Exile is a dream of glorious return. Exile is a vision of revolution: Elba, not St Helena. It is an endless paradox: looking forward by always looking back. The exile is a ball hurled high into the air. He hangs there, frozen in time, translated into a photograph; denied motion, suspended impossibly above his native earth, he awaits the inevitable moment at which the photograph must begin to move, and the earth reclaim its own.
In Salman Rushdie's perspective on exile, he presents it as a complex mix of nostalgia and hope. Exile symbolizes not just a physical separation from one's homeland but also a longing for a triumphant return. It embodies the idea of revolution, suggesting that those in exile dream of a comeback rather than a mere resignation to their fate. This paradox illustrates a dynamic tension between looking back at one's roots while simultaneously aiming to forge a new future.
Rushdie further describes the experience of the exile as one caught in suspension, akin to a ball thrown into the air, holding onto a moment that feels both fleeting and eternal. This imagery captures the essence of being torn between two worlds, as the exile remains poised in a state of anticipation. Their identity and sense of belonging are defined by a yearning for their homeland, while the eventual return is both inevitable and fraught with the complexities of change and transformation.
