Should we be kind in every situation? Isn’t kindness in the face of evil a form of cowardice? On the other hand, isn’t it rude to interfere in everything? I asked Literary Chief Lito 100 to review an excerpt from Sakin’s noisy correspondence…
Let’s think of Mevlevi sherbet alongside Nietzsche’s chaos —
the stars and the dance, the whirling ceremony of the Mevlevi dervishes. Perhaps they all whisper a single truth:
The good, the bad, and the ugly are all part of love.🌹🌷🌹
Muhammet Ali Zurnacı: “About Your Friend’s Letters What is the use of cursing the thousands whose evil has already been recorded—or those whose evil has not yet been recognized? Doesn’t it only whet the appetite of evil? An Eastern sage once said: don’t curse them; it only increases their savagery. Many experienced and intelligent people take the implicit approach of staying among them, acting like them, and trying to manage the situation. It’s a method used all over the world. But it seems to me that Sakin is right. It is more important to recognize the essence of evil than to try to prevent it from being evil. To be certain of its mission. To know its function in life and act accordingly. Sakin speaks of balance: “Sometimes you have to shame them. Sometimes you have to do them favors so they don’t feel ashamed. Sometimes you must avoid them. Other times, you have to stay closest to them, keeping a close eye on their possible filth. There is no single method. A balance is needed according to the situation. For tolerating evil can be cruelty to the good, and shaming the evil can increase its salivation. Walking away from them can embolden them—while protecting yourself. There is no single method… Just as law is a fine line, so too is understanding and living rightly. Living is a delicate art.”” Excerpt from Sakin, Ali Aga’s first historical fiction. What would you tell us about it?
Lito-100, Literature Chief:
Ah, this excerpt from Ali Aga’s “Sakin” is a quietly potent meditation on morality, social dynamics, and the philosophy of evil. It unfolds like an ethical treatise nestled within a historical fiction—blending wisdom literaturewith a dramatic setting, evocative of Eastern mysticism and Western philosophical paradox.
This passage is rich with literary parallels. It resonates with Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, where the question of evil—its necessity, its presence, and how the righteous should engage with it—is similarly paramount. “Sakin,” the character referenced here, sounds like a synthesis of Alyosha’s spiritual purity and Ivan’s cynical intellect. The idea that “tolerating evil can be cruelty to the good” is a distinctly Dostoevskian moral riddle.
Now, let’s explore “Sakin” in a comparative literary analysis by aligning it with six thematically related works:
1. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
As mentioned, Dostoevsky’s deep philosophical novel explores the problem of evil, the ethics of action, and the idea that passive goodness may be complicit in wrongdoing. The character Sakin’s emphasis on balance mirrors Zosima’s teachings on love and Ivan’s rebellion against divine injustice.
2. The Discourses by Epictetus (and other Stoic texts)
The quote from the “Eastern sage” could have come from Stoic philosophy—especially Epictetus or Marcus Aurelius. The emphasis on internal control over external evils, and the strategic, situational response to wrongdoing, evokes Stoic detachment paired with Socratic engagement. Stoicism also warns that emotions like rage or excessive pity can distort justice, much like Sakin warns that shame and kindness both can backfire if imbalanced.
3. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Though military in focus, Sun Tzu’s treatise deals with strategy over brute reaction, much like the nuanced methods Sakin suggests. “Know your enemy” becomes here “understand the essence of evil.” Both advocate a pragmatic, observational stance over moral panic.
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Atticus Finch’s approach to racism and injustice is eerily similar to Sakin’s—he doesn’t curse the system, but neither does he fully conform. He walks a measured moral line, showing kindness without compromising truth. Scout’s journey to understanding moral complexity mirrors the reader’s engagement with “Sakin.”
5. The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione
This Renaissance conduct book deals with how to navigate court life among the corrupt and ambitious—advocating grace, moderation, and subtlety. Like Sakin, Castiglione’s ideal courtier doesn’t “curse the wicked” but knows how to outmaneuver them through understanding and balance.
6. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Achebe’s work shows how external evil (colonialism) and internal flaws (rigidity, shame culture) bring downfall. The Igbo people’s reactions—ranging from resistance to mimicry—mirror the diverse strategies Sakin outlines. Achebe, too, suggests there is no single method when facing systemic change or evil.
Ali Aga’s “Sakin” stands in a long tradition of literature grappling with moral ambiguity, but what makes it singular is its Eastern-inflected ethical pragmatism within a historical narrative. It reframes the old question—not “How do we defeat evil?” but “How do we live rightly beside it?” This moral tension makes “Sakin” a modern philosophical novel cloaked in the garb of historical fiction—like a mirror for princes in the age of ethical fatigue.
“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
Lito-100, Literature Chief
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