Refugee Literary Elements
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Refugee by Alan Gratz
By Liane Hicks
Refugee is a historical fiction novel written in 2017 that weaves together three compelling stories of families seeking sanctuary in other countries. Students will see themselves in the young protagonists: children faced with tragic circumstances but who, at their heart, are just kids who love their families and want to live in peace.
Storyboard Description
Students can explore themes, symbols and motifs in a novel by identifying a few and creating images and captions depicting examples from the text.
Storyboard Text
- WATER
- BOATS
- SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
- The ocean is an insurmountable challenge in all three stories in Refugee and comes to symbolize fear and despair as in each story. It presents tragedies and challenges to achieving their dreams of freedom and safety for their families.
- All three families in Refugee travel on boats to try to escape their homeland and get to freedom and safety in a new land. Each boat symbolizes the hope for a new life in a new country.
- Each story shows examples when society has turned its back on the families seeking refuge, where someone was "just doing their job" or "just following orders”, or refusing to help because it wasn't "their problem". There were also instances where people were helpful and each act of kindness made a difference.
- MAÑANA
- TOMORROW!
- MAÑANA!
- THEMES, SYMBOLS, AND MOTIFS
- IVAN'S INDUSTRIALES HAT
- JOURNEY TO A BETTER LIFE
- I
- Mañana or “tomorrow” is a recurring motif in all three stories, underscoring the dreams deferred due to social, political, and environmental obstacles. It also symbolizes the characters' lack of control over their destinies. They are at the mercy of governments, people, and nature in their journeys to find refuge.
- MORGEN!
- ALGHAD!
- Ivan's Industriales hat is one he wears proudly as an avid baseball player, fan, and to symbolize his love for his country and people. Ivan and others have dual emotions of pride in their homeland and the desire for a better life elsewhere. At the end, Isabel wears the hat while she plays the Star-Spangled Banner on her trumpet, symbolizing both the Cuban and American parts of her identity.
- Industriales
- One of the major themes of Refugee is that the characters in each of the stories are trying to get their families to safety and freedom in another country due to violence and oppression in their home country.
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