A Sense of Crisis in Zadie Smith's White Teeth
Masaryk University
Faculty of Education
Department of English Language and Literature
A Sense of Crisis in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth
Diploma thesis
Brno 2019
Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. Bc. Nela Pavlová
Declaration
I hereby declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.
23 March 2019, Brno Author’s signature
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Acknowledgements
My deep gratitude belongs to my supervisor and my teacher, Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D., for her help, guidance and the opportunity to discover the beauty and the challenges of literature throughout my studies. I also appreciate the endless support from all my dear ones, especially my fiancé Vojta and my sister Lucie.
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Anotace
Tato diplomová práce si klade za cíl provést analýzu románu Bílé zuby od autorky Zadie Smith, a to především se zaměřením na téma krize. Práce zkoumá, jakou roli hrají náboženství
(zejména křesťanství a islám) a rozmanité kultury (západní a východní) v multikulturní Británii, a také se zabývá následky konfliktu, který je důsledkem rozkolu dílčích etnik. Krize zapříčiňuje osobní zklamání, kulturní míšení a různé formy extremismu. Jedním z cílů je taktéž vyzdvihnout způsob, jakým uznávaná autorka zobrazuje problémy současného světa. Z toho důvodu práce usiluje o uznání jedinečného důvtipu, se kterým Smith představuje velice závažná témata.
Klíčová slova
Bílé zuby, Zadie Smith, Bible, náboženství, krize, střet, kultura, multikulturalismus
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Abstract
The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth with the main focus on the evoked sense of crisis. It deals with the role of multiple religions (especially
Christianity and Islam) and cultures (Western and Eastern) in multicultural Britain and explores the effects of the conflict created by the emerged rift among various ethnicities. The crisis results in personal disillusionment, cultural hybridity and several forms of extremism. One of the goals is to also highlight the acclaimed author's approach to portraying the contemporary issues which reach beyond the novel, therefore the thesis aims to acknowledge the ability to present serious issues with Smith's unique wit.
Key Words
White Teeth, Zadie Smith, The Bible, religion, crisis, clash, culture, multiculturalism
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Table of Contents Introduction 7
1. Value Crisis
1.1 The Relevance of Religion and Literature in the Western World 11
1.2 The Reflection of The Bible and its Current Status 14
2. Personal Crises
2.1 Roots as a Metaphor for Inner Stability 20
2.2 The Era of Chaos and Extremism 22
2.3 Challenging the Western Christian Rootedness 26
3. Multiculturalism
3.1 The “Whose God” Concept and Ambiguity 29
3.2 Inside the Soul of an Immigrant 31
3.3 Multiculturalism at Its Best (and Worst) 38
3.4 The Era of Do-goodism 41
4. Responding to the Crisis
4.1 The Power of Relationship 43
4.2 The Danger of Exclusivity 46
4.3 The Narrator Intervenes 48
5.1 Postmodernism as a Mirror of the Chaos and the Reality 53
5.2 Elements of Postmodernism 58
Conclusion 62
Bibliography 64
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Introduction “In the beginning was the Word […]” (English Standard Version, John 1.1)
These words are a part of the sentence which introduces the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Every literary masterpiece had to begin with one word only. The power of a single word proves to be utterly immense as one word stands ground to begin a new chapter. A chapter may thereby commence with thrilling exploits and consequently enable the literary crew to embark on further adventurous journeys. Nevertheless, there would be no such elements as initial words, phrases and clauses eventually assembled into paragraphs and later into chapters and complete stories were it not for their author. Behind any masterpiece there must be a master, although in this thesis the genius behind all the writing is a she.
And her name is Zadie Smith. Born in 1975 in Northwest London and having published her first significant novel White Teeth at the age of only twenty-four, the assertive Smith has been recognized not only “as one of the world’s preeminent fiction writers, but also a brilliant and singular essayist” (PRH Publishers). This thesis deals with the acclaimed 2000 novel, White
Teeth, and analyses its selected aspects, namely the role of religion in the now multicultural
Western world whose crisis resolves into various conflicts illustrated by selected affairs or passages in the following analysis of the novel.
