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Isabel: Straits of Florida – 1994, 1 day (1)
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Refugee, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Coming of Age
Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility
Hope vs. Despair
Family, Displacement, and Culture
Invisibility and the Refugee Experience
Summary
Analysis
Mahmoud and his family wait at the border of Turkey, surrounded by countless Syrian families. Mahmoud notes that the children act like “miniature adults,” with very little crying or whining. Mahmoud and his family have walked eight hours over two days, joining up with hundreds of other refugees who are also walking north. Mahmoud is glad to disappear among them—invisible.
Gratz implies with the description of the other children that they, too, have had to grow up far too early due to their status as refugees—this phenomenon isn’t unique to Mahmoud, Isabel, or Josef. Additionally, Gratz shows yet another instance in which Mahmoud is glad to be invisible, so he can blend in amongst others and make it safely to the Turkish border.
Themes
Mahmoud feels like he is in trouble as they approach the Turkish border guards. Mahmoud realizes, looking at his family, that they look “tired and poor and wretched” after walking for so long, and he admits to himself that he probably wouldn’t let any of these people in if he were a Turkish border guard. But when Mahmoud’s family gets to the front of the line, the border agent gives them temporary visas and allows them in.
Mahmoud’s recognition that he probably wouldn’t let any of the refugees in demonstrates how everyone can bear these dehumanizing stereotypes of the refugees—even refugees themselves. But Mahmoud’s personal story shows the necessity of affirming that they are people, too, regardless of where they came from or what they look like. Their lives have value and that they are worthy of aid.
Themes
Mahmoud and his family then enter into a giant refugee camp with masses of white tents. While walking through the city, Youssef finds information about a smuggler who can get them from Turkey to Greece, but they have to travel to the Turkish city of Izmir—a 12-hour car ride, non-stop. He goes to see if he can find a bus for them to take.
The scale of the tent city demonstrates not only the extent of the destruction and despair in Syria, but also the hope that has sprung up as so many people migrate to try and make better lives for themselves and their families.
Themes
Mahmoud continues to walk through the city, and finds a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy that he can buy for Waleed. Mahmoud also notices a car driving through the city, with a young couple in the back. He realizes it is a marriage procession—it is Syrian tradition to be escorted to one’s wedding by a parade of cars. Then, suddenly, Youssef finds Mahmoud and says that he found a ride, but they have to leave immediately.
Mahmoud again illustrates his own sense of responsibility, and the belief that he has to take care of his Waleed, in buying a toy to cheer his brother up. Gratz also provides another example, through the marriage procession, of how one doesn’t need to be in one’s homeland to maintain one’s culture—all that’s necessary is family and community.
Themes
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