The White Castle

The White Castle is a historical novel by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. First published in Turkish in 1985 and in English in 1990, the story is told via flashback from the present day to the seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire, where the narrator—a young Italian academic—becomes a slave to a Turkish scholar named Hoja, to whom he bears a striking resemblance. Over the course of the novel, the two grapple with issues of identity, the struggle for knowledge, and what it truly means to be free.

The story opens in the mid-1980s. A historian named Faruk DarvinoÄŸlu informs the reader how he came to discover the tale to follow. While searching through the governor's archive in the Turkish city of Istanbul, he happens upon the manuscript, which, by virtue of its bold narrative voice, immediately captures his attention. He tries to source the story and verify the existence of the author and the events chronicled in the manuscript. His investigation leads him to an author in Italy, but the search ends there. He decides that this story must be told, and he publishes the manuscript.

Shifting back in time to the seventeenth century, the narrator, a learned young man from a well-off family, travels from Venice to Naples. Out of a dense fog emerges a Turkish fleet that overtakes the Italian vessel. As the Turks capture his fellow passengers, the narrator, in a desperate attempt to curry favor and hopefully receive lenient treatment, lies and tells them he is a doctor. However, this does not stop the Turks from enslaving him.



After his capture, the narrator goes before the pasha, one of the leaders of the Turkish fleet. The pasha suffers from shortness of breath, and the narrator cures him. This allows the narrator some privileges, even though he remains a slave.

One of those privileges is to work on the plans for the fireworks display to take place at the wedding of the pasha's son. During this experience, the narrator meets Hoja, who could be his doppelganger. Hoja becomes his master, and the two organize a gala fireworks show, much to the pleasure of the pasha.

After the success of the wedding, the pasha offers the narrator his freedom, but, in exchange, the narrator, must convert to Islam. The narrator refuses. The pasha stages a phony execution to try to scare the narrator into converting, but it doesn't work. Impressed by the narrator's conviction and stubbornness, the pasha returns him to Hoja.



Hoja is not a particularly merciful master. He is, by turns, brutal, rapacious for knowledge, and ruthlessly ambitious. As they prepare the fireworks display, the narrator impresses Hoja with his knowledge of Western subjects, and, afterward, Hoja continues learning from the narrator about astronomy. Hoja, hoping to become court astrologer, then amazes the sultan with what the narrator taught him.

Between his bouts of aggression, Hoja takes an interest in the narrator's past, and they discuss the chains of events that led them to this particular time and place. This prompts some deep reflection and introspection on the part of each man as they try to see their own part in the hand fate has dealt them. The narrator has no issue doing this, but, for Hoja, it is challenging. Selfish and bombastic, reflection is not his strong suit. So, he lashes out at the narrator, pointing out that he—Hoja—is the narrator's superior…which is really the only argument he has.

Then, a plague breaks out. It terrifies the narrator, and Hoja mocks and torments him for it. At one point, it appears as if the plague claims Hoja's life, and the narrator takes the opportunity to flee. But Hoja remains alive and tracks him down, recapturing him. Despite his cruelty, Hoja continues to want to learn more about the narrator's past.



The plague stops its murderous course. The sultan appoints Hoja court astrologer, but once at court, Hoja's ambitions intensify. He now wants to impress the royal family even more, so when the sultan asks Hoja and the narrator to form a new, modern weapon to revolutionize the Turkish military, Hoja agrees.

For the next six years, the two work on this weapon. Working side by side, the narrator grows unsettled by how interested Hoja is in him and how much Hoja knows about the narrator's life. Hoja can also imitate him and take on his behaviors and mannerisms, leading the narrator to feel he has lost his identity to his master.

Finally, they complete the weapon. The Turkish military uses it on a siege in Edirne, where they plan to take back control of the city's white castle from the Polish troops. However, the epic new weapon fails, so much so that the Poles have time to call in ample reinforcements.



Hoja quickly decides to flee the violence. He and the narrator change clothes, and Hoja assumes the narrator's identity, allowing the narrator to assume his. The sultan rescues the slave, now Hoja, and returns him to court, where he resumes the role of astrologer. After the dethroning of the sultan, the slave achieves his freedom and becomes a writer. He wonders whatever became of his old master, who vanished into the fog at Edirne all those years ago.