Yusuf Character Analysis in The Island of Missing Trees

Yusuf, along with his partner, Yiorgos, runs The Happy Fig, the tavern where Defne and Kostas meet in secret to maintain their relationship in the face of rising cross-cultural tension in Cyprus. Yusuf and Yiorgos are also in a relationship, which they keep secret due to hostility toward gay people in Cyprus. Yusuf and Yiorgos out of their way to protect Defne and Kostas, even risking their lives to protect Defne when a group of men show up to The Happy Fig when Defne is scheduled to have an abortion. As a result, the novel portrays Yusuf and Yiorgos as examples of the kind of solidarity that all people should strive for. They actively work against the prejudices different people have toward different groups in Cyprus, and they’re even willing to risk their lives to protect the people they care about. After Yusuf and Yiorgos disappear, Defne gives birth to a son, Yusuf Yiorgos, named after Yusuf and Yiorgos.

Yusuf Quotes in The Island of Missing Trees

The The Island of Missing Trees quotes below are all either spoken by Yusuf or refer to Yusuf. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Sooner or later, this old, dilapidated well on that lonely, beautiful island at the far end of the Mediterranean Sea will collapse in on itself and its secret will rise to the surface, as every secret is bound to do in the end.

Related Characters: The Fig Tree (speaker), Yiorgos, Yusuf

Page Number and Citation: 5

Explanation and Analysis:

Yusuf Character Timeline in The Island of Missing Trees

The timeline below shows where the character Yusuf appears in The Island of Missing Trees. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Solidarity, Tribalism, and Political Division Theme Icon

...with “Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Maronites, UN soldiers and visitors,” and it’s run by Yiorgos and Yusuf, a Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot, respectively. Yusuf speaks with a stutter. Yiorgos shows Kostas... (full context)

...Kostas walks into the bar. Yiorgos wipes glasses behind the counter. He tells Kostas that Yusuf is watering the plants and that he sings to them too. “And he chats to... (full context)

...sad anniversary, one that marked the day that two of her closest friends, Yiorgos and Yusuf, went missing. When Defne hugged Ada, Ada smelled alcohol on her mother. In the kitchen,... (full context)

...On that same day, Kostas goes to The Happy Fig but can’t find Yiorgos or Yusuf at first. He eventually sees them on the patio, but before Kostas calls out to... (full context)

The fig tree remembers a gift Yusuf gave Yiorgos for one of his birthdays, a pocket watch with Y&Y engraved on the... (full context)

Nature and Interconnectedness Theme Icon

...she caught fire. Everyone was in shock, and no one noticed right away. But then Yusuf ran toward the tree. Yiorgos joined him, and the two carried buckets of water from... (full context)

...out of her house and go to The Happy Fig to check on Yiorgos and Yusuf. When she arrives, they tell her that they’re not going to reopen. It’s too dangerous,... (full context)

...tries everything he can think of to reach Defne. At first, he reaches Yiorgos and Yusuf, but then they strangely stop responding. Finally, Kostas gets ahold of Meryem. On the phone,... (full context)

...and in ruins for ages. Kostas tells Defne he repeatedly tried to contact Yiorgos and Yusuf from England. Yiorgos’s family told Kostas that he died, and he was never able to... (full context)

...wants to continue the work at the CMP at least until they find Yiorgos and Yusuf. She says that Meryem wants her to visit a psychic to help find information about... (full context)

...infants buried there too. The butterfly perched on a grave that read “In Memory of Yusuf Yiorgos Robinson” with dates from January 1975 to July 1976. The fig tree says it... (full context)

Yusuf and Yiorgos offer to help as soon as Defne asks. They push three tables together... (full context)

...the day Defne is set to have an abortion, she hears a commotion outside after Yusuf and Yiorgos go to check to see what the men at the door want. A... (full context)

Defne never sees Yusuf or Yiorgos again. After that, she decides that she’ll have the baby no matter what.... (full context)

...and decided to fly away through an open window. He made it to Nicosia, where Yusuf found him. After Yusuf and Yiorgos disappeared, Chico grew depressed. He told the fig tree... (full context)

...in a well. The queen also tells the tree that the bodies of Yiorgos and Yusuf were in that well. The fig tree grows despondent. In her desolation, she falls prey... (full context)

...before. Eleni then handed Defne a pocket watch, which Defne recognized as the birthday present Yusuf had once given to Yiorgos. (full context)

Yusuf Character Analysis

Yusuf Quotes in The Island of Missing Trees

Prologue: Island Quotes

Yusuf Character Timeline in The Island of Missing Trees