Politics & Refugees

In Ways of Dying, the political movement is trying to progress, and in doing so have displaced masses of people. The people end up establishing squatter towns as a result of their displacement and lack of money to relocate themselves. Even if the government establishes cheap new housing, the displaced will rebel and burn those structures down. There are three groups of people described in Ways of Dying. The first is the hostel workers, who probably live in the newly established buildings- who accept their status and lend support to the government. The second group: displaced squatters, such as Noria and Toloki and Noria's neighbors- whose houses get burned down in retaliation by the government who have displaced them to begin with. The third is a group within the squatter community itself, the Young Tigers, who oppose what has happened to them and fight anyone who is not on their side. These various factions within the refugee camps mirror the conflicting agenda of the political arena depicted in the novel. It all comes down to fights between the different factions of a community.

Men in the Sun describes an opposite displacement. Men seek refuge in the city of Kuwait. They displace themselves in order to reach the city and although the journey threatens them with death, they still try passage. The government in this short story is corrupt and self-serving. Officials have the benefit of having air-conditioned offices and care not for the rest of the population. Khaizuran, the middleman [like the Young Tigers in WOD], tries to help people into Kuwait, yet becomes burdened with the death of those he was trying to help [like how the Tigers killed Vutha] as a result of interference from the influence of the government.