Broken April

CHAPTERS 1-2

Reading Check

1. “[D]eath” (Chapter 1)

2. “Gjorg of the Berisha has shot Zef Kryeqyqe.” (Chapter 1)

3. To pay the blood tax (Chapter 1)

4. “The Kanun” (Chapter 2)

5. A black ribbon (Chapter 2)

6. An interpreter of the “Kanun” (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

1. The term “Kanun” refers to the customary law that Gjorg’s community abides by in Albania. The novel opens with Gjorg assassinating a man, which the “Kanun” allows for him to do as long as he follows a certain routine. For example, if the exacter of the revenge is in a state of shock, he may tell passersby to make sure that he completed the necessary postpartum rituals. (Chapter 1)

2. The term “bessa” refers to the 24-hour period of truce after a killing that may be granted by the victim’s family. In the case of Gjorg, the Kryeqyqe family grants bessa, indicating a period of “twenty-four hours without bloodshed.” (Chapter 1)

3. Following the customary law and at his father’s insistence, Gjorg attends the funeral. His attendance supports the Berisha family, and he is granted the long bessa (i.e., 30-day period), during which the family will not harm him. (Chapter 1)

4. A “trousseau bullet” is the bullet a man may carry in order to kill his bride if she tries to leave him. Gjorg reflects on this tradition, as well as his own former relationship, as he observes a bride and her wedding party along the mountainous road, making the observation that the section of the Kanun, “which was concerned with everyday living and was not drenched with blood, was inextricably bound to the bloody part, so much so that no one could really tell where one part left off and the other began.” (Chapter 2)

5. As he walks to the next village, Gjorg reflects on the history of his family’s feud with the Kryeqyqe. It began after a member of Kryeqyqe family murdered a guest of the Berisha family home, which—according to the custom—the Berisha family was obligated to avenge. As a result, and 70 years later, both families continue to seek revenge for the deaths of the other side. (Chapter 2)

6. Immediately prior to Gjorg’s attempt to fulfill the blood feud, his aunt requested a “blood settlement” with the Kryeqyqe, since Gjorg and his father are the last two men in the Berisha family. As the families were preparing to accept the unusual request, an uncle objected to the truce, and the priest remarked, “More blood must flow.” (Chapter 2)

CHAPTER 3

Reading Check

1. “tragically beautiful, or wonderfully tragic” (Chapter 3)

2. “[T]he laws of death prevail over the laws of life.” (Chapter 3)

3. “The guest, in an Albanian’s life, represents the supreme ethical category, more important than blood relations. One may pardon the man who spills the blood of one’s father or of one’s son, but never the blood of a guest.” (Chapter 3)

4. “[T]o lift the lid of the pot on the fire” (Chapter 3)

5. “If you like” (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. On a carriage ride on a honeymoon with his wife Diana, Bessian remarks on many of the same observations related to the Kanun, wedding, and blood feuds that Gjorg describes in the previous chapter; however, as an outsider, Bessian’s remarks are from a place scholarship, finding these relations to be fascinating, while Gjorg’s thoughts are from a perspective of experience and sorrow, as this world is his reality. (Chapters 2-3)

2. Bessian analyzes the unusual role of the guest under the Kanun. Guests and divinity are linked; the moment an individual dons the needs of the guest, the person is transformed into a divine being. This instant divinity mirrors the world of the Greek gods and goddesses, which often took different shapes: “Like all the gods he is an enigma, and he comes directly from the realms of destiny or fate—call it what you will. A knock at the door can bring about the survival or the extinction of whole generations.” (Chapter 3)

3. After hearing about the same boundary dispute that Gjorg learned of in the previous chapter, Bessian and Diana take a detour to watch Ali Binak preside over the dispute. On their way back to the kulla, they briefly meet Gjorg, whose presence greatly affects Diana for the remainder of the novel. (Chapter 3)

CHAPTER 4

Reading Check

1. “[S]teward of the blood” (Chapter 4)

2. He refers to her as a “witch.” (Chapter 4)

3. The journal was banned. (Chapter 4)

4. “[B]lood-sickness” (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. Mark Ukacierra is in charge of the blood tax, as well as maintaining the castle’s archives. As a result, he also differentiates between publications: “He divided them into good and bad publications: the first were those that spoke well of Orosh and the Kanun, the second those that spoke ill.” (Chapter 4)

2. The Blood Book is the written record of all the incidents of blood feuds in the High Plateau. As he reviews the quantitative data related to the feuds over the centuries, he considers the fact that if not for Gjorg’s act on March 17, this day would have been the first in the High Plateau’s region without a blood killing. (Chapter 4)

3. The two different types of blood feuds are “the ancient one rooted in history, and the new one with its vitality.” Mark concludes that these feuds have become inextricably linked: “[T]he exhaustion of the one sort had affected the other […] it was hard to understand which of the two had begun to weaken first.” (Chapter 4)

CHAPTERS 5-6

Reading Check

1. “Aprildeath” (Chapter 5)

2. A coffin (Chapter 5)

3. Strangers’ houses, or “friends of friends” (Chapter 6)

4. He “count[s] the wounds, classif[ies] them, and do[es] nothing else.” (Chapter 6)

5. The tower of refuge (Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. Gjorg spends the last days of the truce wandering through the High Plateau. During this time, he meets new people and hears different stories; however, he is always conscious that “Aprildeath” is approaching, unlike the travelers he meets. (Chapter 5)

2. On their journey, Bessian and Diana come across an old woman who is unable to finish her walk to the village. They give her a lift in their carriage, and the old woman explains that although her village is quite large, most of the families stay inside in their kullas in order to take refuge from the ensuing blood feuds, ultimately disrupting the daily life in the village. (Chapter 6)

3. Since the beginning of their trip, Bessian and Diana’s relations have become increasingly strained: Diana has retreated into a cold silence, and Bessian refuses to ask his wife why she has a change in feeling because he is “afraid” of what she might say. (Chapter 6)

4. After running into Ali Binak and his team in a small village, Diana and Bessian engage in a discussion regarding a recent case that Ali Binak has regarding a blood feud. They also discuss the necessity of a doctor on Binak’s team. The purpose of this doctor is not to medically support the victim, but rather to count the number of wounds and link it to the money owed by the debt. In this vein, the presence and location of wounds are linked to financial credit and debt amongst feuding families. (Chapter 6)

CHAPTER 7

Reading Check

1. The “direction [of] the shadow of the dead man’s head” (Chapter 7)

2. Because he wants to sell his bull before seeking refuge in the tower (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Gjorg’s bessa expires before he can reach his village, so he searches for a safe place to hide until nightfall. He finds a section of a road that is protected by the bessa and waits, with a vague hope of seeing Diana’s carriage once again. (Chapter 7)

2. After meeting a fellow Gjaks, Gjorg learns that Diana’s carriage was seen nearby. He ignores the possibility of danger and heads in the direction of her carriage; however, he is soon shot down and loses consciousness, implying that he has been killed. (Chapter 7)