, respond to TWO peers. Students must respond to TWO peer posts by 11:59 Sunday (end of week). These responses should work to answer or respond to the questions/observations posed by peers, must be at least 150 words each, and include further specific and cited references to the text or other course materials. Responses need to extend the conversation.
1/
All humans are, in a sense, migrants. Whether it be for the cause of work, persecution, or the desire for a change, all humans migrate from place to place. Small moves or migrations are most times more accepted than larger scale moves. For example, moving from one neighborhood to another will have a different social effect than moving from one country to another. Unfortunately, moving from one country to another oftentimes poses many difficulties for the migrants. In Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, it is clear to see the difficulties experienced by migrants. Although some may say that this story is an exaggeration of the hardships experienced when searching for a new life in another country, it is not much different than what happens in the world today. I agree that solving world migration, or in a sense creating the freedom to migrate within the world would make it a better place. In Exit West, Nadia and Saeed are met with opposition to their migration, “The fury of those nativists advocating wholesale slaughter was what struck Nadia most, and it struck her because it seemed so familiar, so much like the fury of the militants in her own city. She wondered whether she and Saeed had done anything by moving” (Hamid). This is a similar reception many immigrants receive when moving countries, natives are unwelcoming and want the immigrants gone. This often leads to communities of immigrants grouping together. As Hamid writes in his novel, “In this group, everyone was foreign, and so, in a sense, no one was” (Hamid). Towards the end of the novel, the concept of the doors has been accepted and now people are free to migrate as they please without harsh persecution upon arrival. This is a depiction of what the world could be like if migrants were not viewed as outsiders but rather accepted and welcomed. This begs the question, is it possible to view people who may have many differences from yourself in a way other than a stranger? And if so, how should you go about accepting them for who they are?
2/
I am in support of making migration easier or free to move because migration allows individuals to shift from a difficult phase of life towards a new and prosperous era of their lives. It makes lives easier by providing new economic opportunities to survive. Although the cultural mindset separates nativists from migrants and identifies motives to prevent migrants from entering new borders, Mohsin Hamid in Exit West not only presents the viewpoint of the refugee but also challenges the notion that nationalism is a valid basis for separation. Although Exit West centers on the tale of Nadia and Saeed, it also tells the stories of the numerous other migrants that the two encounters. The doors open up options for both refugees escaping conflict and oppression and regular individuals seeking a new home. As stated in the novel, “one’s relationship to windows now changed in the city. A window was the border through which death was possibly most likely to come” (Hamid “Why Migration”). In its true sense, migration helps individuals to explore new dimensions of possibilities while leaving behind the sufferings and challenges they have been going through for several decades. There should be no restriction of boundaries for the individuals to move in search of a better future. Although migration is not an easy job for an individual to leave a beloved homeland. It is a painful and difficult decision to make but it usually turns into a better opportunity for most of the individuals who migrate. As the article highlights, “when we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind” (Hamid “Why Migration”).
Works Cited
“Mohsin Hamid: Why Migration .” The Guardian, www.theguardian.com, 21 Nov. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/21/mohsin-hamid-why-migration-is-a-fundamental-human-right (Links to an external site.).
