The Belly Of The Atlantic Analysis

The Belly of the Atlantic by Fatuo Diome centers around what France represents to third world countries, and depicts how blindingly desperate some citizens are to improve their life by escaping to it; France is perceived by them as a paradise but as the novel progresses it becomes more evident that it’s a false promise, a land with its own problems that will not guarantee success. In the beginning of the novel Madické, the brother of the protagonist, views France as the place “where dead men sleep in palaces, [so] surely the living must be dancing in paradise” (Diome 56). Madické perceives France as paradise, a place where “your wildest dreams can come true”, believing this he spends every day improving his soccer skills to play in France (Diome 58). This naïve perception and determination demonstrates how many young third world citizens latch onto an idea and blindly cling to it despite being confronted
She begins to see France as a country with its own problems that “the third world can’t see… [because] it’s blinded by its own” (Diome 26). Even the man from Barbés, who enjoys exaggerating his story of France to Madické and his friends, admits to himself that “his flood of tales never hinted at the wretched existence he led in France” (Diome 59). The man from Barbés is just one example of the many people who know France is a lie and choose to continue to perpetuate the perspective that France is a perfect paradise. This continues the cycle of youth who would do anything to reach France, which wastes their youth on a false dream and keeps them in a state of poverty; the lie of France causes their dream becomes their greatest obstacle. France and its meaning of hope and prosperity becomes slowly degraded over the course of the novel as older and wiser characters reveal that France is not paradise, but rather a another country with its own problems that are invisible to the third