We Are All Migrants Through Time

The effect of migration is not exclusive to physically transitioning. In fact, the psychological migration that people often experience has more of a significant impact on the lives of everyday people than actual migrants. Mohsid Hamid perfectly captures this idea in his novel Exit West; his contrast between the protagonists Saeed and Nadia's experiences and the experiences of others enable him to do so.

As the title suggests, time has a noticeable effect on the mental state of people. In Exit West, a woman who has lived in California for her entire life no longer feels at home because of how drastically her environment has changed around her. Due to the amount of migrants that have settled her town and the lack of other natives present, she has paradoxically migrated out of her home by not changing her life at all (207-209). Conversely, Saeed and Nadia's story embodies how constantly migrating does not waver their ability to still feel at home. Unlike the native woman, they both retain the ability to adapt to their situations whenever they are forced to change it.

Mohsid Hamid puts a lot of meaning behind the quote,"We are all migrants through time" (209). Not only does it display the mental aspect of migration, but it also shows the importance of adaptability. The mental transition that people go through is dependent on their state of mind. Without the willingness to change their outlook on their situation, a person will end up drifting away from what used to be their home. Exit West is able to maintain a consistent real life relevance despite the overarching supernatural themes in the book, and its theme regarding adaptability should not be overlooked.

Virtual Reality is the Cure to the Ignorance Phenomenon

It seems as if technology's role in connecting strangers around the globe continues to grow exponentially with each passing moment. Technology has its downfalls, that argument is valid. But at the same time, without it we would remain all too ignorant to the world occurring around us.

A notable technique used in the book Exit West is the switch from one part of the world to the next, then transitioning back without a beat. The best example is the Italian woman walking towards the riot at the zoo regarding immigrants, and then the point of view switching back to Saeed and Nadia, who are reading about the riot while in Mykonos (109-111). These constant shifts remind the reader that the world extends so much farther than where they live, at times it almost feels infinite.

This is the response the VR experience evoked in me. It's one thing to read about the Global Migration Crisis in the news, or to see pictures in the media. It felt like another thing entirely to get as up close and personal to it as I could. Being on boats, in schools, in the remains of cities, right alongside the children it affects the most (such as in the video "The Displaced") is an experience every non-immigrant should strive to have. No one should even speak on the issue of immigration unless they are able to understand the situation to the best of their ability. It's like telling a blind person to simply open their eyes and see.

A characteristic most lack is to attain as high a level of sympathy as possible before forming a strong opinion. Our bubble of life needs to be popped sooner rather than later. I believe something like the VR simulations could greatly change this phenomenon of ignorance.

We Are All Migrants Through Time

We are all agents of change: socially, economically, politically, and spiritually. Sometimes, these changes force us to migrate. We are all migrants. Sometimes, we as individuals are not agents of change, because of our privileged race, religion, or socioeconomic status, we are not forced to migrate. We are all still migrants. According to Hamid, these individuals are still migrants because if one was to remain detached and unvarying from an ever-changing, fluid social environment, they have become socially indifferent; they are a migrant.

The virtual reality experience enabled me to have an introspective view of my social, economic, and religious privilege, in relation to the children in the video. The introspective analyzation that I experienced was catalyzed by the visual desolation and destruction that I perceived. This desolation and destruction made it quite explicitly clear to me that these children did not live the same life and live in the same world that I did. I came to the realization that my empathetic disposition for these children was as strong as it was because of my obliviousness and ignorance.

The children that were documented in the virtual reality video were migrants. There were forced to relocate from their home country because of war and religious persecution. My social detachment and indifference from the migrant's current unsteady and fluid social situation makes me a migrant of our time.

An Immersion Into the Migrant World

I really enjoyed looking the virtual reality experience of migrants in our class. I think that it’s amazing how we have the technology to be able to see a glimpse into the world that migrants are experiencing on a daily basis. It’s difficult for students that have some privilege in Oak Park or River Forest and go to OPRF to imagine what Nadia or Saeed’s life is really like. Even though the book does an amazing job of describing the harsh truths and raw feelings that migrants usually feel, I think that using virtual reality can help a student immerse themselves completely. The physical experience of being inside of a migrant world can completely enhance the emotional feelings of what being in this situation really feels like. Since we can never truly experience exactly what these migrants go through everyday, I think it’s important that we try to get a full idea of the struggles they go through in order to fully understand them. I was shocked by the first video on the Youtube list, when you could see three little children standing in a demolished house. It made me feel for the little kids, when you discover that their home was ruined and you can only imagine the fear they feel. It made me think about the book in a new light. The video made me think over the fear and despair Nadia must have felt when she taped up her windows, so that her house wouldn’t be destroyed and she could be safe. It was a relief to be able to take off the virtual reality glasses and not see that fear or depression in others anymore, but we have to remember that migrants can’t take off their glasses. The virtual reality immersion experience made me more aware of the struggles migrants go through and what their lives actually look like on a day to day basis.