Amir Utu is the protagonist of What Strange Paradise. Amir is a nine-year-old Syrian boy who is forced to flee his home country with his family due to the Syrian Civil War. He is based on the fictional character Peter Pan and real-life boy Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian child who, like Amir, was the victim of a shipwreck of a refugee boat. The shipwreck scene and the concluding chapter of What Strange Paradise indicate that Amir died in the shipwreck. Unlike Peter Pan, he has no choice but to remain in “Neverland,” never truly growing up.

Before the events of the novel, Amir lost his father and an uncle (Loud Uncle) during a political demonstration. Amir’s Uncle Utu, whom Amir refers to as “Quiet Uncle,” marries Amir’s mother and takes on the role of caring for the family. They have an infant son, Harun, with whom Amir never truly feels a connection. Amir remains skeptical of his uncle’s ability to care for them even as the Utus attempt to establish themselves in Alexandria, Egypt. His father, a balanced man who was neither as rash as Loud Uncle nor as sneakily conniving as Quiet Uncle, is Amir’s concept of ideal masculinity.