Racism and Xenophobia

Racial discrimination and prejudice form a central element of both the novel’s themes and the main character’s hardships. The novel seeks to convey a layered and international depiction of racial persecution so as to demonstrate both its prevalence and its pernicious, destructive nature. For example, although the book mostly focuses on racial prejudice in Australia, Danny is forced to leave Sri Lanka due to racial profiling. Danny’s ethnicity is Tamil, which is a group that often faces persecution in Sri Lanka. When Danny returned to Sri Lanka after working in Dubai for a year, Danny was arrested by Sri Lankan government officials who suspected him of being part of a Tamil rebel group. They interrogated Danny with questions such as, “Are you a terrorist? Were you raising money in Dubai for bombs?” (155). The officials even resorted to some forms of physical...