Refugees
Caryl Phillips elucidates, "He (Mr.Bellow) had arrived in the Mediterranean shortly after the British had initiated their policy of turning away refugee ships from Palestine, and offloading the passengers on to their Island of Cyprus. At first, there were two camps, then three, then four, and now there were almost a dozen, containing over thirty thousand refugees of all ages and nationalities, whose sole aim in life was to escape war-ravaged Europe and reach the promised land." Refugees are the upshot of war which renders their countries insecure. Their displacement in the course of the war prompts them to escape with the hope of securing their lives and starting their lives anew.
America
Eva explains, “I dream that nobody believed me. That I was in America and I was telling some people my story, the despondent words falling awkwardly from my mouth…Nobody wished to offend me. And then a man looked at his watch. In America.” Eva anticipates to relish the American dream. Being in America would bid her the opportunity to restart her life anew and to be secure from prosecution. America embodies an absolutely safe haven for Eva.
