Exit West Themes

Construction vs. Destruction

Peace and violence facilitate construction and destruction, respectively, in Exit West. Saeed and Nadia’s relationship mirrors the trajectory of the theme. Their relationship begins during peacetime with the possibility of marriage on the horizon, symbolized by the hawk building its nest. Then militants bring violence and destroy their lives bit by bit.

The cycle repeats in London. Saeed and Nadia find some peace, but the natives, who mirror the militants, threaten it with violence. Finally, Saeed and Nadia begin to build a home while working at the camp. But the narrator points out that the birds have lost their homes to give the migrants a place to live, suggesting that destruction is often necessary for creation. Ultimately the novel comes full circle as people return to a state of happiness that accompanies peace and prosperity.

Technology Influences the Perception of Time

Technology gives rise to a new dimension, one that transcends the physical, in Exit West. The magical doors act as a metaphor for technology, changing perceptions of time and space. A key example is Saeed’s courtship of Nadia. His phone enables him to impact her life as if he were there in person. Accordingly, the narrator uses figurative language to say that Nadia “rides” the Internet “far out into the world” as if she were riding a horse or taking a plane. With technology, people can be everywhere at once without going anywhere.

Technology also brings disparate realities together in ways that were previously impossible. The novel offers many examples, most notably the composite photos of cityscapes and desert skies. Time has slowed down and sped up at once. It has slowed down because photos can capture events as if they are happening simultaneously, and it has sped up because the mind can travel to distant places instantaneously. The novel’s many unconnected vignettes serve as a narrative device that carries this concept along. Readers can slip in and out of strangers’ lives in the same way that technology allows them to.

The Tension Between Opposing Values

Nadia is a nonconformist, while Saeed gravitates toward the traditional. Though both characters are fully rendered and show complex emotions, their relationship becomes more symbolic than romantic as the novel progresses. The tensions between them, their inner conflicts, and their divergent destinies facilitate the author’s exploration of opposing values. Their matching values bring them together, but their evolving differences break them apart.

Even at the end of the novel, Nadia still wears her black robe, which has come to symbolize her nonconformity rather than the religious piety with which it is typically associated. This nuance shows that people’s values do not always come in neat and tidy packages; they are not always either conservative or progressive, fundamentalist or secular. People are always in flux, and their innate characteristics are unique to them. The author also shows this theme through Saeed’s associations with prayer.

However, there is one moment in Saeed’s journey that stands out noticeably—when the “nativist extremists” come after the migrants in London. Saeed seeks counsel from the people from his homeland. The man with the white-marked beard’s call for martyrdom sickens Saeed. It reminds him of the militants and makes him feel as though he is “rotting from within.” This moment makes an argument against extremism of any stripe—and presents a range of values as its best deterrent.