Category: Exit West

Nothing But Animals: An Exit West Analysis

On By Elijah MIn Binaries, Empathy, Exit West, MigrationLeave a comment

 “She felt fear, a basic, animal fear, terror, and thought that anything could happen”

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

In his novel Exit West, Mohsin Hamid uses vignettes to display the effects of the migration through the eyes of different people across the world. Unpacking these vignettes is always a pleasure to do in class as they always bring us as readers closer to the story, immersing us into the world.

In one of his vignettes following a woman facing the effects of the greater world migration in her home country of Vienna, Hamid conveys the theme of people exhibiting reactions of nativism, and activism in response to the civil unrest. Hamid does this through displaying the native peoples of Vienna reverting to a sense of comfort in power dynamics, inevitably losing their humanity, with the woman displaying courage, and hope, actively protesting the invasion of the militants and supporting the migrants. Hamid conveys this distinction metaphorically through an an extended metaphor of animals representing nativism. 

In lines 34-35, upon entering a train on her way to protest, she’s met with hostility from other citizens she considers family due to their shared nationality. “She boarded the train and found herself surrounded by men who looked like her brother and her cousins and her father and her uncles, except that they were angry, they were furious, and they were staring at her and at her badges with undisguised hostility, and the rancour of perceived betrayal, and they started to shout at her, and push her, that she felt fear, a basic, animal fear.” Here Hamid points out their animal like behaviors of the men on the train towards the Woman, showing how the civil unrest in the country has caused them to lose their humanity, attacking one of their own for advocating and maintaining humanity towards the migrants.

In lines 40-44 of the vignette, we see the Woman going to begin her journey to protest the militants occupying her country, going towards a zoo to do so “She gathered her courage, and she began to walk, and not in the direction of her apartment, her lovely apartment with its view of the river, but in the other direction, the direction of the zoo, where she had been intending to go from the outset, and where she would still go.” The choice of the location where she protests being a zoo, alludes to the overall inhuman actions of both the militants Viennas citizens toward both the Woman attempting to support those seeking asylum in the country.

Exit West: Fantasy and Immigration

On By Bella M.In Exit WestLeave a comment

‘Exit West’ is a story based in an alternate reality filled with teleportation doors, a fantasy like concept that the story doesn’t focus too heavily on (as to not drown the rest of the story and its meaning). However unlike most other immigration based stories, which typically focus on the journey of immigration and its hardships, ‘Exit West’ doesn’t do that and is more concerned about the struggles and hardships that come after arriving. The doors play into the quick transition by removing the need for a long winded explanation of the travels of the main pair and other immigrants. The concept of magical teleportation doors could be a concept used in an apocalypse, and indirectly makes commentary on the bizarre sentiment of a mass immigration. The book comments on it by creating a reality where no major consequences are caused by the large number of immigrating people, at most there was discourse among the ‘natives’ and the immigrants, there was no war as some people would like to suggest and the doors are even used by people who wouldn’t usually be considered “immigrants” by the western idea of the term.

‘Exit West‘ is a story of immigrant accented by a fantastical idea and the interesting “romance” between two violently different people and their story of love and suffering.

Change Never Stops

On By OLIVIA T.In Exit WestLeave a comment

Exit West, by Moshin Hamid, is a story about doors opening around the world that can transport a person from one country to another. This phenomenon creates a migration apocalypse. Many people are moving to new countries which creates a lot of changing cultures and music. There is an old woman in Palo Alto who decides to stay in her childhood home as everyone else is moving. Even though she has decided to stay everything around her is changing, making her feel like a migrant in the only place she has ever lived. This Palo Alto Passage presents the theme of uncontrollable change. Everyone will experience change no matter if you migrate or not, and that change is unable to be stopped. Focusing on sentimental values and building community can make a healthy change. While focusing on monetary values will make the change bad.

Exit West and Focusing on the Why of Immigration

On By Jhaden J.In Exit West, Power of Stories/Storytelling2 Comments

The story Exit West by Mohsin Hamid helps imagine a reality where the how of migration is not the focal point of immigration but instead something that just happens, something where anyone could walk through a door and instantly be in a new country. This idea Hamid constructs his book around, these passages being reduced to walking through a door, helps to focus on what was happening that made it necessary for someone to leave their homes in the first place. That idea he invokes helps to restore humanity into these characters while reading, in contrast of the real world where stories of immigration focus on the how instead of the why, stripping humanity away from the people who partake in this journey. Often, this dehumanizing makes it easy to alienate but Hamid challenges that idea throughout the whole book and through his characters of Saeed and Nadia. As Saeed and Nadia go through change with each journey they take through the doorways, we see that migration is normal and identities can alter as a result. Though it is easy to other when looking at the journey of someone else, one you may not be able to relate to, we are all migrators as the world and people around us shift and change as well.

