Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility Theme Analysis

In Refugee, Gratz explores how non-refugees treat those who are journeying through or landing in their home countries, weaving patterns among the people who meet Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud. Gratz employs two kinds of non-refugees in his novel: those who dehumanize or ignore the protagonists’ plights, and those who are empathetic and attempt to help. Gratz demonstrates how when a group of people is dehumanized, it is easier for others to be unjust and cruel to those people. By contrast, Gratz shows how empathy and recognizing people’s humanity can make an enormous difference in people’s lives, and he calls on readers to share that empathy with refugees.

As a Jewish person, Josef is frequently dehumanized by the Nazis, both in Germany and as he and his family try to flee the country; this gives Nazis the license to then abuse and torture Jewish people. Thus, Gratz argues how easy it is to mistreat people when they choose not to recognize the humanity of others. Josef describes an incident in which he is called to the front of his class and spoken of as though he is “subhuman.” Josef is humiliated, and this belittlement is what allows the Germans to mistreat Jewish people so easily, because the Germans think of them as lesser. This remains true once Josef and his family board the ship to Cuba: he and the other children on the St. Louis are called “Jewish rats” by one of the ship’s Nazi officers, Otto Schiendick. This overt dehumanization is what gives the Nazis the permission to be so brutal, such as when Schiendick and other Nazi soldiers later ransack Josef’s family’s cabin. In this incident, the soldiers do unnecessarily cruel things like smashing everything in sight tearing the head off of Ruthie’s stuffed bunny. Yet perhaps the worst act of injustice is when the Jews are prevented from leaving the ship and entering Cuba, despite the fact that a return to Germany will most likely result in their deaths. One of the Cuban officers, Mariano Padron, apologizes to Josef, saying, “I’m just doing my job.” The ease with which he is able to ignore the plight of the Jewish passengers, shows how he, too, is complicit in the refugees’ suffering despite exhibiting some empathy. Devaluing the Jewish people’s humanity is what enables him to look away from the injustice and cruelty toward which he is sending them.

Mahmoud also encounters similar injustice, as Gratz includes many episodes in which people try to take advantage of Mahmoud and his family. Many of the actions of the people the family encounters are truly despicable, as these people attempt to exploit refugees who are already so vulnerable. When Mahmoud’s family is trying to get a boat from Turkey to Greece, they are told day after day that the boat is delayed and will come tomorrow. They are then forced to pay merely to be taken to a shelter, and then they are told they have to pay 5,000 pounds each—including for Mahmoud’s infant sister, Hana—in order to stay at the mall. Then, the family is convinced to pay for life vests which turn out to be fake. These incidents show how little people care for their wellbeing: others are willing to endanger the refugees’ lives just to make money and improve their own situation. Later on, when Mahmoud and his family travel to Hungary, they are prevented from entering the country. The Hungarians fire tear gas canisters at the refugees, and then Mahmoud and his family are thrown in a detention center, where the soldiers call them “parasites” and “filth.” Mahmoud understands that they are not criminals, since they’ve done nothing wrong other than try to escape a country that is being bombed, and yet they are still treated as vermin. This constant dehumanization is demoralizing and only adds to the family’s misery and destitution as they go through the most difficult period of their lives.

Gratz counters these incidents with episodes in which people recognize the refugees’ humanity and empathize with them. He shows how even the smallest acts of kindness can make a huge difference to these most vulnerable populations. For example, when Isabel and her family arrive in the Bahamas, tourists start to throw them anything they have—aspirin, bottles of water, bags of food. Isabel’s heart “ache[s] with gratitude,” as she knows that this kindness might mean the difference between “death and survival” for her pregnant mother, Teresa. Recognizing people’s most basic needs and offering a small amount of assistance, Gratz shows, can go a long way to helping them and making them feel valuable. In another instance, Mahmoud is relieved in Turkey when a man named Samih Nasser allows him and his family to sleep in his office in a car dealership. Nasseer had been a refugee himself, and thus understands the plight of these desperate people. It makes sense that a fellow refugee would want to help Mahmoud and his family, but his simple offer of a place to sleep highlights the idea that many people could offer some kind of assistance to people passing through—it just takes a small amount of empathy.

The climax of Gratz’s novel draws connections between his three main characters: Gratz reveals that Isabel’s grandfather Lito was Mariano Padron, the Cuban officer who turned the St. Louis away and sent Josef and the other Jewish refugees back to Europe. Lito worries, reflecting on the incident, about how many of them died because he was “just doing his job.” This contrasts with Josef’s younger sister, Ruthie, who is able to survive the Holocaust and takes in Mahmoud and his family while they are getting back on their feet in Germany. The difference between the outcomes of these two stories shows the importance of treating refugees with empathy and respect, and not looking away when people are facing injustice. This is the message Gratz aims to impart on the reader, in the hopes that they, too, might provide essential aid to refugees in need.