One of the most common motifs throughout the book is Abdi’s love of cinema. It affects his entire life, filling him with ideas of America from a young age. He visits the makeshift cinema in his neighborhood on a regular basis, the movies he sees there become a symbol of freedom and escape. Movies become a reference point in Abdi’s life, affecting how he presents himself to the world and to the reader. Often, he likens moments in his life to movies like The Terminator and Titanic; Abdi uses film references as cultural shorthand to demonstrate his proximity to American culture.

When Abdi is young, the cinema is an escape from religious school and the horrors of war—a portal to another world. Abdi sees famous actors speaking a language he does not understand and feels inspired. The cinema becomes an oasis of ambition, symbolizing life outside Somalia.

The effect movies have on Abdi is profound. He decorates his room with movie and music posters, angering his parents by this break from his strict religious upbringing. The cultural pull of America drags Abdi away from his Somali roots, toward something else—a pull that proves dangerous when Islamists soldiers enter Abdi’s house and search for taboo artifacts that prove that he is not pious enough.