The focus of the thesis is not merely on the novel itself (the plot and the characters) as it also devotes interest to the creative author and her postmodern style of writing with the lack of any attempts to make the reality more appealing than it truly is. The thesis also provides space for reflection of and commentary on the serious issues related to the crisis in Britain and in Europe. Broadly speaking, Smith’s excellence may be ascribed, firstly, to her ability to approach various issues without reluctance and fear as she does not hesitate to present
“questions we immediately recognize”. Secondly it is her writing talent – the skill of combining the incompatible and blending the anomalies together in the sense of multiple contexts, on
7 various levels and with different aims. While she deserves to be compared to other contemporary influential authors, “Smith’s voice is remarkably, fluently, and altogether wonderfully her own.” (PRH Publishers) By staying true to her original and witty manners as an author, she accomplishes the creation of perfect conditions for a literary mirror of the disorderly world the Western society lives in.
The world we currently live in, the one she portrays in her novels (and in White Teeth especially), belongs to the “century of relativism and deconstruction” in which no previous certainties remain anchored. Therefore, a great deal of the themes in her novel suggest the problems of the negative effects which may be a part of the process of assimilation. She raises awareness of the reality of often unpleasant stages immigrants can find themselves trapped in.
In the analysis these issues are described as rootlessness, cultural clash or cultural hybridity.
“Hybridity is one of the emblematic notions of our era. It captures the spirit of the times with its obligatory celebration of cultural difference and fusion, and it resonates with the globalization mantra of unfettered economic exchanges and the supposedly inevitable transformation of all cultures.” (Kraidy 1)
Besides this it is also typical of Smith to combine her wittiness with the use of irony or sarcasm and approach serious or even hopeless issues with a sense of humour. Her magnificent quality of bringing the two elements together – e.g. the serious situations or the desperate emotional stages and the comical way of presenting them – guarantees Smith to indeed shine as a brilliant postmodern author. Similarly, she manages to excel in relating the issues the novel deals with to the present or the past, or both, while enabling the reader to reflect on their relevance even almost twenty years after the publishing of the novel.
Smith receives praise for hew raw honesty as well as the ability to put certain issues which are not discussed on daily basis into the spotlight. Neither uncomfortable nor painful matters stop her from mirroring the reality in detail which as a result portray “a survey of 8 important recent events in culture and politics, as well as Smith’s own life.” (PRH Publishers)
Owing to all the mentioned qualities of the author, the thesis aims to appreciate Smith’s achievement while reflecting on the meaning and importance of the analysed aspects with the potential to surpass the framework of the novel. Smith deserves the critical acclaims thanks to paying attention to the problems of the real world.
The shift of values in the postmodern society, migration crisis, search for personal and national identity and roots, and ultimate cultural clash – all of these are the examples of some of the most emphasized issues dealt with in White Teeth. It is extremely challenging to summarize the plot of the novel in a simple way as a result of the novel’s complicated structure and unusual complexity. Due to the fact that the following analysis uses only short fragments of the story with the focus on illustrating specifically selected phenomena, a brief summary of the plot is included below in order to grasp the otherwise exceptionally tangled and elaborate story of White Teeth.
At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones
and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their
families become agents of England’s irrevocable transformation. A second
marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half
his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie,
a knowing child whose personality doesn’t quite match her name (Jamaican for
“no problem”). Samad’s late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his
bride to be born), produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal’s
every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic
faith. Set against London’s racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the
former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels
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in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding
expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence. (PRH Publishers)
Perhaps it is the “flirting with disaster” aspect, as expressed in the plot’s summary, which guarantees the very believable impression of the whole narrative. Smith’s witty approach to the difficult topics establishes a perfect balance between the depressing and the comical effects of the narrative. As a result, what may appear to be for instance the most disturbing situation is described as if it were completely ordinary (e.g. the immoralities which were a part of the
British education during colonial times which are discussed later in the analysis) – all owing to the brilliance of Smith’s unique writing.
