Nadia's living alone
Nadia lives alone and her parents disown her. This is an interesting detail, because it means that her own people have rejected her because of her independence. When the war breaks out, her parents don't reach out to see how she is doing. Instead, Saeed's family adopts her, more or less. This brings the reader's attention to how firmly Nadia's family rejected her. And for what? For being independent and thoughtful. This is a subtle indication that something is very wrong in the culture.
The first refugees
When the community members talk about the refugees who have been coming into town lately from nearby nations, there is a dramatic irony, because they don't know that the ones of them who are lucky enough to escape will become refugees themselves in only a few weeks or months. This irony creates a drama that shows how quickly instability can spiral out of control. As soon as gunshots and bombs are the norm, there is no limit to how out of hand the troubles can become.
The ironic romance
The novel plays on the idea of a romance between Saeed and Nadia. They are in love, it seems, during their classroom days, and although one might expect that supporting one another and sharing so much struggle through their journey westward—one might expect that that would bring them together, but instead it disturbs them to a point where romance is completely irrelevant. By the time they finally separate from each other, the novelist has made it clear through irony what the main purpose of the novel is. What consolation is a romantic relationship when parents have been shot and killed by terrorists, when one's home is gone forever, when one has to make a new life in a random place as a foreigner whom people automatically resent?
The ghettos
When the young refugees finally arrive somewhere new, whether it be Mykonos or London, they tend not to find a community with arms wide open, happily accepting influxes of new people. They tend to be sequestered away in ghettos. The irony is that they aren't exactly safe and happy in the ghettos either. That many people in such a confined space with such few resources—it is the breeding ground for more problems, so they find themselves having to keep traveling until the population of refugees is dispersed enough that they actually have a shot at a new life.
The oath
The novel underscores the irony of this couples breakup in California with an oath. Saeed's father makes Nadia swear an oath to stay with him, which she does, until it is clear that they are safe to make new lives for themselves. She breaks the oath by leaving him, but they agree that it is best, because their relationship has sustained a lot of strain and emotional frustration. The oath seems only to have applied to that "life" they used to live together. In light of their drastic changes, they don't feel like they are in the same "life" anymore.
The Doors
Despite the magical doors being an escape from the violence and conflict of their homeland, the characters still encounter violence and danger in the places they go to. This is ironic because the doors were initially seen as a way to escape violence, but they end up leading to more violence in other places.
