Magical Realism as a Metaphor for Migration: The Symbolism of Doors in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

Abstract

This paper analyzes Exit West (2017) by Mohsin Hamid, both as a literary form provided by magical realism and as a critical theory of migration and displacement offered by postcolonialism. It claims that the magical doors of the novel are a central metaphor that essentially restructures the traditional migration discourses since the physical process of migration is eliminated and focus is shifted on the psychological, emotional, and existential impact of forced displacement. The doors create a porous spatial and temporal distance that makes the geopolitical boundaries permeable and increases the feelings of loss, moral discomfort, and identity dissociation. Based on an intensive textual analysis of important passages in which the doors are involved and the way in which the cultures of the main characters, Nadia and Saeed, are changing, the paper will show how the theme of migration in Exit West  is embodied not as a single event, but as a state of becoming, characterized by liminality, silence, and the breakdown of relationships. By externalizing interior conditions of fear, grief, and moral uncertainty, Hamid blends the fantastical with intimate realist detail, demonstrating the disorientation of life after displacement rather than a display of transit.  Finally, this study argues that Exit West does not follow the traditional realist and humanitarian manifestations of migration but promotes interior change and moral thinking. Thus, it is the depiction of the way magical realism can serve as an effective narrative tool for developing empathy in readers and reflecting the psychological aspects of the modern world—dislocation.