The Importance of Cell Phone Technology
Throughout the story, cell phones act as a symbol of the ability, necessity and possibility to communicate at the best and worst of times. Phone service takes on an almost talismanic aspect such that even when not actually using them, the characters may be thinking about them. To wit, the observation by a character that
“a mobile phone could be a fickle connection, its signal thought in normal circumstances to be like the sunlight or moonlight, but in actuality capable of an instant and endless eclipse.”
Well, It Was Said by the Author, Anyway
A story about refugees and the idea of being a man (or woman) without a country naturally lends itself to considerations about the state and cause of depression. Try to imagine carving out a stable future for yourself when you can’t even carve out a stable country.
“It has been said that depression is a failure to imagine a plausible desirable future for oneself”
Did We Mention That Mobile Phones Are Really Important?
It may be easy to underestimate the genuine significance of cell phone technology as an essential aspect of life for the main characters, but it would be a huge mistake to do so. For refugees traveling around the globe searching for a home, the cell phone must look like magic in comparison to what previous refugees dealt with. For that reason, when phone signals suddenly die:
“It was if they were bats that had lost the use of their ears, and hence their ability to find things as they flew in the dark.”
Speaking of Darkness
The prevalence of references to cell phones in this novel is comparable to the prevalence of “darkness” as a favorite metaphor of post-19th century fiction. Always wait for it because chances are it’s coming. When it comes in Exit West, thankfully, it is a good one:
“Her room was bathed in the glow of her computer charger and wireless router, but the closet doorway was dark, darker than night, a rectangle of complete darkness—the heart of darkness. And out of this darkness, a man was emerging.”
Yet More About Phones
“In their phones were antennas, and these antennas could sniff out an invisible world as if by magic, a world that was all around them, and also nowhere, transporting them to places distant and near”
