As the Red Carnation Fades is the story of a young female lecturer of Turkish literature who struggles as a woman and as a mother to stake out her own claims to life. Following the military coup of 1980, martial law was established in Turkey and universities became hotbeds of dissent. The narrator becomes caught up in the political upheaval, as she is a lecturer who refuses to compromise her intellectual integrity and dedication to teaching debate amidst the anti-Leftist movement at the time. Ultimately she must choose either to conform or to stand tall.