Smith’s portrait of life may be considered realistic and natural, yet highly artistic and sophisticated. Diving into her well-calculated story has the potential to make the reader stumble upon various feelings – be entertained, educated, upset, disturbed or maybe even encouraged to sympathize with the involved – all within one novel. With all this being pointed out, it is necessary to claim that the work on the thesis’s analysis was a highly enjoyable and an enriching process on a cultural, historical and literary level – despite that fact that the novel itself as well as most of its fragments used the analysis deal with e.g. crisis, disillusionment and other negative aspects of different contemporary trends.
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1. Value Crisis
1.1 The Relevance of Religion and Literature in the Western World We live in a world in which the role of religion quite significantly differs from its role in the past. Surrounded by the results of massive migration trends, shift of values due to the blending of cultures and ethnicities and dramatic deconstruction of religion, we find ourselves in a, as some may call it, “more modern, westernized and secular” (Nguyen) world. Although when Nguyen uses these characteristics in his essay, he refers to the current state of London described in Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth, however, it may be adequate to use the same expressions to depict the current state of Europe, the Western society or generally, the world we live in today. Even without the geopolitical correctness it may be argued that number of perspectives had been and are being westernized despite not being physically in the West. While the term may originally be associated exclusively with modernity, new trends and advance, nowadays it may also be related with certain negative aspects such as secularism, shift of values as well as freedom with sometimes an over-liberal character for some.
When it comes to literature, it might have the power to help future generations understand the previous states of being, which issues were dealt with among the society and what kind of tendencies seemed to be dominant then. In the case of this thesis, the crisis is described partially as a result of the transformation of the religious relevance. The goal is to notice and address the changes. It occurs that not only the individual priorities had shifted from Christianized to more secularized in the context of Western culture. The depiction of today’s multicultural world and suggesting how the role of The Bible may have transformed due to the exposed shifts may both be of great significance when reflecting on the process of change.
Smith’s White Teeth reflects the very complex life stories of its characters in the twentieth-century England. Although the story takes place several decades before the beginning
11 of the twenty-first century, its complicated and convoluted plot portrays the diversities of contemporary English and Western society with accuracy and relevance which is not limited by the timeframe of the novel. In other words, the topics may strongly resonate with contemporary reader. The reason why it perfectly mirrors the state of the nineteen-seventies but also today’s Western society is the fact that the novel shares same characteristics which are relatable for the multicultural twenty-first century world. Some of those issues might be described as e.g. secularism, individualism, multiculturalism, fanaticism, search for and loss of identity, the hardship of staying faithful to one’s roots, the different roles of religion in individuals’ lives and clash of morals and beliefs.
As far as White Teeth is concerned, not many other references may apply as much as the caution1 displayed above the description of the eponymous television miniseries White Teeth based on Smith’s novel: “Guidance. Strong language and sexual scenes. This programme isn’t suitable for younger viewers. Please confirm that you are over 16 years old.” The PG 16 factor is self-explanatory not only in the 2002 television adaptation of the novel and its scenes with e.g. very explicit sexuality and inappropriate language or in the 2000 novel itself, but especially in the contemporary state of the Western world. Whether desired or not, we live in a strongly recommended PG 16 (PG standing for the parental guidance connected with certain not- suitable-for-children content) world.
However, the explicit sexual references or vulgarisms are not the most crucial aspects dealt with in this thesis. The aim is to discuss the more implicit references most of which are somehow connected with religion. In spite of this, it is necessary to state that most of the religious terms used in this diploma thesis are rooted in the characters and the plot of the analysed novel, and in most cases aim to serve as an interconnecting bridge between religion and culture – which tend to be very closely related when it comes to studying and understanding
1 Visit www.channel4.com/programmes/white-teeth/on-demand/31903-001. 12 different peoples’ and nations’ identities. This thesis does not aspire to focus on and deal with the theological aspects of the concepts but uses them rather as a tool to examine, explain and critically think about the most crucial effects certain religions and different religious phenomena might have on the protagonists of the story. Yet the concluded results ought not to be in any way separated from the real world we live in today. They might stand the chance to remain relevant in the contemporary multicultural society found beyond the pages of White
Teeth.
The reason why a great number of religious terms is used and/or discussed is because it is believed that among other factors, religion has the power to shape ones’ character and therefore their behaviour. Among many other authors, Jacobson discusses how e.g. Islamic religion currently stands out from the rest of the religions in the Western world. She deals with young British Pakistanis and views their religion as a means of finding a needed sense of stability in a very chaotic world and depicts the hardship of the search of one’s identity.
