Arabesques Literary Elements

Arabesques Literary Elements

Genre

Fantasy

Setting and Context

The action is set during present time, but there is no setting mentioned.

Narrator and Point of View

The action is told from the perspective of a third-person subjective point of view.

Tone and Mood

The tone and mood are neutral.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is Alia Shammas and the antagonist is her husband.

Major Conflict

The major conflict is between guilt and redemption.

Climax

The story reaches its climax when Alia Shammas' mother dies.

Foreshadowing

The narrator mentions at the beginning of the story that Alia Shammas was abandoned by her husband. This foreshadows later instances in which other partners will abandon Alia Shammas.

Understatement

At the beginning of the novel, the narrator describes the characters as not being religious at all and as not being interested in religious matters. This however proves to be an understatement towards the middle of the novel when the main character's daughter wants to marry a Muslim man and the parents refuse to allow her to do it simply because the man does not have the religion they want.

Allusions

One of the main allusions we find here is the idea that it is ok for men to cheat on their wives but it is not ok for wives to be unfaithful.

Imagery

One of the most important images appears in the middle of the novel when the narrator describes Anton writing alone in his room. This image is an important one because it transmits the idea that in order to be able to create art, one must make great sacrifices.

Paradox

One of the main paradoxical ideas is that the main character is still willing to forgive her husband even after he abandoned her and their children.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The term grass is used in the novel as a general term to make reference to the idea of the connection a person has with nature.

Personification

We have a personification in the line "the streets were lined with judging trees whispering as she passed them by".

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