I Shall Not Hate Literary Elements

Autobiography, Realist Palestinian Literature

The setting of the novel is 21st Century Palestine and Israel. Most the events of the book are set in Gaza while at the end of the book, the narrator moves to Europe.The story has been written in the context of Israel and Palestinian conflict.

The narrator of the book is Izzeldin Abuelaish, who is a Palestinian doctor and the story has been narrated from his point of view.

Optimistic, Pensive, Retrospective.

The protagonist of the book is Dr. Izzeldin who saves the Jewish people despite of their hatred against the Palestinians while the antagonist in the story is the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. The enmity between the two nations was deteriorating the very base of the society.

The major conflict in the book is between Israel and Palestine. The Jews occupied Palestine and obliterated the houses of Palestinians thus enforcing them to live as refugees. Despite of the atrocities of the Jews, the Palestinian like Dr. Izzeldin propagated love and peace.

The climax in the story comes when three of the daughters of Dr. Izzeldin's daughters were killed by the Jews.

The occupation of Palestine foreshadows the deaths and sufferings of Palestinians.

The understatement in the book is that the Jews and Palestinians can live in harmony with one another. As they were living peacefully before the conflict between two nations, they are still capable to cooperating and adoring the opposite nation.

There are allusions to Israel and Palestinian conflict, death, hatred, atrocities, injustice, child birth, love, peace and harmony.

There are images of wounded Palestinians, dead bodies, bomb blasts, hospital, destroyed homes, refugees, cramped conditions of poverty, horrendous effects of war, child birth and struggles of Palestinians.

There is a paradox in the life of the protagonist of this novel. He spent his whole life in promulgating love and in healing both Palestinians and Israelis but three of his daughters were murdered by Israelis. Even after their deaths, he withstood the atrocities which his daughter went through, with a well-preserved sense of humanity and sanity. He didn’t halt the peace process despite of the horrendous tragedy that his family faced at the hands of Israelis. Another paradox in the book is that Dr. Izzeldin, who is a Palestinian, helps the Jewish mothers in delivering their babies, who would grow up and kill the Palestinians.

There is a parallelism between the lives of Israelis and the deaths of Palestinians. As the new Israelis were born, the Palestinians were dying. As the Israelis were settling in their homes, the Palestinians were moving out of their homes. With the healing of Israelis, the Palestinians were getting wounded.

An example metonymy is the life in Gaza which stands for the unbearable conditions throughout the Palestine. An example of synecdoche is the 'borders of Israel' and 'Israeli Army' which represents the nation of Israel and their brutal actions.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been personified in the book.