The novel Open City by Teju Cole focuses on the similar experiences that immigrants and those of mixed ethnicity have. Julius, the main character, often feels lonely and isolated from other people. He tends to detach himself from any form of emotional connection. In chapter 17, Julius saves the life of a boy who is drowning, but doesn’t feel fulfilled. He says that, “But almost all that day’s details was soon lost to me, and what remained most strongly was the sensation of being all alone in the water, that feeling of genuine isolation, as though I had been cast without preparation into some immense, and not unpleasant, blue chamber, far from humanity. (Cole, 177-178).” Julius quickly forgets the details of that heroic day and even the boy’s identity, except that the boy is mixed. Julius removes any emotional connection from that event and instead believes that he was thrown– without prior knowledge into a sea of loneliness and isolation. He compares the sea to a “blue chamber, far from humanity” because he feels trapped in a closed location away from people. Although Julius discusses this topic of loneliness often in the Open City, he’s not completely against it. He says that the immense blue chamber is “not unpleasant.” He believes that it’s tolerable, but strange.