Sexual Fluidity in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

Abstract

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid propagates the reflection of a war-torn city and subsequent challenges faced by two asylum seekers. But sexual fluidity may appear as another key concern of the novel. This paper analyses the traits of sexual fluidity in Nadia, one of the protagonists of the novel experimenting her situation-dependent flexibility in sexual responsiveness. Nadia, in the beginning, is though found as a heterosexual adult girl, over time she becomes sexually fluid. Again, in the last phase of her life, she returns to meet Saeed, her first noteworthy lover with whom she shares the most crucial part of her life in home and abroad. This shifting of sexual attraction elevates questions about her sex/sexual preference broadly considering the concept of nonexclusive attractions and behaviours. Finally the paper comes to a decision how different concepts of sexuality are motivated by cultural, biological, and psychological constructs.