Exit West Summary – Mohsin Hamid
5 min read ⌚
A truly breathtaking novel, that captures the heart and soul of the reader.
It tells the journey of two immigrants who faced numerous challenges on their way over to a better life.
We encapsulate only the most mind-blowing details of this novel!
Who Should Read “Exit West”? And Why?
Exist West has all the necessary features of an anecdote, a story that revolves around real events and persons. It’s up to you to identify those!
We believe it’s suitable for all adults, whose views and perspectives are influenced by the media and the politicians. As such, it provides excellent cover for those willing to put themselves in the shoes of an immigrant, at least for a couple of hours.
Mohsin Hamid Biography
Mohsin Hamid is a Pakistani author, novelist and brand consultant living in Lahore, Pakistan.
He thinks highly of Haruki Murakami, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Albert Camus, as his role models. Mohsin is the author of Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia and Exit West (2017).
Plot
Exist West is a truly inspiring novel, which is narrated in third-person. The author tells the whole story about two central figures Nadia and Saeed whose lives changed in a flash. It starts by explaining their traits and surroundings.
During branding class, Saeed breaks the ice with some flirting, trying to catch Nadia’s attention. Indeed, she is not interested in him at all, but Saeed manages to persuade her to go out for a drink.
Afterward, they go to a café and end up having a good time. Later, Nadia invites him to her house, where they smoke weed and enjoy the afternoon.
Тhis seemingly fragile relationship turns into something bigger than they can handle. Not to mention, that they end the night in a highly unusual fashion, skipping few steps in the process, by holding hands.
While at it, the author fixates some of the attention onto the characters and their background. Saeed still lives with his parents, whose hearts met in the city center a couple of years ago.
He was raised in a conservative environment, as customs in general require. Nadia’s rebelliousness cost her dearly because her aversion towards religion and tradition is not well-received by the community.
Ultimately, all of that leads to a quarrel with her parents, and she is forced to find a rented place somewhere nearby. After the militants take charge against the government forces, violence escalates with no end in sight.
In the meantime, the officials enforce a curfew, which obstructs Nadia and Saeed’s meetings. They spend their lunch hours by replenishing their supplies, to prepare themselves for what is to come. Saeed brings food, kerosene, and candles and helps Nadia to accommodate the demands of the surroundings.
Conflicts escalate, and Saeed’s mother is hit by a bullet; a situation that turns things around. They decide to leave the country and try their luck elsewhere. They try to convince Saeed’s father to join them on their way over to the Greek island of Mykonos, but he refuses and makes up his mind to stay in the unnamed city.
Upon their arrival at Mykonos, Nadia and Saeed settle in a camp, alongside other refugees. The seriousness of the situation forced them to take drastic measures, but they are overwhelmed with dread and uncertainty.
Saeed and Nadia decide to explore the island, to feel more like ordinary tourists instead of refugees. On their journey, Nadia falls and injures her arm. Saeed takes her to a local hospital, where a female nurse offers to patch up the wound.
The volunteer brings them over a door, which transfers them to London. In London, they end up on the opposite side of the door in an unspecified mansion. At the time, many other immigrants from all over Africa arrive through the same door.
The two of them now share different interests, because Nadia likes to spend time with almost everyone, and even decides to join the Nigerians’ council, while Saeed prefers to hang out with the people from his country.
Political tensions in Britain reach another level, due to the ever-increasing number of immigrants, which arrive on a daily basis. The British Nationalist parade through the city center, demanding the government to change the policy of refugees’ treatment. Britain – for British!
After their requirements are not fulfilled, they threaten to conduct a full-scale massacre of the immigrants living in the ghetto.
Due to the rising tensions, Saeed decides to purchase a gun for his protection, given the situation that can reach a boiling point any minute.
Eventually, nativists drop their demands and accept the concept of existing side by side with the immigrants.
Saeed and Nadia find a job on a construction site located in a suburb of London. Due to the backbreaking work, their relationship suffers. They hardly spend any time together, which affects their lifestyle and closeness.
Nadia realizes that if they keep this tempo, they won’t be able to hold this relationship in one piece. Driven by increasing fear of separation, Nadia proposes that they should move to Marin, San Francisco. In Marin, they build a shack on the top of a hill and try to get a job.
Nadia begins working at food co-operative, while Saeed becomes deeply involved in religious activity preached by an African American.
Over time, Saeed’s affection for the priest’s daughter grows, and Nadia moves out of the shack and settles in a room within the co-operative.
Exit West Epilogue
The last chapter describes the reality almost 50 years in the future when Nadia returns to the unnamed city and finds Saeed in a café. They start reminiscing and wondering what could have happened if Nadia said yes to Saeed’s proposal for marriage.
After the chat, they walk out of the café, and Saeed makes his last promise to Nadia by saying that one day, they will visit the deserts in Chile. Without notice, the journey ends here, not knowing whether Saeed will get the opportunity to fulfill this promise.
Like this summary? We’d Like to invite you to download our free 12 min app, for more amazing summaries and audiobooks.
“Exit West PDF Quotes”
To love is to enter into the inevitability of one day not being able to protect what is most valuable to you. Click To Tweet Every time a couple moves they begin, if their attention is still drawn to one another, to see each other differently, for personalities are not a single immutable color, like white or blue, but rather illuminated screens, and the shades… Click To Tweet And so their memories took on potential, which is of course how our greatest nostalgias are born. Click To Tweet In this group, everyone was foreign, and so, in a sense, no one was. Click To Tweet Young men pray for different things, of course, but some young men pray to honor the goodness of the men who raised them. Click To Tweet
Our Critical Review
Well, we all have our prejudices and imposed beliefs, and it’s time to open our eyes to the cruel reality. Mohsin Hamid criticizes the world for its ignorance and total disregard of other person’s feelings.
We were thrilled and motivated to learn more about the struggles an average refugee faces on this treacherous journey.
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
