly, the rural mountain culture proves to be a place that functions unlike many contemporary societies. Murder is legal, so long as it’s done in a certain way and a tax is paid. Two words, “custom” and “rules,” appear regularly throughout the prose to help explain behavior that might feel foreign to most readers. Why, after killing a man, would someone lay them on their back and place their rifle by their head? They do so because it’s following the rules of the Kanun. Additionally, Kadare chooses not to establish an exact time period for the story, giving the world a timeless quality. Horse-drawn carriages are used instead of cars, but many scenes read as if they could take place in a rural mountainous setting today. Published in 1979, the story presumably takes place sometime before then. However, some families are still affected by blood feuds today. The lack of a specific time period allows the story to feel more relatable to the current moment.
Within the first two chapters, the tone takes shape, and the themes emerge. Kadare sets the opening at dusk and lets darkness take over as the scene unfolds. Doing so creates drama and paints an ominous tone. When Gjorg attends Zef’s funeral soon after, the ceremony likewise contributes to a dark mood. Gjorg sees mourners “clawing their faces and tearing their hair according to the custom” (14). Imagery such as this establishes Broken April as a dramatic tale, filled with murder, darkness, and despair. Similarly, the drama is fueled by the Kanun and the blood feud. Through Gjorg’s storyline, Kadare injects critical analysis of the blood feud. When Gjorg recalls how his family’s blood feud began, Kadare writes: “Forty-four graves had been dug since then, and who knows how many are to come, and all because of the knocking at the gate on that autumn night” (33). The number is striking. In Broken April, murder is normalized, and therefore drama unfolds, and Kadare lays the groundwork to build his critique of those traditions.
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