Exit West and Don’t Turn Back

On By Nate HIn Exit West, Uncategorized1 Comment

In the novel Exit West, Mohsin Hamid writes a beautiful story regarding the migrant experience. The aspect of the story that struck me the most, however, was the emphasis on time and, more specifically, how to deal with the past. Throughout the novel, Saeed and Nadia frequently move from one place to the next, often in horrible conditions. Yet, despite all odds, they are able to move on and start their own lives without getting caught up in the past. I believe this is because they take the following approach: accept the past for what it is, value the aspects of it that deserve to be valued, and acknowledge that the past cannot be changed so it is best not to hurt yourself worrying over it.

The first significant move was Saeed and Nadia moving from their home country. That was a huge decision to make, especially for Saeed. They both had to leave behind their homes in which they had spent and dedicated their whole lives. Saeed even left his father, who had refused to go with them. They were able to cope with this traumatic departure by understanding that they had no choice but to leave, and still value the time they had in the country. Specifically for Saeed, he maintained his religious practice of prayer that was taught to him by his family, which allowed him to feel connected to his home even if it was in the past.

In my opinion, the novel’s most significant life development was Saaed and Nadia moving away from each other. I, being a rather nostalgic person, had trouble understanding how two people who cared for each other and went through so much together could possibly let go of each other. I realized, upon reflection, that if Saeed and Nadia had tried to cling to the past and stay together, it would have only been harmful. Splitting up was by no means easy for them, but it was the best for each of them so they could develop as a person and move on with their life.

I learned that, although there is value to the past, you can’t expect to live in the past and still successfully move on into your future. The more time you spend looking back at the events of your past unnecessarily, the more time you waste in which you could be growing as a person.

Exit West and the End of Borders

On By Daniel KIn Exit WestLeave a comment

Mohsin Hamid’s novel Exit West tells a story about our world if random doors became portals to other random locations on Earth. People in the novel begin using the doors to escape their own countries in fear of war, poverty, or various other real-world issues that people emigrate from. First world countries such as the United States and England receive an influx of refugees from the portal doors, and respond harshly to this immigration. Efforts are made to forcefully remove the migrants from their shelters, and nativist militias organize and begin attacking the migrants. However, shortly after the conflict escalates to violence, it ends as neither side wished to cause any bloodshed, or do evil things. The world governments organized the construction of new cities specifically designed for the new presence of migrants.

This idea of borders disappearing is something I have thought about before. We are currently in an age of increased global connection, and especially with the creation of the internet and instant international messaging, the separation between nations is gradually decreasing. Immigration has also increased, and many nations are becoming more diverse. But global connection is not without hindrance. Events like rising nationalism in the US and the European reactions to refugees from the Middle East cast doubt on the possibility of a world without borders. I personally believe that too many people are rooted into their nationalist beliefs of their countries, and that if a scenario similar to the one presented in Exit West were to occur in reality, there would not be a peaceful conclusion to the conflict. Sadly, I think humanity has a far way to go before a border-less world can be accepted by many.

The Takeaway from Exit West

On By Isaac T.In Exit WestLeave a comment

In the novel, “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid, the novel posits that people immigrate to other countries to find better opportunities. Early in the novel, the people who go through the door follow the narrative of refugees in search of safety. As we see with Nadia and Saeed, life in their hometown becomes dangerous, without freedom, privacy, or financial opportunities. Furthermore, Exit West questions what it means to belong somewhere and suggests that country of origin only plays a small role in a rapidly globalizing world. Nadia has never felt a sense of “home” when being in her country. This embodies this philosophy in her ability to find friends in all the places she travels. She doesn’t value nationality because she associates her home country with the representation of her childhood. On the other hand, Saeed stays close to people from his country.

Exit West: Why Magical Realism?

On By Maya SIn Exit West, MigrationLeave a comment

Exit West is a novel full of complexities and commentary on migration, relationships, death, war, loss, and the evolutions of our identities over time. What one has to wonder, amid all these layers, is why Hamid chose magical realism as the framework through which to tell this story. Arguably, he could have written a realistic fiction novel that could tell a distinctly similar narrative–or at least communicate the same themes–without the use of magical doors.

