 " The theme of exile , of people living at the margins ... is treated in a literal and metaphorical sense throughout Chatwin 's work , " stated Nicholas Murray . He identified several examples in Chatwin 's work . There were people who were actual exiles , such as some of those profiled in In Patagonia and the Viceroy of Ouidah , who was unable to return to Brazil . Murray also cited the main characters in On the Black Hill , " although not strictly exiles ... [ they ] were exiles from the major events of their time and its dominant values . " Similarly , Murray wrote , Utz is " trapped in a society whose values are not his own but which he cannot bring himself to leave . " 
