The Social and Psychological Impact of Migration upon Individual Life as Portrayed by Mohsin Hamid in His Novel Exit West

Abstract

The objective of this research paper is to examine various social and psychological aspects of migration in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West. Utilizing qualitative research methods, such as thematic and narrative analysis, the study highlights the ways in which Hamid’s work supersedes xenophobic stereotypes and evokes empathy instead. This paper tries to achieve the goals to explain the paradox of racism and multiculturalism in Exit West so that the stereotypical image of migrants may be limited; understand the loss and the attachment and detachment to new identities in the context of displacement; and to analyse the relation between multiculturalism and geo-cultural integration through molecular exchanges in cultures that have no desire to become assimilated into the hegemonic culture. It follows that Hamid does not narrowly portray migration, rather embraces multiple dimensions of it: emotional experiences accrued as part of the physical movement, with the aid of magic realism enhancing the emotional progress of the migration experience of each character.