I would claim, however, that magical realism is a critical part of Hamid’s story. Through the clearly fantastical element of the doors, Hamid creates a world that is just removed enough from our reality for him to comment on modern society while maintaining a certain distance from it. It’s not hard to draw connections between Saeed and Nadia’s story and real-world debates around immigration, international tensions, racism, and xenophobia. Hamid does not try to hide those themes, but he also doesn’t comment on them directly. He creates this world that is almost ours, but with the distinct difference of the doors, in order to explore these ideas in a more theoretical context. Exit West is the story of our world, if something were to happen tomorrow that destroyed our notion of nations and borders as we know them. That theoretical gives Hamid room to explore vast societal issues without directly commenting on any current events. It allows him to create a vividly relevant novel without referencing any specific real-world events, which both makes his commentary more powerful–as it can stand on its own, without the need for outside context–and helps the reader maintain a Nabokov-style impersonal imagination throughout the story.

Why Saeed and Nadia Were Never Going to Work Out

On By Grace H.In Exit West2 Comments

At the beginning of Exit West, Nadia and Saeed were able to grow their relationship organically. They saw each other when desired and gave each other space when appropriate. However, when war tore apart their country they were forced to live together and then escape their home country together. While this living situation was manageable in the beginning, the lack of personal growth opportunities created an environment of mutual hatred.

This environment of mutual hatred between Nadia and Saeed is not just a problem among them, within the circumstances any “couple” would fall to the same demise. Being forced to live within the same quarters, without the space a blossoming couple needs, is detrimental. Nadia and Saeed were not afforded the ideal situation to grow. Nadia was thrown into the mix with the passing of Saeed’s mother and was almost “adopted” by Saeed’s father. This inadequate situation forced Nadia and Saeed to deal with circumstances a relationship of much longer length would have difficulties navigating. Their fresh relationship was not built for this complicated environment.

With this in mind, it only makes sense that both Nadia and Saeed would grow resentful of each other for the situation that was almost forced upon them. Such complexities only stunted their growth as individuals and a couple, proving the impossible nature of their relationship. In the end, it was bound that their romantic, and even platonic relationship, would fizzle out.

The Prolonged Ending

On By JOHN VIn Exit WestLeave a comment

During the final pages of Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, We learn that the two main characters, Saeed and Nadia, end their relationship. Saeed and Nadia met in their home country while there was a relative sense of peace. As their relationship progressed the world around them seemed to deteriorate as militants slowly took over their city. The state continued to worsen until Saeed and Nadia decided to leave the country together leaving behind everything in their old lives including their families. Saeed and Nadia travel the world looking for a place to call home using mysterious portals called “doors”.

Saeed and Nadia’s relationship is more than just any romantic relationship. Their relationship represents their old way of life. When they leave their home country the only thing they have from their old life is each other. After their time in their country ends their relationship begins to end because they grow further apart from each other. The more distant they get from their old home, the more distant they get from each other. This is why Saeed and Nadia’s relationship represents their old lives and it was destined to end once they left their home.

The Happy Sad Ending

On By SAMUEL LUBINUSIn Exit WestLeave a comment

Exit West follows the journey of two lovers, Nadia and Saeed, trying to escape their war-torn home country. While they do this, they go through many struggles as a couple. They go from being two heads of the same coin to struggling to be together, to completely going two separate ways. Most people would consider this to be a very said ending. Two people that seemed like they were meant for each other, only to end up leaving each other forever. However, this is ending is the exact opposite. It is in fact, a very happy ending for both of them.

Their relationship was a part of their old life. A life filled with struggles and war. Throughout the entire book, both characters have been trying to leave behind their old lives to peruse something better. That relationship that they had is a part of their old life. Once they can go their separate ways, that is them finally leaving the last part of their old lives to peruse something better in their new home.

Story split in two

On By Matthias M.In Exit West1 Comment

The story of Exit West was one of the most interesting that I have read, as it was both an introduction into the genre of realistic fantasy and also that it seemed to so perfectly reflect life in ways that many other books fail to accomplish. In reading the last few pages of the book we learn that Nadia and Saeed drift apart and eventually become their own people and normally this would be considered a sad ending as the two lovers split apart and go separate ways but I think the way the book it written it is all about finding your own way in order to live a life that is best for you. This relates to the even bigger theme around the book which is migration and that is isn’t alway about the story but rather what you do with your life. As Nadia and Saeed separate they become more and more themselves discovering what it is they really want to do and how they want to live their lives, this relates to that topic of migration as while the story of the people is relevant it is less about that and more about the fact that as people they want to start a life where they are that is not home but rather that they are in a new place and would like for that to be a new life. While sometimes migration is about escaping the old it is also about starting new and why would you leave somewhere just to live the same life twice?

