The story is told by an unnamed female first-person narrator. The narrator meets Laylor during a visits to the toilets at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Uncomfortable and in need of change for a tampon machine, the narrator meets the generous Laylor, who helps her out without expecting to be paid back. After deliberation looking for her, the narrator walks with Laylor through the gallery, commenting on different pictures, before she starts to feel uncomfortable with Laylor´s exuberant youth. They sit in a cafeteria and the narrator learns about the precarious living situation Laylor and her brother are in: as refugees from Uzebekistan, Laylor and her brother donˋt have much money, so they are sleeping rough. Even though Laylor does not ask for anything, the narrator feels pressured/ shamed into helping her. However, while thinking abbaut the advantages that helping Laylor could bring, the narrator unexpectedly leaves the gallery without further comment.

„The Escape“ Qaisra Shahraz (2009):

 The Short story The Escape by Qaisra Shahraz, published in 2009, is about Samir, a 73 years old Pakistani man who, after the death of his wife, reassesses his life, searching for a home and a sense of belonging.

The story starts with Samir praying at the mosque in his old neighbourhood. He gets a lift home from his son, where he waits to be picked up again an hour later. The family celebrate Eid at Samir‘s eldest daughter‘s house. During the celebration, Samit tells his family that he will travel to Pakistan for a few months. His desire is to escape his life in England but tells his family he wants to go back to his roots. On his arrival in Lahore, Samir does not experience the feeling of homecoming he had expected. He is horrified by the poverty and realises he has become unfamiliar with the life in Pakistan. While he visit his parent‘s graves, he remembers his life path from a young Pakistani immigrant in England until his retirement. Afterwards he visit the family his wife used to support and decides to take over his late wife‘s role. He will support this family in need for the rest of his life. He leaves Pakistan after a week after he realised that his home is in England, where his family lives and he spent most of his adult life. Back in England, he arranges for the poor family‘s continued support and keeping only what is necessary to support himself and his children. Samir move to an old people‘s home, where he is happy and enjoys his life.

‘‘The third and final continent’‘ by Jhumpa Lahiri (1999)
The narrator feels at home in both places he migrates to. In London, he lives with other Bengali men. Their shared lifestyle and home provides him with a sense of belonging. In the USA, he quickly becomes accustomed to the culture.

When his wife joins him and the two get closer, they also have each other to turn to. Moreover, both times, the narrator has a purpose. As a working student, his goal is to educate himself and start a career. In Boston, he works for a prestigious university and starts a family.

He does not seem to struggle with his identity or suffer from a lack of belonging because of his migration at any point.

However, living with his wife Mala and being married takes some getting used to. She is a little bit like a foreign country for him.

=> the narrator is a second generation immigrant (from the Caribbean) 

=> Laylor and her brother are first-person immigrants from Uzbekistan

The narrator realised that she could help Laylor, but decides against it 

Belonging: Laylor seems empowered by her sense of belonging

She appears to lose her humanity in the end, defeated by her continuing struggle to belong.

“The Escape“:
Post colonial experience:
=> Samir is a Pakistani who lost his wife and with that his identity and the feeling to belong somewhere
=> Searches his belonging in his birthplace Pakistan
=> realises that a place does not bring alone a feeling to belong
=> goes back to England and fells belonged by his peer group
 
Identify & Belonging: => Samir feeling belonged to his dead wife and finds a new sense of belonging and identity by living with his peer group in an old people‘s home