Hakkı Celis, the nephew of Naim Efendi, is a romantic, timid, and introverted young poet at the beginning of the novel, an admirer of Baudelaire and Verlaine. He is attached to Seniha with a platonic and morbid love. However, Seniha’s flight to Europe, her vulgar affair with Faik, and the general moral decay cause Hakkı Celis deep disappointment. Emerging from these crises, he gradually leaves behind poetry, individual emotions, and sick love. With the outbreak of the Çanakkale War, he discovers a love for his homeland and nation, and his individual sorrows are replaced by the suffering of society. He gradually transforms into a resolute soldier and evolves his individual idea of 'death' into a noble belief in 'martyrdom' for the sake of the country.
He is the grandson of Naim Efendi’s older sister, Selma Hanımefendi. He grew up with Seniha, but as he aged, he focused on Western literature (French poetry) and withdrew into his own inner world.
Initially a pale-skinned, light-brown/blonde-haired, thin boy with long hair. He wears poetical, dull clothing. However, after enlisting in the army, his hair is cut, his skin tans, giving him a Tatar-like appearance, and he takes on the character of a tough-faced young man in his uniform and hobnailed boots.
Seniha
After an initial chapter where he worshipped her like an idol, he experiences an emotional rupture and disgust as he witnesses her vulgarity.
Faik Bey
Despite him being his rival and an object of his hatred, he looks at the broken state of Faik Bey towards the end of the book with a strange pity.
Naim Efendi
Even though he knows he will not resemble his grandfather (great-uncle), he becomes the one who best understands his misery and nobility; he shows him compassion.