Communication

The motif of communication emphasizes the important of human connection in order to contrast it with the intentional destruction of life in the ongoing civil war. The breakdown of communication, through the use of flashbacks, can be traced across various re-settlements in different camps. This establishes the substantial effect of war and continuous displacement on human interaction. War is antithetical to communication, as it divides people into different sides of a war, and further divides those sides into camps. The apparent dissolution of verbal communication in Dinesh's flashbacks coincides with the inability or the unwillingness of the evacuees, in the early stages of evacuation, to discuss the red flags of this particular displacement.

The trauma of war is depicted in the novel as a hindrance to communication in order to illustrate the ineffable nature of grief and loss. By the time evacuees arrive at the present...