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Exile

Burying Alive or Digging Out Humanity
Exile and Solidarity

by Pınar Çetinkaya 

Exile (1994) by Pádraic Ó Conaire, an Irish novelist, portrays the survival of a poor Irishman, Michael, who emigrates from Ireland to England to earn money but becomes a cripple due to a car crash. The protagonist tells the whole story until he dies at the end, allowing us to closely witness his anxieties and fears about his disadvantaged body and life. We feel from the beginning of the novel how desperate it is to be isolated as both an immigrant and a disabled person in London, where social and economic inequalities are major concerns. This isolation triggers his fears of dying from hunger and anxieties about being maltreated and humiliated due to his appearance. However, despite all his anxieties he has to accept working as a circus freak that frightens crowds with his appearance, since this job is his only chance to survive.

The most crucial issue of the novel is the importance of solidarity in a community, particularly when it comes to the disadvantaged members of it. Michael faces a lack of solidarity when struggling with hunger for days because no one is concerned about him and checks his room. The feeling of being ignored and left for dead by people forces him to sell his dignity and body in the freak show. These poor living conditions are similar to our world when it is considered how poor people face a rough life and, in some cases, die from starvation because of social and economic inequalities and a lack of solidarity. Solidarity is one of the fundamental means of restoring the psychological and socioeconomic conditions of people since the feeling of loneliness might otherwise harm people and the essence of society in terms of living together. For instance, when Michael is about to die because of poverty after leaving the circus, another Irish immigrant woman finds accommodation and suitable work for him in an area of London where the population of Irish immigrants is high. Michael is now surrounded with his people and this sense of solidarity helps him heal both physically and emotionally. Solidarity, on the other hand, should not be associated with just the idea of helping; rather, it should be recognized as a driving force in a democratic society that brings people around a common goal to fix problems or improve current conditions. Thus, the efforts to build a more egalitarian society through solidarity will lead to social welfare and a sense of collectiveness for mutual benefits in the future.

We are destined to live in an unequal world without peace unless we understand that leaving people alone with their fate will engender negative feelings and traits such as selfishness, indifference, and injustice in society. The picture of Michael’s miserable life in Exile points out that the need for solidarity in a society is essential to maintaining equality and justice at the level of the life of the individual or the citizen, or else we might end up with a senseless civilization and the loss of individuals.