User:Chw53/Exit West

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Moshin Hamid has recently emerged as an acclaimed writer, and Hamid writes Exit West during a time of much controversy over refugees and immigration.

Scholars analyze Exit West for its suggestions about global politics, use of technology, and calls for better treatment of the environment.

Background

Since 2010, Hamid has emerged as an author known for writing fiction that explores alternate ways of global living and emphasizes the disadvantages of being born in a third-world country (magdalena). Hamid wrote Moth Smoke (2000), The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), How to Get Filthy Rich in Asia (2013), and then Exit West in 2017. All four stories focus on the experiences and journeys of characters originally from Pakistan (Perfect).

Written after the era of Trump and Brexit (shazia), Moshin Hamid wrote Exit West as a way for readers to look at the refugee crisis from a different perspective. Hamid explains that borders for countries are extremely “unnatural” and the issue with migrants and refugees is that their movement is thought of as a problem that needs to be solved (green). Hamid believes that refugees and migrants, or anyone for that matter, should be able to travel freely throughout the world (green). Hamid also explains that reading can help people see things from a different perspective, which means that people can become more cognizant of others’ situations and see solutions they never thought possible before(green). Hamid wrote Exit West to broaden people’s thoughts about the refugee crisis. He wanted to give readers an alternative perspective on how the people could operate in one world instead of one nation. With the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and his strict border policies, Hamid is trying to show readers that a world without borders is not only possible, but desirable.

Genre

This novel can be considered fantasy or speculative fiction. (shazia)

Reception

While Exit West received astonishing reviews, it does still have some critiques. Some scholars believe the idea of considering all humans on Earth as refugees is “wrong-headed”(Perfect).

Analysis

Exit West attracted much attention from scholars and readers because the novel deals so closely with current events and problematic social norms (Naydan). Scholars argue that Hamid is questioning the trending opinions of border security with Brexit and Trump, emphasizes the fake sense of connection to refugees through technology, and stresses the importance of preserving the global environment.

Hamid uses fiction to create a reality for readers to reconsider the “relationship between history and geography” with the use of “magical portals that allow instant access to destinations around the world” (shazia). In the story, it is clear that Hamid does not support the current ideology of going backwards in the direction of past policies and “greatness” (Trump's campaign) (Shazia). Moshin uses fictional novels to reach readers because he wants them to be creative and progressive in their ideas for solutions to current events. This will allow readers to consider the possibility of a “global migration” and “borderless world”, which essentially is the plot of Exit West. Hamid appeals to readers through the characters of Nadia and Saeed and uses them to help readers empathize with why their unfair situation is purely of a cause of where they happened to be born (Shazia). Hamid’s hope for readers of Exit West is to gain empathy for refugees. Hamid wraps the novel up with a positive ending to help convey the idea that readers shouldn’t think of refugees as a problem, but more of an opportunity for an improved world (Naydan).

Throughout Exit West, Hamid also examines the use of digital technology and how it provides people with a false sense of connectedness (Naydan). Characters use tablets to remain connected to people and places throughout the world, thus failing to truly be present with the people physically around them and the places they’re in. However, the characters are also using technology to photograph, document, and share the injustice happening in the country they are from. Hamid shows readers how technology can be used to positively connect with people and places they would otherwise not be connected to while also depicting how technology can weaken relationships and make people disconnected from each other.

Similar to some of Hamid's previous novels, Exit West also hints at the importance of changing global habits and creating a cleaner environment around the world (Magdelena). Hamid does this by emphasizing natural beauties throughout the novel and showing readers how when people have a choice and appreciation for where they live, they treat the environment with more respect.

19. Green, G. (2017, 06). Mohsin Hamid. New Internationalist, 46. Retrieved

from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/mohsin-hamid/docview/1902096388/se-2?accountid=11091

21. Magdalena Mączyńska, “People Are Monkeys Who Have Forgotten That They Are Monkeys”: The Refugee as Eco-Cosmopolitan Allegory in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Volume 28, Issue 3, Autumn 2021, Pages 1089–1106, https://doi.org/10.1093/isle/isaa082

22. Shazia Sadaf (2020) “We Are All Migrants Through Time”: History and geography in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 56:5, 636-647, DOI: 10.1080/17449855.2020.1820667

23. Naydan, Liliana M. "DIGITAL SCREENS AND NATIONAL DIVIDES IN MOHSIN HAMID'S EXIT WEST." Studies in the Novel, vol. 51, no. 3, fall 2019, pp. 433+. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A600918138/LitRC?u=wash43584&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=e63f0945. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.