Sweetness in the Belly Literary Elements

Fiction Literature, Novel.

The settings of the novel include Great Britain, Morocco, Ethiopia, England, London, and Middle East in the 21st century. The story has been written in the context of propagating Islamic culture and civilization.

The narrator of the novel is Lilly and the story has been narrated from her point of view.

Optimistic, Determined, Solemn, Tolerant, Fore-bearing, Positive.

The protagonist of the novel is Lilly, who converted to Islam and started teaching the Holy book of the Muslims but after Ethiopian revolution, she moved back to London. She started social work after returning to London.

The major conflict in the novel in between Lilly and her society, She considers herself an alien in the western society because of the religious differences and she does not feel at home even in Ethiopia because of her identity as a foreigner. So, the major conflict that is evident in the novel is the conflict of identity.

The climax in the story comes when Lilly's parents are murdered in a journey in Bilal al Habash.

Muhammad Bruce's kindness towards Lilly foreshadows Lilly's firm faith in Islam and Muslims.

The understatement in the novel is the propagation of Islamic teachings of kindness, generosity, empathy and chastity. Another understatement is the religious enlightenment. Lilly survived the worst periods of her life with patience because of her firm faith and by practicing the teachings of Islam.

There are allusions to orphan, Ethiopian revolution, religious transformation, Sufism, journey towards self-awareness and homelessness employed by the author.

There are images of violence, identity struggle, homelessness, murder, death, persecution, chaos, revolution, love, chastity, Islamic civilization, kindness and breakup in the book.

The paradox in the story is that Lilly's parents were Muslims but they were not practicing Muslims. They did not look after their only child and ostracized her. Another paradox in the story is that although Lilly was a new convert to Islam but it could be deduce from her values that she was not like her parents. She was a practicing Muslim. She abide by all the teachings of Islam and helps others in every possible way. There is also a paradox in the way Lilly is raised by Muhammad Bruce. She was neglected by her actual parents but the adopted parents cared for her and look after her like their own child.

There is a parallelism between the struggles of both Lilly and Aziz. Both are foreigners in an Islamic world and they are Muslims by birth. Lilly struggles because of her whiteness and Aziz tries to resolve her inner conflict because of being black.

An example of metonymy is Lilly, who represents all the people who were not Muslims by birth and who converted to Islam and embarked on a journey towards self awareness nad religious enlightenment.

Religious values, Violence and Faith have been personified in the novel.