Tempelhof airport functions as a symbol of history versus contemporaneity and expatriate culture in the novel, reflecting The Problem of Expatriate Exploitation of Local Cultures. As Anna and Tom spend more time in Berlin, they begin to feel more legitimate as expats rather than tourists: “They looked forward to Brandenburg Airport opening so they could reminisce about Tegel with the same cool superiority as the veteran expats who reminisced about their first flights into Tempelhof” (62). Having flown into Tempelhof is considered a mark of legitimacy among expats, suggesting that someone is a real member of society because they remember a now-defunct airport.

The airport is also important to Berlin’s gentrification, as it becomes the site of debate of whether it should become a development with subsidized housing and luxury apartments, or be “inalienably preserved as a green space’ (67). The referendum on the issue incites the involvement of Anna and Tom’s circle in politics in a way they generally have not been involved. This foreshadows their involvement in the refugee crisis, which also relates to Templehof airport, as it becomes the reception center for the Syrian refugees admitted by Germany.

Pictures function as an important motif throughout the book. They often suggest a disconnect between curated representation to the outside world and the internal realities of daily life, embodying The Negative Effects of Social Media on Intimacy. The novel opens with the description of photos of Anna and Tom’s Berlin apartment rental listing, which are aesthetically pleasing, but don’t represent daily life with complete accuracy.

Social media images play a significant role in the novel. They are generally a “deluge of beauty” (57) rather than comprising much substance. Anna and Tom derive value from their own lives as reflected on social media throughout the novel. They curate a mythology and reality, first of living in Berlin, and later of their travels. At first, they feel that looking back on their curated images should supersede the realities of their actual discontent at the time the photos were taken. Later, they realize that the disconnect between the photos and their attitude at the time they were taken is a con.

Most significantly the novel represents the image of the drowned Syrian boy. That photo is the opposite of the images that represent an ideal but inaccurate reality. That photo is the representation of an intrusive, bleak reality that breaks through the superficiality of Anna and Tom’s circles and inspires them to action in the migrant crisis, though it ultimately proves ineffective.