TY - JOUR AU - McKee, Erin PY - 2022/04/15 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Currency and Border Crossings: The Role of Social Class in Exit West and Girl at War JF - Digital Literature Review JA - dlr VL - 9 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - 10.33043/DLR.9.1.27-36 UR - https://openjournals.bsu.edu/dlr/article/view/3866 SP - 27-36 AB - <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Girl at War </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">by Sara Nović and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Exit West </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">by Mohsin Hamid both tell the stories of characters in war-torn countries that are trying to survive day by day. In these novels, there are many physical and intangible borders that impact </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">the main characters’</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lives in significant ways.  Ana Jurić from </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Girl at War </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">is a Croatian girl from the former Yugoslavia who lives in poverty in the midst of a civil war at just 10 years old. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Exit West</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> follows young, working-class couple Saeed and Nadia from an unspecified country who are experiencing a violent war within the streets of their city while also trying to navigate their forming romantic relationship. Although </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Exit West </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">differs significantly from </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Girl at War</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> due to its elements of magical realism, the two novels are very similar in that they both show that money can be used to cross borders. Class borders and the importance of money to go from one place to another play a key role in these novels and in the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">main characters’ lives.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> A lack of money also creates a border for these characters in many ways. In addition, Ana, Saeed, and Nadia are all moving westward throughout their journeys out of their countries; borders become more restrictive and more dependent on money to cross. This paper will focus </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">on c</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">omparing the experiences of Ana Jurić from </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Girl at War </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">and Saeed and Nadia from </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Exit West</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and how these characters use money to cross borders and escape the traumatic living conditions of their home countries, how the lack of money impacts their lives and ability to cross borders, and</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">the connection between the western world and the importance of money in border crossings. Furthermore, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Girl at War</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Exit West</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> both suggest that resources and opportunities should be more accessible to everyone, not just the affluent, and that wealth distribution would secure the well-being of the working class.</span></p> ER -