Being a Refugee

Much of the book's plot focuses on the idea of refugee, and how people of all walks of life can be perceived as a type of refugee. To be specific: if one accepts the definition of “refugee” as relating to someone who is fleeing from, or trying to escape, a life that is somehow oppressive or threatening or painful, and s/he is taking refuge from that life, then s/he could be considered a refugee. In that context, then, from its very first pages the narrative can be seen as suggesting that Naomi is seeking to become a “refugee” from her self-perceived oppressive life with her father and stepmother. The same also is true of Sam, but to a lesser degree: she is motivated less by what Naomi suggests are her leftist, anti-capitalist moral values, but is similarly motivated by a sense of...