Two Stories in One

On By NZUBE N.In Exit West1 Comment

While reading the story, it came to my attention that in the text, Hamid develops two stories at the same time. He builds the story of immigrants’ journey from their old country to new, as well as a love story between two people that were seemingly perfect for each other. From the beginning, the reader follows the story of people trying to escape from their destroyed native land, while having to make difficult choices like leaving behind family. Saeed has to leave his family behind, and pursue a place that is best for him and his values. He and Nadia encounter multiple different living situations after leaving home. They keep searching until they find a place where they are comfortable. These are the usual events of a classic immigrant story.

In addition, from the beginning of the story, Hamid builds the relationship between Nadia and Saeed, to form a love story that seems to be like every other. The two stay with each other through multiple obstacles, while exploring themselves to find what they really want from life. However, this generic love story takes an unexpected turn when Nadia and Saeed begin to grow apart. Even after everything they had been through, the decided it was best to go their separate ways since they were looking for different things in a relationship. This turn transformed a generic love story into an intriguing and unfamiliar one.

The fact that Hamid was able to merge these two great stories into one, shows just how skilled he is in writing. This, combined with his unorthodox sentence style, keeps the reader engaged throughout the book. It also exemplifies the intricacies of being an immigrant, such as how much their life changes in such a short period of time.

What is Trust?

On By Zoe K.In Exit WestLeave a comment

“I feel lost inside myself”

Trust holds much meaning. To feel trust towards someone is almost akin to feeling love. The movie “Trust” is an exemplary example of this comparison. To feel lost in life, but to then find someone who shares that same sense of hopelessness, a partner with whom you can put your trust in. Maria and Matthew are both lost; they don’t share the same predicament, only the feelings that result from them. When they find one another, it seems like they won’t work at first, like they are both too “broken” to balance each other out. However, exactly the opposite occurs. The two people that feel as if they are in an inescapable, sorrowful pit of despair find someone who feels the exact same way, making them feel less alone.

“People do strange things sometimes, when they feel hopeless”

The movie is one big trick. Once Maria and Matthew realize the mutual benefits they provide to one another, it is too late. They found each other at the right moment, but it wasn’t meant to last. From the very beginning, their outlooks on life differed too much, their values clash. They bonded over their shared anguish and desperation towards themselves and their lives, but that is all it was meant to be.

How do you know if you are compatible as lovers

On By Clark T.In Exit WestLeave a comment

Throughout the book Exit West, we see Nadia and Saeed grow together throughout their very long and tiring journey. They start at square one and from there slowly build their relationship as they continue forward. They face many hardships and many challenges along the way yet they always make sure that they stay together. Even though they stayed lovers throughout the whole journey in the end they still only ended up being friends. Their relationship was never built around love but rather the idea that they felt they had to stay together to survive. In the story, it was said, “But while fear was part of what kept them together for those first few months in Marin, more powerful than fear was the desire that each see the other find firmer footing before they let go, and thus in the end their relationship did in some senses come to resemble that of siblings, in that friendship was its strongest element, and unlike many passions, theirs managed to cool slowly, without curdling into its reverse, anger, except intermittently¨(204). The elements of the relationship were more of a best friend or sibling type of correlation and really never resembled lovers. What interests me is why they didn´t realize this earlier. From the start of the book, you could tell that some of their morals and beliefs were different and I think that is what really separates people, is the things that they believe in and have passion for. I think that this can have a big correlation to society now. So many people get divorced now because they realized that they are much better off as friends rather than lovers. But how do you realize this so early? It’s a tough thing to do definitely because it takes time to really get to know someone and realize if they are really the one for you. In my opinion, people now should start getting married at a later age and just date their lover for a longer amount of time until they know if they are a real true love or if they are just a really good friend in the end. This will help lower the insanely high divorce rate that we have currently. Nadia and Saeed are an example of this idea that you can be so close with someone that you love them, but not a lover way, rather more as a friendship way.

Couple Problems

On By Caleb R.In Exit West3 Comments

While reading Exit West, I thought that this story was going to end with a simple happy ending. Where the two main characters fall in love despite all the problems going on and live happily ever after. But Hamid took a different route in writing this story. As a reader, it was sad but not truly surprising to see the falling out of Saeed and Nadia. Throughout the book, it started to become clear about the relationship problems both of the characters were having. As time went on, they just realized that they were not meant for each other.

The time where I knew the relationship was coming to an end was when they began to take time apart from each other. The sad truth about this is, time apart doesn’t mend a relationship, but only makes it worse. When a problem occurs, you don’t give the problem some space and hopefully when you come back it will be resolved. This is a big reason why there was a downfall between Nadia and Saeed. You can never truly fix any sort of problem with time and space. That’s one quick way to more problems.

