Reflection of Immigrants’ Identity Crises in Kamila Shamsie Home Fire vs. Mohsin Hamid Exit West: A Gender-Based Thematic Exploration

Abstract

Kamila Shamsie's "Home Fire" and Mohsin Hamid's "Exit West" both discover the displacement and acknowledgement in a world that is becoming a global village. "Home Fire" throws light on the crucial integration of a loyal family member as a Muslim in a post-9/11 Western society scenario. It finds out the social and political identities that can cause conflicts. Migrants from the Western world, in contrast to "Exit West", have suffered emotional and physical suffering in the journey of refugees. It shares the love and barriers through the borders of countries. Both have different approaches to narration, and both the novels share belonging and feelings of human burdens they face during migration to the Western world. This research aims to identify and analyze themes of Kamila Shamsie's "Home Fire" and Mohsin Hamid's "Exit West". Along with this, it sheds light on the writing styles used to construct the plots of the works that share a lot of similar elements. This is qualitative research, and for analyzing themes, this study takes the help of 'Critical Theory', which was propounded in the early 20th century by the Frankfurt School. The primary source for this research is the text of the novels, through which the researchers identified major themes, and the secondary source to support the arguments is already published works by different scholars to analyze and deepen understanding of the issue/s. This research concludes that migration, identity, and political conflict are the major themes in both novels, and these themes serve a significant role in constructing the plots/stories of the novels. As an implication, this study would help readers understand the texts from several new perspectives.