Analysis Of Year Of The Runaways By Sunjeev Sahota

In 2009, the London School of Economics estimated that the number of illegal immigrants in the United Kingdom was anywhere from 670,000 to over a million. With such high numbers of illegal immigrant located in the United Kingdom, it can become easy to lose sight of the hardships faced by these people and instead focus on statistics. Sunjeev Sahota presents a novel view of the story of immigration through dynamic characters and interactions in the novel Year of the Runaways. Following the stories of four individuals, all coming from different backgrounds, Sahota intertwines their lives in a narrative that exposes the day to day life as well as the larger concerns. Each individual faces a different set of circumstances as to how they arrived

Avtar displaces his home by moving to England in search of work. He moves halfway across the world in hopes of providing a better life for his family in India. With no connection to home, Avtar is lost, floating from home to home with no real tie to anyone place. Opposite to Avtar, Dr. Cheema has a home. He was born in England, he has a house, and he has a job; yet, he seems lost just as much as Avtar. As the director of the international society at the college Avtar attends, Dr. Cheema is in a position to help those without a home transition to a place with a home. However, he does not have any connection to England and instead finds himself relating to India more. As his wife describes it, “’It really is a pathetic thing. To mourn a past you never had. Don’t you think?’” (Sahota 220). While Dr. Cheema has never been to India, he feels more connected to India than he does to London, England, his real home. Dr. Cheema is the antiparallel to Avtar. Avtar relocates from his home and wonders from town to town with no connection to anyone or anything. His only real sense of belonging is back in India which he has given up in hopes of a better life. The physical location of his home is constantly changing, prompting one to consider if Avtar is ever truly “home” during his time in England. Dr. Cheema, on the other hand, is permanently located in London; however, he is just as lost

Cheema. Sahota uses their plights as examples of the importance of the psychological meanings of home and how this meaning is constantly changing. Avtar, while he has his physical connection to India, slowly loses his emotional attachment to lose from back home. This creates a sense of confusion and disconnect in Avtar that he cannot quite place. Each call with Lakhpreet, his main emotional attachment in the story, Avtar gets more and more detached until eventually cannot even talk to her on the phone. Dr. Cheema offers similar ideological views of home but from a different standpoint. While he is physically located in England, his actions suggest the lack of emotional connection that creates his sense of mourning. Dr. Cheema constantly preaches to Avtar how they will never truly belong with those in England and that India is their one true home. Dr. Cheema has never been to India and all his friends and family are located in England; yet, he is more deeply involved with India. This suggests that home is more than just a physical location. Sahota illustrates this in his novel, “He rang Lakhpreet. He thought it would help, hearing her voice, but when she answered he didn’t recognize it. It sounded different.” (451). Here we can see that Avtar is slowly losing his connection to home and how his time in England has changed him. With his one love unrecognizable, Avtar