Rise the Euphrates
| Author | Carol Edgarian |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Random House |
|
Publication date
|
1994 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 370 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 28710755 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3555.D464 R57 1994 |
Rise the Euphrates is a novel by Carol Edgarian. It concerns three generations of Armenian American women living in Memorial, Connecticut during the twentieth century. Rather than focus on a central character, the book contains the story of three generations: the grandmother Casard, her daughter Araxie, and granddaughter, Seta. The struggles faced by each woman show the enduring effects of the Armenian genocide which occurred in 1915 at the hands of the Young Turks. A major theme in both Edgarian’s work and Armenian-American literature is the ability to reconcile the genocide, lost identity, and displacement of the past to life in present-day America. In Rise the Euphrates, this reconciliation is symbolized in the recovering of Casard’s lost name, Garod.
Rise the Euphrates begins with Casard’s story. At the time of the genocide, Casard is ten and still goes by her original Armenian name Garod. In Armenian, “Garod” means yearning which is what Casard does the rest of her life: yearn for an Armenia which no longer exists. Casard’s mother’s name is Seta, the same name given to Casard’s granddaughter.
The Turks invaded Garod’s town of Harput, murdering the men and raping many women and girls. Among those to escape rape and death, Garod and her mother Seta are driven out of town into the desert. After walking for two weeks without water or food, the caravan reaches the Euphrates River. The river lies in front of the caravan, and a band of murdering Turks emerges from behind, forcing a choice; death by drowning or death by Turkish sword. Seta takes Garod’s hand and prepares to jump into the Euphrates. At the last second, Garod remains on the bank and watches her mother drown. Turning around, Garod sees the band of Turks departing. Garod then wanders in the desert for several days, forgetting her name in the process. Later, under the care of nuns, Garod is given the name Cafard, which is a French word meaning melancholy of the soul. She eventually emigrates to the United States. At Ellis Island, immigration officials hear her name as Casard. While at Ellis Island, Casard meets, and after an afternoon of courtship, marries her husband Vrej; another exiled Armenian. Casard and Vrej had one daughter, Araxie.
Araxie grows up and marries an odar, a non Armenian husband, named George Loon. George and Araxie have three children, Van, Seta, and Melanie. When Seta is born, Casard takes Seta into her arms and whispers her story of the genocide. Casard then tells Seta that her task is to recover Casard’s forgotten name. Araxie was also given the task to find Casard’s name. However, one generation removed from the genocide has left Araxie near Casard’s pain to achieve the type of reconciliation Seta is capable of.
...
Wikipedia