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Themes of Refugee Boy
Themes of Refugee Boy
Themes of Refugee Boy
unfairness because of what the author says in the preface of the novel. Benjamin Zephaniah says: When I met Million and Dereje Hailemariam, two teenagers who had been denied asylum in Britain, I knew I had to write a story that would illustrate the suffering and struggles that many asylum seekers have to endure. (Preface) Not only does this tell us why the author wrote a book about this topic, it tells us that the story has a theme of unfairness and struggles. It also shows us that the book has the theme power over others as the two teenagers had their application for asylum turned down. This was exactly like what happened to Alem and his father; their lives were turned upside down by the corrupt judge. So since Zephaniah says that he will write a book because of the two teenagers unfair turn of events, which must mean that Refugee Boy is also because of that. Another example for this theme happens when Alem and his father appeared in the court room, the judge says: I have given this case much consideration, but I am afraid that I must turn down your application for asylum. (Pg 234) This shows us that the judge has the future of Alem and his fathers future in his hands, but he is misusing his power to send them out of the country. This argument can be looked at in two ways. The first view is that the judge is misusing his power over Alem and his father by sending them out of the country, they have done nothing wrong, and so they should be allowed to stay. The second view to this argument is that the judge is actually innocent, and that he was persuaded by the opposition speaker to send Alem and his father out of the country. After all he did say that he gave the case a lot of consideration, this means that the judge is just doing his job, and that Nicholas Morgan (Alems Barrister) did not provide a good enough speech to persuade the judge. Out of the two views I think that the first view is correct, this is because I think that the judge was just saying that he had given the case a lot of persuasion so that it would not look suspicious. After all, no matter how good the opposition speech was, it would be inhumane to turn down Alem and his fathers application for asylum, and that shows real injustice. Another example is when Alem enters into the English classroom; he got knocked onto the floor by another pupil. Zephaniah described Alems feelings by saying: It hit Alem on the back and knocked him to the floor. The whole class began laughing. Alem lay completely still. He was physically unhurt but wished he could disappear through the crack in the floorboard that he was now looking down at. He wanted to fade away and reappear back home with the Fitzgeralds. (Pg 103) It is really unfair that everyone starts laughing at Alem because he fell down. Though the sight would be quite funny, people should restrain their urge to laugh; one reason is because it is generally rude to laugh at another person, and the other reason being that Alem is new to the school, and even the country! From the way Zephaniah says the whole class began laughing sounds like they did not even try to contain their urge to laugh. They should have seen Alems expression and stopped laughing. The were being really cruel to Alem.
My third and final theme that appears in Refugee boy is being the outsider, in the novel the author focuses on the fact that being unfamiliar to a particular place can be very hard for you, and sometimes people can take that to their advantage. For example, when Alem was chairman for a class debate, he said something wrong, he looked at Christopher for help, but Christopher double-crossed him by saying: Say that youre sorry, youre just a wanker and once Alem had said that the whole class erupted with laughter. (Pg 135) This evidence shows us how Christopher is taking the advantage that Alem is new to England, and therefore he will be unfamiliar with most of the English language, especially slang. He uses this to his advantage by telling Alem to say that he is sorry and he is just a wanker. This makes Alem fell alienated and the fact that the whole class erupted with laughter didnt help in any manner. This would make Alem feel like the odd one out, because he did not know what a wanker was. Therefore he was the outsider. In conclusion, Refugee Boy has many themes and I have named a few. I have given many points, examples and explanations. I have named three themes of Refugee Boy but there are many more. From reading this book I have realised that refugees are not bad people like I had imagined. They are not fake or bogus. Benjamin Zephaniah has told us that refugees have not left their homes and families for the sake of it, they have left the things and people they love because of their own safety. They will have a hard time fitting in, and you will have to try to help them as much as you can. Refugees have lost their home to disastrous circumstances such as war or famine. They deserve to be respected, they are not fake, and they are not bogus. They are human beings. Havish Samudrala 9B