Sweetness in the Belly
Thesis: Throughout the novel Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb, racism is a prominent occurrence that oppresses all of the major characters. Each aspect that makes up the story demonstrates how there is always a way to overcome oppression of racism.
Setting: Background: Emperor Haile Selassie was born in 1892, and became the 225th Emperor of Ethiopia, as well as the last. He became king in 1928 and two years later he became Emperor.
The setting of the novel occurs in Harar, Ethiopia. Sweetness in the Belly goes back and forth in time. The story goes as far back in time as 1970 and the present tense goes through 1980 until 1991. The reason the novel has this time frame is because it is the historical time of when Emperor Haile Selassie reigned in Ethiopia. Many Ethiopians were subjected to cruel torture and even death simply because of their race. Many were imprisoned, like Amina's husband. 1974 was the year that the Ethiopian Revolution started and that is the time when the people strike back against the racist oppression. Both Aziz and Hussein make it out of Ethiopia after being imprisoned. Both Amina and Lilly overcame the torture and racism caused by setting because they were able to escape and flee to London, England.
Thesis: Throughout the novel Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb, racism is a prominent occurrence that oppresses all of the major characters. Each aspect that makes up the story demonstrates how there is always a way to overcome oppression of racism.
Setting: Background: Emperor Haile Selassie was born in 1892, and became the 225th Emperor of Ethiopia, as well as the last. He became king in 1928 and two years later he became Emperor.
The setting of the novel occurs in Harar, Ethiopia. Sweetness in the Belly goes back and forth in time. The story goes as far back in time as 1970 and the present tense goes through 1980 until 1991. The reason the novel has this time frame is because it is the historical time of when Emperor Haile Selassie reigned in Ethiopia. Many Ethiopians were subjected to cruel torture and even death simply because of their race. Many were imprisoned, like Amina's husband. 1974 was the year that the Ethiopian Revolution started and that is the time when the people strike back against the racist oppression. Both Aziz and Hussein make it out of Ethiopia after being imprisoned. Both Amina and Lilly overcame the torture and racism caused by setting because they were able to escape and flee to London, England.
Thesis: Racism in the novel What We All Long For by Dionne Brand, affects many minor characters and provides them with many challenges, but through their challenges the major characters grow and develop.
Argument 2:
"Tuan used to be a civil engineer in Vietnam, Cam, a doctor. When they arrived in the promised land, the authorities would not ratify their professional documents, and Cam became a manicurist in a beauty salon near Chinatown while Tuan unloaded fruit and other produce from trucks to the back of stores in Spadina" (Brand 65).
Tuyen's parents were very skilled and had promising professions in Vietnam but when they immigrated to Canada the officials would not allow them to remain in the same profession. Cam cannot be a doctor because doctors are highly respected and she is just Vietnamese. Still today it is almost expected for manicure salons to be run by Chinese or Vietnamese people, so in a sense Cam was forced into a sterotypical profession when she came to Canada. They may not have all the education needed to be a civil engineer or doctor in Canada but they weren't even offered the chance to further education. This racism affects Tuyen because when their new culture is racist against her parents she is forcefully bound to the same fate, because she descends from her parents. Tuyen does not let that overcome her, after all she was born in Canada and was raised in Canadian culture so she has the ability to not let racism define her if she fights hard to become the person she wants to be.
Argument 3:
"Oku could not bear to think his name or say it. The German boyfriend, or cruelly, "Nazy Boy," was how he referred to him." (Brand 71).
Argument 2:
"Tuan used to be a civil engineer in Vietnam, Cam, a doctor. When they arrived in the promised land, the authorities would not ratify their professional documents, and Cam became a manicurist in a beauty salon near Chinatown while Tuan unloaded fruit and other produce from trucks to the back of stores in Spadina" (Brand 65).
Tuyen's parents were very skilled and had promising professions in Vietnam but when they immigrated to Canada the officials would not allow them to remain in the same profession. Cam cannot be a doctor because doctors are highly respected and she is just Vietnamese. Still today it is almost expected for manicure salons to be run by Chinese or Vietnamese people, so in a sense Cam was forced into a sterotypical profession when she came to Canada. They may not have all the education needed to be a civil engineer or doctor in Canada but they weren't even offered the chance to further education. This racism affects Tuyen because when their new culture is racist against her parents she is forcefully bound to the same fate, because she descends from her parents. Tuyen does not let that overcome her, after all she was born in Canada and was raised in Canadian culture so she has the ability to not let racism define her if she fights hard to become the person she wants to be.
Argument 3:
"Oku could not bear to think his name or say it. The German boyfriend, or cruelly, "Nazy Boy," was how he referred to him." (Brand 71).