White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 1618 Words

1. Samad’s great-grandfather, Mangal Pande was the first of the sepoys in the Bengal army to fire a shot at a British soldier setting off a revolt against the British. However, the circumstances of the events that unfolded are greatly debated as to whether he was drunk when he shot the soldier and so on (209). However, for Samad, Pande represents an unsung hero of eastern culture, preserving the culture of Bengal from the British (215). Samad also views Pande as a name that he must live up to; Pande had a mark on history and so Samad felt that he had to do his best to live to the name and be successful in the military (76/77). 2. Clara was driven away from her old life because of Ryan Topps. Originally she used him as a way of getting away from her old family and as a way of living a double life; the life she lived at home (around her mother) and the life she lived around Ryan’s companions Merlin, Wan-Si and so on (32). However, Ryan eventually becomes enamored with the idea of the rapture and being saved from Gods fury and takes up the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witness. He soon joins forces with Clara’s mother in an effort to bring Clara back to God in a last effort to save her. This in turn drives Clara completely away from Ryan and her family (36). It was after all this loss that she met Archie and for her, it seems he was her â€Å"last man on Earth† (38). 3. Samad has a glorified idea of who he really was. Obviously he takes into account the downfalls of losing the function ofShow MoreRelatedWhite Teeth by Zadie Smith732 Words   |  3 PagesZadie Smith’s White Teeth shows the difficulties that immigrants and their children go through while adapting to their new location. They must find a border between their past culture, and the one they now live in. Zadie Smith shows pessimism towards creating a third space of cultural difference—where cultural difference is an encouraged, positive thing—all while showing the gradual progression of cultural difference acceptance through the first generation immigrants to their children and how itRead MoreAn Analysis of White Teeth by Zadie Smith2716 Words   |  11 PagesZadie Smiths multicultural, post colonial novel has been widely discussed in the literary world. At the age of 25, Zadie Smith captures the immensely believable lives of an aging Bangladeshi Muslim man, a too-concerned middle-class white woman poking her nose in all the wrong business, and an adolescent half-Jamaican girl with self-esteem issues. Over the span of about 30 years, the three families in the book undergo a wide web of separate but somehow connected circumstances, and SmithRead MoreWhite Teeth by Zadie Smith1902 Words   |  8 PagesIndian Mutiny. (pg 84) 2. First, Clara knocked her front teeth out while riding on a scooter with Ryan. Next, Clara’s faith was dwindling because the New Year did not bring about the apocalypse as she expected. Clara surprised herself by falling into a melancholy because of these two things. Clara was lacking a savior when she met Archie. When she saw Archie for the first time, she did not see the rather short, chubby, middle-aged white man in a badly tailored suit. Clara saw Archie through theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Zadie Smith 1146 Words   |  5 PagesZadie Smith is a British African writer, she was born October 25, 1975 in the United Kingdom. Some of her most well-known books are: On Beauty, White Teeth, NW, The Autographed Man, and latest book, Swing Time. When she wrote White Teeth she was known as a strong and powerful writer. She wrote White Teeth when she was 24. Her latest work Swing Time is the first piece of work that is written in first person. In her books there are many themes that she has in her book, she has relationships with friendsRead MoreTony Morrison s Tar Baby And White Teeth1590 Words   |  7 Pagesrepresented in Tar Baby and White Teeth? In what ways do the narratives challenge binary oppositions of centre/margin? Theories of race and ethnicity have never been a high priority in society, and this is reflected through many narratives across the world and throughout time. Majority of narratives focus mainly on centralising the â€Å"whites† or Anglo’s as the focal point of each story, causing a distinguished imbalance or hierarchy, between the â€Å"whites† or Anglo’s and the â€Å"non-whites† or non-Anglo’s, LucasRead MoreThemes of Identity and Heritage in White Teeth1152 Words   |  5 PagesThemes of Identity and Heritage in White Teeth A suicidal man with no place in the world, an African American woman who wants to get away from her own mother, and a Bengali man who is conflicted with himself and his culture; these characters make the basis for almost all events in Zadie Smith’s novel, White Teeth. The story of White Teeth takes place in a diverse London between the periods of 1974 and 1992, beginning with Archie Jones attempt at suicide. Archie and his long time friend Samad andRead More Love in A.S. Byatts Possession, Zadie Smiths White Teeth, and the Full Monty by Peter Cuttaneo1676 Words   |  7 PagesLove in A.S. Byatts Possession, Zadie Smiths White Teeth, and the Full Monty by Peter Cuttaneo As British literature and film seek to sort out the identity crisis that England finds herself in as a post-imperial nation, a variety of views have emerged concerning solutions for Britain’s confusion. One reoccurring theme to these views is love. A.S. Byatt’s Possession, Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, and The Full Monty, directed by Peter Cattaneo, all deal with a traditional, romantic view of trueRead MoreEssay on One’s Past is Like a Shadow684 Words   |  3 PagesZadie Smith’s White Teeth epigraph â€Å"What is past is prologue,† means that what has occurred in the past has led up to what is happening in the future or present. Smith illustrates the struggles three families go through for identity, legacy, striving for a good future while holding onto the traditions of the past, and maintaining ones religion or beliefs. Through the text, the thematic significance of the past occurs often with the recurring flashbacks which sometimes goes as far back to 1857;Read MoreThe Assumption on the Topic of White Teeths Audience800 Words   |  4 PagesThe Assumption on the Topic of White Teeths Audience Zadie Smith’s world wasn’t a made up fairyland with an elven language, ethereal metaphors or green setting, no, within her novel, White Teeth, it was a clear reflection of what type of society that she lived in. A society where everything seen can be an interpretation of what society wanted out of you, a false representation that was found in the comfortable ideals of Euro-Centric beauty which were hard to attain yet were so sought out no matterRead MoreEssay on Zadie Smiths White Teeth1007 Words   |  5 PagesZadie Smiths White Teeth Zadie Smith’s novel, White Teeth, is chock full of potential deconstruction ideas; however, an exciting scene to deconstruct is in â€Å"The Final Space† chapter when the Iqbals and the Jones are on the public bus heading towards the FutureMouse exhibit. The most obvious binary opposite is that of parent or adult and child. Adults are without doubt the privileged binary. They signify knowledge, wisdom, teaching, and training of young ones along with patience and selflessness