“Refugee,” a historical fiction novel by Alan Gratz tells a story about three different pre-teen refugees in three different periods of time. Our focus will be the character Mahmoud, and how he has shown grit and courage throughout the story. Mahmoud is a refugee that left his home country, Syria, for a better life in Germany. Ever since the people of Syria started protesting, the government started to attack them and Mahmoud learned to be invisible. Mahmoud’s apartment was destroyed, and his parents believe that it would be best to leave immediately. Throughout the story we get to see the ups and downs that Mahmoud has to deal with. Mahmoud shows grit during three events, giving his sister away, rushing the border, and opening the door at the refugee camp. When Mahmoud was lost in the Mediterranean with his family, he was only with his mother and infant sister, while father and brother couldn't be found. Mahmoud was not sure if they would survive, so when he saw a dinghy, he and his mother grabbed into it. While he was holding …show more content…
A group of refugees rush the incomplete part of the border, which causes Mahmoud and his family to get caught up in the stampede of refugees. Eventually Mahmoud and his family join the others trying to get past the border. Mahmoud shows grit within this event through his thoughts in this quote, “As frightening as the stampede was, Mahmoud was excited too-the refugees were finally doing something. They weren’t just disappearing into their tent cities. They were standing up and saying, “Here we are! Look at us! Help us!” (Page: 205, Chapter: 42). This event shows grit within Mahmoud because during the event, Mahmoud felt frightened and excited when he rushed the border with the other refugees. Mahmoud also felt happy that refugees were standing up and finally making themselves be heard, thus, showing