What Strange Paradise

Content warning: This Essay Topics section contains references the death of children and post-traumatic stress disorder.



Migration and exile are central themes in What Strange Paradise. What conditions cause the characters in the novel to abandon their homes? What does this imply about El Akkad’s main argument about the migration crisis?

Through Colonel Kethros, Marianne Hermes, Madame El Ward, and other islanders, both on the news and interacting with other characters, we can infer a general sense of the island’s attitude toward the migrants washing up on their shores. How do the islanders react to the recent increase in illegal migrants? What socioeconomic factors influence their attitudes and behaviors?

How does the ending of the novel impact the meaning of the “After” chapters? What does this suggest about the relationship (both literal and figurative) between migration and death?