Why Does Ben Zephaniah Create A Sense Of Hope

A book published in 2001 by Benjamin Zephaniah; refugee boy, describes the events and trauma that asylum seekers of any age have to go through. During the novel, there are moments that are very controversial, and can be viewed differently from other perspectives. Some may consider them thought provoking and resilient. But how does Benjamin Zephaniah create a sense of hope in the novel?

After being abandoned in the alien-like country, Alem’s world is rocked when he discovers that he has to stay in a derelict children’s home: a house with over 80 boys. He is adamant that he would not enjoy it. He tries to blend into the crowd as much as possible, but just shy of an hour into this new life, he get’s into a scuffle about a biscuit “I don’t want any biscuits. If you want biscuits you can get them for yourself.” This remark had no intention of creating offence, but only to get his point across. This traumatic experience forces him to run away. This is one of the first signs of lack of hope in the novel. But things do look up for him.
Although Alem has been through many events that ordinary teenagers would struggle to face; he and his dad stay hopeful.
After Alem read a letter send from his father, he first ‘entered the room expressionless’, but once he continued to read his father’s words, he discovered that his parents say, “we shall be writing to you soon”. From this I get the impression that his father has hope for Alem, and believes that everything will be okay. The words chosen such as ‘soon’ are words that suggest this suffering will not be for long, and Alem is an independent ‘young man’ who is responsible enough to face the challenges with a positive mindset. ‘Soon’ also implies that Mr Kelo’s situation will also improve and things will begin to look
forward.

Alem has high hopes for his new school. This is shown by, how “Alem bounced in, a little out of breath, but excited”. Despite the fact Alem did not have a good experience of previous schools, and environments with other people his age, he never stops believing in the importance of education. At the beginning, Alem was instructed to “speak English” by his father, but now “his English was improving by the day”, and was willing to expand his knowledge as much as possible. As a result of this behavior, I believe that this helped Zephaniah. When creating hope

However, the death of his parents (his dad especially) tore him down so much that it would seem like all hope was lost. The chirpy, smiley Alem was temporarily on hold; as he “looked down in silence” Normally, he’s quite calm, and usually remains emotionless, and keeps himself to himself; when reading letters from his father. However, this was different. “How do you expect me to calm down? My father has been shot” he shouts at the top of his lungs. This is uncharacteristic for Alem which creates the impression that he had no hope left.
Zephaniah's use of the rhetorical question, leads the audience to the fact that Alem is just an oblivious child, despite his father calling him ‘young man’. Hope was very much lost because Alem had been given false information. He was lead to believe that England was safe. His father states “We cannot risk another attack on you”. This proves that Alem’s father had got the impression that Alem wouldn’t get hurt, and England was a safe place.

It is safe to say that Zephaniah’s main character; Alem, who is a character who does represent real life issues, has had his ups and downs. But no matter what, Alem persevered.
The novel ends with a powerful statement: “this is not the end”. This means that Alem’s life is not over, and he will still struggle with his life as a refugee. But it also means that he still has hope, he creates the thought that maybe it’s not just him. There are more refugees in the world who have struggled just like Alem, but these people are strong, these people do not give up, and these people stay hopeful. So yes, Benjamin Zephaniah has indeed created a sense of hope, by creating situations in which a positive outcome is always possible. And creating a message that is relatable to the characters and the readers.