What it means to be a tree

              It is extremely interesting to me that the chapters are told from different points of view.  The reader is constantly intrigued by the mystery.  One of the characters I find most interesting is the tree, or, more specifically, a drawing of a tree. Being a part of the picture would have meant a lot to this tree, but it was lost to the gazes of men who might not be able to appreciate it.  At the end of the chapter narrated by the tree it says "I don't want to be a tree, I want to be its meaning" (Pamuk 51).  That reminded me of how a drawing of a tree on paper is almost ironic, since paper is made out of trees.  The meaning behind a tree is that the story of a tree is on a tree and made by it.  This theory was also explored in the picture that influenced Enishte Effendi, in which the painting was the story.  The artist's life was making this painting, so instead of telling a story it was the story.
             Another point of view was the Jewess Esther.  She introduced a concept that made me think, which is that letters hold more information than just what is written.  Anyone can read a letter and see the apparent meaning, what is clear that one person is trying to communicate, but the subtle communications take a special kind of reader to fully understand.  The way that the letter was folded told a whole story to Esther that no one else would be able to read.  This of course makes the book very self aware, because the way the story is being told says as much to a reader as the words on the page.  There is constant confusion due to the lack of information given about each narrator.