Is literature enough? Are their limits to its power?

I believe there are limits to the capabilities of literature. As our class is reading “Exit West,” we learn about the different troubles Nadia and Saeed encounter as they flee their home to find safety. While the reader learns that their funds are quickly diminishing and that they must follow certain rules regarding where they sleep, what they eat, and who they talk to in order to remain safe, the virtual reality we experienced in class revealed to a whole different extent what refugee life was like. These videos were more capable of illustrating the emotions the refugees than the book ever could be. While the book provided a detailed account of the events one might encounter on their personal travels, and I could assume using my own background knowledge what they were going through, the video brought me more into their shoes and emotions.

One thing that is very revealing in the novel is the blind faith that Saeed and Nadia put into each door. The doors are completely black and the characters can’t see what’s on the other side. The characters feel as if they died and were reborn when passing through; this magic element of the book may actually accurately reflect what refugees feel when fleeing their country. They’re simply looking for something better, but a lot of them don’t know what to expect. They are re-prioritizing everything for them: Saeed and Nadia had to leave all their valuables and bring only the necessities to survive, and adopted a completely new mindset on what is important to them (growing into a new life).

However, the doors omit the most difficult part of the migrant experience- the journey itself. A lot of the videos were about the people being in the place in between where they came from and where they want to go. The doors give more insight yet skew the real struggles of migrants at the same time. Overall, though, the virtual reality is something that can display both how the migrants feel and what they are physically going through.