Refugee Boy: Analysis

This novel is about a boy called Alem. The book concentrates on the issues of immigration and those closely affected by it, the main character in the book is a young boy called Alem who has fled his country of origin Ethiopia because of growing tensions between Ethiopia and its neighbouring country Eritrea. Alem's mother is from Eritrea and his father is from Ethiopia and those two countries are in war that's why his family are not accepted in both countries because of Alem's mixed heritage and his families mixed marriage, they are firstly driven from their home in Ethiopia by the local police and then they face prejudice in Eritrea.

His dad felt it's insecure for Alem to stay in Eritrea while the war going on between those two countries. Alem's father took him on a holiday to England but Alem is unaware of his father's plan, which is to leave Alem in England until this was is over. In their arrival in England they stay in a hotel after few days of sight seeing Alem's father leaves Alem in the hotel and go back to Eritrea.

Before chapter five Alem meets Pamela and Mariam who works in the refugee council. They helped Alem to apply for asylum seekers to stay in England. Until the home office processing the asylum application, they found a children home for Alem to stay.

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Chapter five is one of the significant chapter in the whole novel because its shows the development of novel it builds up the tension so the readers can get excited to find out what is going to be the next step of the novel. In this chapter most of the characters are introduced. Chapter 5 begins with Alem arriving at the children's home and a description of what the place looks like and how it makes Alem feel. He is firstly introduced to a worker at the children's home named Sarah Cohen who shows him around the place informs him of the rules and regulation of the place.

During the exploration of the home Alem meets another worker named Tom Whittaker and a man named Dave he notices a boy sitting by himself and is informed that this boys name is Mustafa. While he is still being showed around the place he meets his soon to be enemy Sweeney for the first time in the smoker's room. Sweeny later demands Alem to get some biscuits. When Alem refused to get biscuits for Sweeney they start arguing, Tom hears the argument and Alem explains to Tom the whole situation and then Tom makes Sweeny apologise for anti social behaviour.

Alem meets his room partner called Stanley Burton who is orphan and depress in his arrival Stanley tells Alem his own story of why he's at the children's home.

All the characters behaviors in the children's house show how unorganized asylum systems. However there are some people who are emotionally attach in their past for e.g. Stanley Burton is mentally ill but no one in the children's house take him seriously about the effects his having on his mind.

After chapter five the story largely concentrates on Alem's struggles to familiarise him to this foreign land. He goes to the refugee camp. He gets bullied, but where he also manages to make some friends. Alem had a fight with Sweeney but makes friends with Mustafa and decides to run away from the children's home.

He gets lots of support from the Refugee Council, who fined a better place for him to stay. His been fostered by a family. It was difficult for him to adjust in another house with new people but he manages to stay with them. He starts going to a school and again he face racism and bullies in school. Meanwhile the trouble in Ethiopia and Eritrea is gathering rapidity. His mums died in the war and his dad comes back to England to live with his son. Alem's get really happy and excited to have one of his family members around him. The government refused to give them permission to stay in England. After couple of weeks his father also passed way in a car accident.

In my opinion Benjamin Zephaniah wrote this story in order to educate people of the growing problems of the way refuges are treated in this country. He is trying to give people an understanding of the way a young refuge might look at our country and what they might think of our customs. He is also showing that underneath skin colour, culture and customs we all think and are alike.

Benjamin Zephaniah intentions and objective are to demonstrate the anguish and struggles that many asylum seekers have to go through in England.

The author took ideas from many writers and books, which are related to refugees to make this book unique and special to the readers. He attempt to influence the readers with a combination of layout, emotions are raised, and guilt is created to feel sorry for Alem and it shows how to be strong when people have to deal with problematic situation that they face while they are living in a children's home.

Chapter 5 is very important to the story because it shows Alem and no mater where he is aggression follows him. I felt this chapter have really emotional attach to it. Many characters are introduced in this chapter because some of the characters encouraged Alem to become a stronger person and some of the characters are shown to bully him so he can show his strength to stand up for himself. In this chapter it showed the position of each character. He learns to make a judgment on other characters. This chapter is very important because it shows how the system works and it's the beginning of all the struggles for Alem for e.g. living independently, getting bullied etc.

This chapter sounds different than other chapter of the novel because its sound more dramatic, helpless, angry and showing his strength. The other sound was informative, balance and controlled. He shows responsibility, development of his knowledge by dealing with problematic situation and trying to adjust in a new environment. This chapter seems so realistic. It is a simple chapter to read because it has a good solid plot and structure of the book makes it easier to understand roles of each character.

It shows how the main character of the novel starts living independently. This chapter expose Alem's character by showing amazing strength to keep standing in the toughest time while he was at the children's home for e.g. one of the boy wants him to get some biscuits but Alem replied 'I don't want any biscuits. If you want biscuits you get them yourself'. It shows that he is not scared of anyone, he is a straightforward person who wants to stay out of trouble but he is not scared to tell the truth.

The main character is Alem this is because he is someone who can be trust and empathize in the whole novel. He is the only character in the whole novel. The whole novel was written to explore this character. Alem is well presented to show his strength and weaknesses. This is a unique character because he's the refugee and all the other characters are the supporting character to help Alem to get justice. Alem is the central character in the book because the author believed that the easiest way to tell the story of a refugee would be by telling it through the eyes of Alem, this would help the audience to imagine themselves in the place of a refugee.

I think that chapter 5 is a real turning point in the story because it reveals more of Alem's character then other chapters so it makes it easier for the audience to formularise themselves with Alem's character.

It is an excellent topic about which to write because there are rarely books about this particular topic and I believe people should be informed. The story line is thoughtful for me and it proved to be a stimulating and moving experience. The message behind this novel was to inform people how refugees used to get treated in the past. Benjamin Zephaniah understood the character this is because he did endure racism in his childhood when he arrived from Africa. He can relate this book to his own life.

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