The devil inside us, authored by: Sabah al-Din Ali

The events of the novel "The Devil Inside Us," by the Turkish poet and novelist the late Sabahuddin Ali, revolve around a love story between two different characters struggling to stay alive. The writer uses dialogue and internal conversations of the characters, along with psychological analysis, to explain emotions and feelings. The protagonist, "Omar," constantly questions himself and desire, to find solutions to events and failure, and believes that the problems are caused by the devil inside him. Omar coincidentally meets "Magda," and feels that she is his dream girl, and discovers that she is his relative who came to Istanbul to improve her living conditions. "Magda" is a beautiful girl talented in playing music, and she is studying at the music institute. Omar studies and works, but he does not complete anything he starts, as he always acts impulsively, and his emotions fade and end quickly. On the other side of the novel, published in 1940, the story of "Badr" with "Magda" represents the other face of emotion, as this emotion does not ignite between them and ends quickly, but grows slowly over time, as he was captivated by her talent and dedication, even though what drew their attention to the privacy of what unites them came from the narrow school community that feared the teacher's proximity to the student. On the sidelines of "Magda's" story, which begins with "Badr" and ends with him, passing through a short story with "Omar," we read the story of the cashier who was forced to embezzle due to a relative, then turned to "Omar" to find a solution, but "Omar" exploited him in turn, took his money, and pushed him to escape justice. In this simple plot, which occurs on the margins of the novel, its message can be tested beyond love, as the devil inside us is the response to fears instead of confronting them. The devil is not only embodied in desires, but also in the absence of resistance to them and in succumbing to them, and thus the characters are crushed by the mill of remorse, along with the logic of life, which is fueled by an eternal conflict between the angel and the devil. This intense conflict within the characters of the novel gives it its distinction and makes it a text that can be read at any time. Sabahuddin Ali is considered one of the most prominent Turkish writers. He was born in 1907 in Bulgaria. Novelist Sabahuddin was arrested in 1948 due to some of his writings and imprisoned for three months. Because he was under constant surveillance, he wanted to escape outside Turkey, and according to information about the author in the book, it is said that he was killed while trying to cross the border.