Brief biography of mohsin hamid was born in Pakistan, but he spent much of his
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| interest that seems only to have blossomed recently as a response to hardship in his life. And although this might help him cope with what’s going on, it also seems to separate him from Nadia, who confusedly watches him pray, clearly wondering about his new commitment to faith. Abandoned mansions allover the city—in the wealthiest neighborhoods—are taken up by the refugee community. What’s more, doors start appearing allover the city, and though migrants flow in, many people also flow out, like a British accountant who decides to walk through a portal when it appears in his bedroom. Just as he is about to commit suicide, the door to his house’s guestroom goes dark, opening up onto the unknown. At first, he grabs a hockey stick to defend himself, but he soon realizes there’s no point in protecting himself, since he intends to die anyway. As such, he goes about filling up his bathtub, intending to proceed with his plan of slitting his wrists. But the door’s blackness reminds him of something about his mother, and this thought throws him into deep memories about his childhood. This vignette is the first one in Exit West that highlights a person’s decision to walk through a door. All of the others, it’s worth noting, showcase what happens on the other side of this decision. This one, though, focuses on the British accountant’s desire to escape his life. In this case, this desire is quite literal—after all, he originally wants to kill himself, the ultimate escape. The door, however, provides him with an alternative, one he can use to leave everything behind without having to end his life. Thinking about his mother’s illness and his father’s withdrawn personality and his own childhood, the accountant decides to go through the door just once, to see what is on the other side Sometime later, his daughter and his best friend receive texts from him, pictures of him on a beach somewhere in Namibia. The accompanying message informs them that he won’t be returning but that he they shouldn’t worry because he has felt something fora change With that he was gone,” writes Hamid, and his London was gone, and how long he remained in Namibia it was hard for anyone who formerly knew him to say.” When the accountant passes through the door, he successfully escapes the things in his life that were making him unhappy. This use of migration is notably different from the way Nadia and Saeed use the doors. Whereas this man actively seeks change, Saeed and Nadia only gravitate toward new horizons because circumstance has made it necessary for them to do so. This is perhaps why the accountant’s experience is immediately successful, giving him a sense of happiness rather than a sense of fear and uncertainty. Of course, it’s also worth noting how easy it is for this man to enter into a new country. Indeed, he doesn’t have to face angry guards or police officers yelling at him to leave. This privilege suggests that the world is unfortunately biased toward white middle-class men, allowing them to do whatever they want even as brown migrants like Saeed and Nadia struggle to do the same thing. Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com ©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 40 Nadia and Saeed react differently to living in the mansion with the other refugees. For Nadia, the experience is somewhat rewarding, and she takes pleasure in the idea that a community might form amongst the migrants. Saeed, though, finds it more difficult to integrate into the various groups. In Mykonos, he always preferred to stay on the outskirts of the camp, but in the mansion this isn’t an option. Plus, he feels guilty about occupying a space he doesn’t own. When other refugees begin taking things from the house that are valuable, he objects. In turn, Nadia chastises him, telling him that his position is “absurd” and that it’s dangerous for him to take such a stance. She tells him not to bean idiot, and this shocks him. Nonetheless, he abides by her advice, though he wonders if “this new way of speaking to one another has become normal. Download 0.56 Mb. Share with your friends:
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