Immigration Nation

On By Michael D.In Exit West1 Comment

The United States is a country with a checkered past with regards to immigration. From Columbus’s treatment of Native Americans to the border wall, this country has both been attacked by migrants and then attacked migrants. The world currently lives in a refugee crisis, where people seeking a peaceful place to live away from the persecution of their own countries have fled to parts of the world that don’t want them. In Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, this is taken to a new extreme when magical doors appear around the globe that transport migrants away from their home countries. This allows the migration process to speed up rapidly, and simultaneously the discrimination against them to rise.

Why does this discrimination exist? Why have immigrants turned themselves into natives, and now discriminate against others who are trying to do what they once did? It boils down to a few things: nativism and “the other”. In Exit West, this appears when some of the Londoners protest the influx of migrants in Chapter 7. This is an example of nativism, and its existence in the United States is oddly paradoxical. Since it is a nation made of mostly immigrants, how can nativism exist? Wouldn’t the nativism necessarily persecute those who are promoting it the most?

The idea of “the other” is also prevalent in both Exit West and the current refugee crisis. In the novel, the London government plans to set up a “halo city” for the migrants. By separating the migrants from “regular” Londoners, they inherently “otherize” them. “The other” also embodies why the nativist mob exists in the first place: they are fearful of the changing landscape of their city and what the migrants might bring with them (culture, violence…), resulting in acts of violence.

Nativism and “the other” are powerful forces acting on everybody. People are fearful of that which is different, so violence occurs. The solution is to find, through conversation, that the two sides are, in reality, not all that different.

Love and Migration

On By Alex G.In Exit WestLeave a comment

In Exit West, we meet two protagonists who are almost foils of each other. Saeed was raised on faith and is attached to his family – he learned how to pray from a young age and lived at home as long as he could. Nadia moved out of her family’s home at the first chance she got – which, as an unmarried woman in this country, is extremely risky. She wears a full-length robe not to practice her religion, but “so men don’t f–ck with me” (17).

“The following evening helicopters filled the sky … Saeed watched them with his parents from their balcony. Nadia watched them from her rooftop, alone.”

Page 35

Why Saeed would think he is compatible with a partner like Nadia is, at first, confusing. However, as their country gets more war-torn, it is clear that every civilian needs to seek refuge in another country. Coming from a man with such an honest background, in a country on the brink of civil war, Saeed’s first impressions of Nadia are simply: wow.

“He watched as she walked out to the student parking area and there, instead of covering her head with a black cloth, she donned a black motorcycle helmet … and rode off, disappearing with a controlled rumble into the gathering dusk.”

Page 5

Saeed is bewildered by Nadia’s confidence during times of extreme turmoil. And throughout Exit West, their journey across the globe escaping this turmoil brings them closer together as they depend on each other to find their footing in new situations — Saeed without his parents, and Nadia as an independent woman in a new country.

What does it mean to be a nation?

On By Luke GIn Exit West3 Comments

In Exit West Mohsin Hamid explores what it means to be a nation. The traditional way of defining a nation is a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory. In Exit West, nations seemingly disappear as migration to other parts of the world becomes unstoppable. Landmasses that used to have national identity see that identity rapidly disappear. “Their grandparents had been born on the strip of land that stretched from the mid-northern-Pacific to the mid-northern-atlantic.” Instead of saying America, or the United States, people describe the region in terms of its general geographical location, implying that the United States no longer exists in the form the Nation used to have. Its history, ideas, and culture evaporated as people from the entire world came to occupy the area. Though the existence of personal national identity still exists, as evidenced by Saeed’s longing to join the community in London that comes from his home country, nations within land masses no longer exist.

The Faces of Migration in Exit West

On By ELEANOR RIn Exit WestLeave a comment

At first glance the magical doors in Exit West that transport those who enter to a new location seem to represent hope, freedom, and the breaking of boundaries. However, these portals are meant to represent the constant grapple that migrants are faced with when leaving their homeland. The hope for new opportunities contrasts with the fear and nostalgia of leaving home. Shown by the camps in Mykonos and the houses in London, upon arrival migrants struggle with alienation and the longing for connections in a place filled with people who appear different from themselves.  

The contradicting feelings on migration between Nadia and Saeed are representative of the yearning for new opportunities contrasted with the pain of leaving what is familiar and comfortable. In Nadia’s case, she embraces migration as a pathway to a new life whereas Saeed is more fearful about leaving his father behind in a potentially dangerous situation. Through Nadia and Saeed, Hamid portrays how migrants are swept up by seemingly mandatory migration both willingly and unwillingly. Hamid presents migration as an inevitable occurrence that should be embraced or at least accepted since it cannot be denied.