Themes in Refugee Boy - Edexcel

The key themes in Refugee Boy are:

• Youth

• Home and family

• Belonging and identity

• Hope

• Violence

• Prejudice

Remember

Many of the themes explored in Refugee Boy are relevant to both Lemn Sissay and Benjamin Zephaniah's own lives.

These themes are used throughout the play and novel to communicate their key messages and ideas.

The characters of Ruth and Mustapha are relatable figures. They speak informally and act like stereotypical teenagers, making them accessible for the audience. For example, Ruth complains about her parents saying, “Nugh. Nobody tells me nothing”.

Despite their age, these two characters grow and change in a positive way throughout the play – they are dynamic characters.

Unlike many of the adult figures, such as the soldiers or the court officials, who are more set in their beliefs, the teenagers learn to put aside their prejudices. They unite, campaign and speak passionately for the Kelo family, offering a message of collective responsibility and hope.

At the end of the play, along with Alem, the teenagers act as a mouthpiece for Sissay’s own authorial voice – channelling his message about the future. For example, Ruth says:

It is time that the voice of the youth be heard.

The Kelo family

Due to the ongoing war around their hometown of Badme, the Kelo family cannot find a safe home in either Ethiopia or Eritrea. The impossibility of their situation is clear when Mr and Mrs Kelo make the difficult decision to leave Alem alone in London. Although heart-breaking, it is a selfless act that demonstrates the strength of their love for their son.

When Alem wakes up alone in the hotel in London, his use of Amharic shows his strong connection to his family and homeland:

Abaten yet alleh / where is my father?

Alem’s use of Amharic, and desperation for his father, emphasizes how connected he feels to his family in Africa: this connection endures throughout the play across many miles and borders.

Likewise, Mr Kelo refuses to be defined by man-made borders. He does not identify as Ethiopian or Eritrean, he tells the soldiers “I am African” and campaigns for unity.

Question

Which other characters are linked to the theme of home and family?

In Refugee Boy, some aspects of the characters’ identities are fixed (unchanging) and others are fluid (changing).

In some ways, we see the best aspects of the characters remain fixed throughout the play. For example:

• Mr Kelo never gives up his belief in the goodness of others

• The Fitzgerald family continues to welcome new foster children.

The characters’ negative aspects are challenged and change as the plot develops and they learn from one another. For example:

• Ruth learns to welcome Alem, rather than be hostile

• Mustapha learns to say sorry and to stand up for his friends, rather than joining in with bullying

• Sweeney protects Alem from being mugged, rather than attacking him himself.

The dynamic nature of the characters could symbolise immigration as a natural part of identity – they all learn from each other regardless of race or background.

These interactions echo Sissay’s preface to the play when he says: "Immigration is as natural to us as breathing" and "We are adapting all the time".

Sissay uses Alem’s language to show his changing identity throughout the play.

The play begins with Alem speaking Ahmaric: “Abaten neh feligalloh / I want my father”. His identity is fixed and aligned with his family and country.

He then moves into speaking English, but it is formal and awkward, in contrast to his peers: “I have mathematics, English, sports and a timetable that instructs which lessons are where.”

In Refugee Boy, hope is frequently symbolised by stars.

The play begins with Mr Kelo teaching Alem about the North star. Through a number of flashbacks, the stars link Alem to his father despite geographical distance.

Stars also have links to navigation, especially the North star, and Alem’s final lines “The North star decided he would always shine” may also suggest a hopeful ending to the play, with his father still guiding him from beyond the grave.

Stars are also used as a metaphor for love by the Fitzgeralds:

Count them and times by as many and you won’t get close to how much I love you.

Throughout the play, the Fitzgeralds symbolise how ordinary people offer hope for the world. They offer support to the most vulnerable, welcoming and supporting Alem and later his father despite their challenging circumstances.

The motif of stars – including the first and last scenes, final speeches and even the preface to the play have a hopeful tone, celebrating all that is best in humanity.

However, hope is not certain to lead to positive outcomes. Mr and Mrs Kelo hope and campaign for peace and racial unity through the political organisation EAST. They go to great lengths to preserve their family but are both killed.

At the end of the play, Alem’s future is uncertain, and his final lines are a flashback to him pleading with his father: “Can I come? Please. Please. Can I? Can I?”. By finishing the play by returning to a younger, more vulnerable version of Alem, Sissay emphasises the danger and vulnerability of current Alem’s situation.

The Kelo family’s home, Badme, is portrayed as a violent place. In flashbacks, the family are attacked whether they are in Ethiopia or Eritrea, and are forced to leave their home. Later, Alem’s mother is murdered in a political attack. The violence follows Mr Kelo to London, and he is also murdered by the same political organisation.

However, the UK also is shown to be a violent and unfair place through the character of Sweeney. He has experienced a violent upbringing, and in turn is racist and violent towards Alem. In self-defence, Alem takes on this violence, stealing and carrying a knife to protect himself.

Notably, Alem’s flashbacks are triggered by traumatic events taking place in the UK.

• Sweeney’s attack on Alem leads into Scene 5, the flashback to soldiers attacking the Kelo family in Ethiopia.

• Similarly, when Alem learns of his mother's death he believes he hears a banging at the Fitzgeralds’ door which leads into another flashback in Scene 12, where soldiers attack the Kelo family in Eritrea.

This helps the audience to better understand Alem’s mindset: he is on high-alert and these stress-induced flashbacks show how his memories of past violence are inescapable and spill over into his new life.

Sissay examines different forms of prejudice in Refugee Boy.

• The Kelo family experience prejudice from the soldiers in the flashbacks because Mr and Mrs Kelo are from different countries and have married.

• Alem also faces prejudice from Sweeney for being a refugee. Sweeney calls refugees “liars and thieves”. He tells Alem that “you’re all poison”. He doesn’t see Alem as an individual.

• The UK courts are also prejudiced against the Kelo family. They are told that Mrs Kelo has been “hacked to death” but seem ill-informed, insensitive and refuse to see the war as anything more than a “border dispute”.

It could be argued that much of the prejudice in Refugee Boy is sparked by fear and ignorance: the soldiers, Sweeney and the court officials fear that refugees, like the Kelo family, could have a negative impact on their countries.

However, their racist insults and ignorance emphasise how dangerous prejudice can be. The Kelo family are dehumanised and not allowed basic human rights, like a home.

Test your knowledge of the themes of Refugee Boy by completing this multiple-choice quiz.