Draft:Atau Kere (Novel)

• Comment: Sorry for the previous comment. Infoboxes are not required and you are under no obligation to add one. asilvering (talk) 13:05, 21 November 2024 (UTC)

• Comment: Add a infobox and find some reliable sources. Royiswariii Talk! 05:22, 21 November 2024 (UTC)

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“Atau kere” is the novel written in 1989 by Oralkhan Bokeev, who was a Kazakh writer, journalist and playwright.

Characters

Erik is the protagonist. He formed a belief that everything can be bought, therefore started to chase wealth. In such a pursuit, he started using Tagan’s condition to achieve his own goals and stopped paying attention to Aina and his mother.

Aina is Erik’s wife. Pure-souled woman, who has an innocent and sensitive attitude. After finishing her studies in Almaty, marries Erik, despite an absence of feeling of trust towards her husband.

Tagan is considered as a contradictory character. Once an influential and educated person, he falls into the cage of alcohol addiction. However, in spite of his addiction, his personality did not experience even a bit of change.

Nurke is Erik’s mother. After getting married to Erik’s father, started to show loyalty towards her husband’s religion, despite being Russian: before getting both of her legs paralyzed, has not missed a single prayer.

Plot

Erik owns a large beekeeping business. He is the only child of Qandauyr and a Russian woman named Nyura. Erik’s father, Qandauyr, passed away when Erik was a child. His mother, Nyura, gets paralyzed, therefore requires help from her son and his wife, Aina. The story begins with the main character’s annual journey to the Bek-alqa, which is located in the East Kazakhstan region, along the Bukhtarma and Katon-Karagay rivers. The reason for his annual visits to the Bek-alqa village is to deliver and receive payment of the honey he has gathered over the year to a saleswoman named Bekzat, and return home. During one such visit, Erik unexpectedly encounters Tagan, a former classmate, who had fallen in the cage of alcoholism. Erik only recognizes him after Tagan calls out, “Hey, Qarabauyr”. Seeing the condition of a previously educated and sensible schoolmate, Erik ponders using him as a “beast of burden” and decides to take Tagan along, planning to exploit him by giving him alcohol and using him as a “slave”.

Home of Erik’s family is located near the Qatyn Su, where Aina looks after the household, and takes care of Nyura, her paralyzed mother-in-law. One day, while drinking tea with Nyura, Aina hears disturbing sounds – the livestock appears disturbed. Nervously, Aina grabs a rifle and goes outside, only to encounter a bear standing upright and roaring by a pine tree. In fear, she drops the rifle. The bear, described by the author as intelligent, sees Aina and leaves with its cubs. She comes back and tells her mother-in-law about the bear, and, in turn, Nyura explains that Altai bears do not pose a danger to humans unless provoked. Then, the old woman shares her life story, recounting the experienced challenges: her mother poisoning herself to avoid capture during the 1917 conflict between the Whites and the Reds, the famine of 1921, and the cruel times she encountered during World War II. Despite being Russian, Nyura fully immersed herself into the culture of Kazakhs, wearing traditional Kazakh clothing. Moreover, her father-in-law, who had been on a pilgrimage to Mecca, taught her the religion of Islam and its traditions.

Author moves to 1956, when geneticist W. Kerr introduced African bees to Europe and crossbred them with local species. The hybrid bees were not physically different, but appeared highly diligent and extremely aggressive when threatened, attacking in groups. These “killer bees” earned their name due to their dangerous venom, which caused multiple deaths worldwide. Stunned by their hardworking peculiarity, Erik decided to acquire those bees through his connections for his beekeeping business. However, a tragic moment of this novel occurs when bees escape their apiary and sting Nyura. The bee venom spreads throughout her body, causing her death. Prior to her death, Nuyra drinks the atau kere – water that is drunk by a dying person. Erik’s covetousness for money cost him his only mother’s life. After Nyura’s funeral along the banks of the Qatyn Su, strongly attached to her mother-in-law, Aina attempts to drown herself in the river. However, Tagan saves her, and elopes with her.

Meanwhile, Erik develops a love interest who lives on the opposite side of the Qatyn Su. While sitting by the river and looking at her, Erik prays to God to turn him into a bee in order to be able to reach her. However, his wish is twisted and he turns into a gadfly instead. After finally reaching the girl in his new form, she whacks him dead, and his body falls lifeless to the ground.

Main idea

“Atau kere” is one of the great novels that clearly showcased human’s objectives and development patterns and its problems. Mother Nature is a separate power and world, therefore it has its own way of development and harmony – this is the key message Oralkhan Bokeev wanted to convey through his novel. The main idea of this work is the moral nature of humanity and actions of individuals in a “mystery” world they have created. Generally, each character of this novel represents different characteristics, actions and spiritual values, reflecting the relationship between Mother Nature and human existence.