Forgotten Fire Analysis

One of the first things we learn about Vahan is the following: I was born in Bitlis, a province of Turkey, at the base of the Musguneyi Mountains of the east. It was a beautiful city. (1.1) Note th...

This is Vahan's story, so it makes sense that he's telling it to us—directly. This means we get to know him really well, plus we experience all the ups and downs (okay—mostly downs) right along...

So you're not up to snuff on what went down in the Armenian genocide? Worry not—this book will solve that problem in no time. From start to finish, this story is driven by the Turkish-Armenian wa...

If you guessed that a book about genocide, rape, and war isn't all candy hearts and sunny skies, then you're right. We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but this novel is no picnic—a key part o...

Our author sure isn't trying to hide anything, and with his straightforward sentences, it's pretty clear that he really wants us to understand what he's trying to say. Since he's writing about some...

We've got lots to say about fire, Shmoopsters, so before we go any further, we'd like to kindly ask you to hop on over to the "Symbols" section and read up on it over there. We promise it will help...

"Who does now remember the Armenians?" Adolf Hitler, 1939 in support of his argument that the world would soon forget the extermination of people. Is Hitler right? (There's a question we'd never th...

They say home is where the heart is, and for Vahan, that's with his family—so though he thinks that once he gets to Constantinople everything will be all right, it's simply not the case. The horr...

Trust us: this story does not earn a three because of its language, its length, or the complexity of its storyline. "Well, what else is there?" you're probably be asking. Though it may appear simpl...

Home is Where the Heart Is Meet Vahan Kenderian, a happy twelve-year-old Armenian kid who lives a comfortable life with his family in Bitlis. He's got all the makings of a happy kid. Community resp...

Author Adam Bagdasarian got the idea for Forgotten Fire from his great-uncle, Vahridj Kenderian. Sound familiar? Vahridj was alive during the Armenian genocide and inspired the story. (Source.) If...

There are no steamy sex scenes in this novel, so why the "PG-13" rating? Well, there's one obvious reason: Forgotten Fire is about Armenian genocide, and this means it's also a tale about rape. It'...

Adolf Hitler (Epigraph)The Armenian Genocide (Throughout)World War I