I Saw Ramallah Literary Elements

Palestinian Literature, Autobiography, Personal Memoir.

The setting of the novel is Palestine, Egypt and Cairo after the invasion of Palestine by Israel. The book has been written in the context six day war, the displacement of Palestinians and the atrocities committed by the Zionists.

The narrator of the book is a Palestinian who was living his life in exile. The book has been written from a first-person point of view I.e. the author's point of view.

Nostalgic, Solemn, Grave, Resistive, Mournful, Lamenting.

The protagonist of the book is a Palestinian man Mourid who had been living his life in exile and, after returning his home, he realizes that everything has been changed there. The antagonists in the novel are the Zionists who invaded the Palestinian land and displaced the Arab Muslims from their homeland.

The major conflict in the novel is between the Palestinians and the Zionists who inflicted violence upon the Palestinians after invading their homeland. Another conflict in the novel is between Mourid and his past.

The climax in the book comes when Mourid plans to go back to his country during intifada.

When Mourid was not allowed to return to his country, it foreshadowed the devastation of his home. The title of the book also foreshadows that Ramallah no longer exists.

The understatement in the novel is the brutality of Israel and the nostalgia of Palestinians.

There are allusions to Intifada, invasion of Palestine, deprivation of land, displacement of the Palestinians, life in exile, trauma of exilic life and dispersion, Zionist violence, resistance of Palestinians, maternal love, yearnings for home, homelessness, identity conflict, the evils of war and memories of home.

There are images of displacement and dispersion. The author has portrayed how the Palestinians are denied access to their own homes. There are images of violence and slaughtering of Palestinians by the Zionists. The book also conveys the imagery of the life in exile and the traumatic effects of war on human beings. The author has demonstrated the pathetic condition of a displaced nation and the sufferings of Palestinians owing to the invasion of their homeland by the Zionists.

The paradox in the story is that Mourid belonged to Palestine but he was not allowed to return to his country. When the six day war began, he tried to go back to Ramallah to meet his family and to help his people but the paradox is that he wasn't given the permission to go back to his own home. Another paradox in the story is that the Zionists displaced Palestinians to build homes for themselves.

There is a parallelism between the displacement of Palestinians and the rehabilitation of the Zionists. Another parallelism has been drawn between the devastation of Ramallah and the death of Mourid's dreams to do something for his homeland. When he returned after thirty years, he realized that he cannot do enough to save or rebuild his home.

An example of metonymy is Mourid who represents all the Palestinians who are living their lives in exile while an example of synecdoche is Ramallah which stands for the devastation of Palestine.

Home, the past, and memories have been personified.