For Whom the Belle Tolls
59 pages • 1-hour read
Jaysea LynnFor Whom the Belle Tolls
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section includes discussion of child abuse (including child sexual abuse), and sexual abuse.
Romance Novels
Romance novels are a key symbol in the narrative, speaking to The Experience of Religious Trauma and Healing. For most of the narrative, Lily’s romance novels are indicative of her sexual fantasies and longing for love, and she is pleased when Bel expresses an interest in borrowing the books in her Paradise and reading them. Bel’s interest in Lily’s favorites is indicative of his attentiveness and willingness to be intimately knowledgeable about her, which in turn reflects the depth of their romantic connection. The romance novels also function as a meta-textual element, as For Whom the Belle Tolls is a work of romantasy that utilizes some of the tropes and conventions of the romance genre, such as love-at-first-sight. In depicting Lily as a romance reader herself, the narrative playfully draws attention to itself as a similar work.
The novels, however, also have another important connotation: Lily later reveals that romance novels helped her after she endured a sexual assault and faced rejection by her church community in her teens. The romance books helped the mortal Lily learn more about sex and consent, enabling her to combat the sexist teachings of shame and “purity” that had dominated her childhood and youth in her Evangelical community. In getting to explore sex in a safe, controlled way through the pages of her romance books, Lily began to find ways to heal and express herself sexually. The fact that romance novels appear in her Paradise speaks to their continuing importance in her understanding of love and sex, even in the Afterlife.
Tattoos
Tattoos are a recurring symbol in the narrative and sometimes speak to The Supportive Dynamics of a Chosen Family. For both Lily and Bel, tattoos are an integral part of their physical appearances and are representative of their identity. In Lily’s case, her tattoos reflect her love of fantasy-genre literature, her favorite songs, and curated images of lilies and a serpent. The tattoos she has that refer to Tolkien’s works also remind her of how she bonded with her father over their shared love of reading.
In Bel’s case, not much is known about the reasoning for his ear tattoo beyond that he considers it precious. The two tattoos he gets at the end of the narrative, however, are symbolic gestures to reaffirm the core of his personhood and declare his love for Lily. He gets a lily tattoo on his hand, which echoes Lily’s own lily tattoo and attests to his newfound family and his experience in the war: The tattoo is “a lily like the ones they’d laid on the battlefield. The flower and the bud. Lily and Sharkie. Parent and child. In honor and in remembrance” (595). His tattoo of his new motto, “Vires Per Intellectu” is a reflection of the journey he’s undertaken to feel secure both in his position as prince and son of Samael. Its placement, on the other hand, is indicative of the intimate nature of such a declaration, one he will ostensibly only share with Lily, as he had only her in mind when he had it tattooed on his lower stomach.
Pinky Promises
Pinky promises are a motif that speak to The Supportive Dynamics of a Chosen Family and The Experience of Religious Trauma and Healing. Originally a Japanese type of solemn vow called “yubikiri,” wherein a participant’s pinky would be cut if they failed to fulfill their part of the vow, pinky promises are now a gesture of trust and agreement upon a given promise. In the context of For Whom the Belle Tolls, pinky promises are symbolic of Sharkie’s traumatic childhood and her fragile desire to place trust in a guardian again. As every adult in Sharkie’s life has disappointed, abandoned, betrayed, used, and/or abused her, her encounter with Lily and the other entities of the Afterlife is fraught with well-founded fear, anxiety, and mistrust. Lily’s offer of a pinky promise, however, which serves to dispel these feelings and acts as a symbol of safety because, as Lily explains to her, “a pinkie [sic] promise is sacred. It’s unbreakable” (165). As their encounter and relationship progresses, the pinky promise becomes a sign of assurance for Sharkie, as Lily has given her ample precedent to demonstrate that her word (and pinky promises) holds true.
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