Brief biography of mohsin hamid was born in Pakistan, but he spent much of his
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| Nadia and Saeed’s precarious position between authoritative guards and a sinister group of fellow refugees is a perfect representation of their overall struggle to exist in the crossfire of governments and dangerous citizens. In the same way that they had to navigate the dangers of living in a city plagued by violence between the government and a group of radical militants, now they must steel themselves against guards and other refugees. Their placement in the middle of these two groups symbolizes the fact that they now exist in a state of constant uncertainty, teetering on a border while trying to deal with the danger surrounding them on all sides. As spring arrives in Mykonos, Nadia and Saeed visit a health clinic in town, where a nineteen-year-old volunteer cleans and dresses Nadia’s arm wound, though she has no official medical training. As she does so, she and Nadia start talking and ultimately form a connection. The volunteer says she’d like to help the couple, asking what she can do, and Saeed and Nadia tell her they want away off the island. Not long thereafter, after Nadia visits the clinic to smoke joints with the girl on a daily basis, the volunteer takes them to a house with a door. Wishing them good luck, she hugs Nadia, who squeezes her tightly. To Saeed’s surprise, the girl’s eyes are teary as she whispers something into Nadia’s ear. Their hug lasts longer than expected, and then Nadia and Saeed step through the door. This volunteer is the first compassionate person Saeed and Nadia meet in their travels. Her commitment to helping the young couple exemplifies the kind of empathy and ability to connect across cultural boundaries that Hamid clearly believes the world should adopt as a whole. And the fact that Nadia and this girl become fast friends who spend time together on such a regular basis suggests that forming cross-cultural relationships is not as hard as people might otherwise think—a notion that ultimately helps readers envision a more unified world. Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com ©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 38 CHAPTER 7 Saeed and Nadia fight their way into a beautiful bedroom with a dazzling view of the city skyline at night. Outside, they see perfectly maintained white houses and blossomed cherry trees. Certain they’re in a lush hotel, they walk into a hallway and then down an impressive staircase, finding their way to a kitchen with almost no food in it. Turning on a TV, they discover they’re in London, though they still don’t understand what kind of building they’re in. Before long, a man comes into the kitchen looking just as lost as they are before wandering away again. By the following evening, more and more migrants come downstairs from the same room through which Nadia and Saeed entered. Most of them are from Nigeria, though there are also people from Somalia and the borderlands between Myanmar and Thailand.” Once again, Saeed and Nadia are struck by the uncertainty that comes along with migration and escape. Having left Mykonos behind, they’re now forced to reacquaint themselves with a foreign environment, though this one is markedly different from the refugee camp they occupied in Greece. Indeed, they are perhaps shocked by the opulence into which they’ve been thrust, since both their home city and Mykonos provided them only with dismal living conditions. Having crossed yet another border, they must acclimate to a radically unfamiliar scenario. Responding to this onslaught of new arrivals, Saeed and Nadia claim a bedroom on the first floor with a balcony from which they can jump into the backyard’s garden if they ever need to escape. They determine that they’re not in hotel, but in a large, empty mansion. Delighting in the luxurious bedroom, Nadia takes along shower, cleaning herself under the firm water pressure. Bathing like this makes her feel renewed, as if she’s returning to herself, but when she goes to put on her clothes again, she can’t bear to wear the filthy robes, so she washes them in the bathtub. What the hell are you doing Saeed says after pounding on the door, which Nadia realizes she locked. He angrily reminds her that this isn’t their house and complains about how long she’s taking. I need five more minutes she says. I have to wash my clothes.” Download 0.56 Mb. Share with your friends:
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