Religious views may also affect and determine how one feels in certain situations, which choices one makes etc. Deeper analysis of the religious concepts could lead to better understanding of the characters’ development over time throughout the complex storyline of the novel. If we reversed this idea, it might be depicted that the phenomenon of losing one’s religion irrecoverably or radicalizing one’s mindset could potentially have an even stronger
(and perhaps more negative) effect on the characters and therefore the results may lead to even a more serious crisis.
The sense of crisis may be connected to several concepts. Kaufmann mentions issues such as “cultural conflict”, “multicultural liberalism”, political correctness, “a melting-pot
Europe”, “diversity, inequality […] and nationalism” as well as “secular European elites”, all of which somehow relate to the situation in which most of the analysed characters find themselves. In contemporary literature, and in White Teeth especially, religion may attain
13 different roles, however in the analysed novel most attention is given to the mutual connections between religion, culture, contemporary multicultural society in Britain and in the Western world in general. The portrait of the clashing factors is commented upon by Quinn as follows:
“This conflation of the high and the low – biblical morality juxtaposed with the mundane details of domesticity – is key to Smith's frisky and irreverent comic attack. […] This juxtaposition is related to the larger way in which the novel plays with the gap between expectation and reality.”
In other words, the novel’s friskiness and playfulness enrich the process of addressing sensitive topics.
1.2 The Reflection of The Bible and its Current Status
Since various religions are repeatedly discussed in Smith’s White Teeth – their significance and effect within the story as well as all the insoluble issues which originate alongside the clash of religions and the twenty-first-century-lifestyle being a typical theme in
Smith’s work – the attention is devoted to their roots. The concept of (not only religious) roots may be grasped from a shared or commonly accepted point of view but it may also be a personal matter. By personal I mean that the “strongest religious roots likely are present in individuals who are both agreeable and conscientious and also are raised in religious households” (Hewer).
This is one of the reasons why the focus is also shifted towards The Bible, as the one book which has been shaping especially the Christian religion for centuries whether on a general or a more personal level.
What happens in Smith’s novel is, in fact, in some respect disturbing. Naturally, the initial finding that on a single page one can encounter a beautifully written poetic passage sometimes including even a direct quote from The Bible, a holy book for many, followed by extreme vulgarisms and explicitly described obscenities could be considered shocking for some
14 people. While neither of the mentioned is considered taboo, it is rather the combination of the two entirely different contexts which may be unexpected.
This is demonstrated by the following example. When one of the main characters of the novel, Magid, is described, we learn that “you couldn’t upset Magid with words” and that he would always “turn the other cheek” (Smith 429). The then new idea of turning one’s cheek and not following the Old-Testament principle “[a]n eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth […]”
(English Standard Version 690) was presented by Jesus Christ in the New Testament (ibid).
Therefore, without crediting the original source, the usage of such phrase has the potential to allude the context of The Bible – of course if one is familiar with its context in the first place.
Allusion, that is the “brief and indirect reference to a[n] […] idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance” (“Allusion”) is used frequently by Smith. “It does not describe in detail the […] thing to which it refers, […] the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance”. What directly precedes and follows the Biblical allusion are pejoratives and vulgarisms – “fucking bath”, “fucking jeans”, “pain in the arse”,
“shit”, “stubborn bastard” and many more (Smith 429). This is to say that Smith is not hesitant to combine the Biblical allusions with the depiction of the English “vulgar” and “disgusting” manners (Reynolds). She does so repeatedly, fearlessly and despite the original context of The
Bible or reader’s expectations. In that sense, Smith portrays real-life language.
In other words, what tends to precede or follow the diverse references to The Bible or other issues related to Christianity, or any religion in general, throughout the novel may be bothersome for some and at the same time witty for others. It is of great significance to point out that neither the deeds not the characters are openly judged or explicitly criticized in any way – yet, this does not mean that the criticism may not be implicit.
In order to understand why it might be so overwhelming for some readers to face such diverse atmospheres, styles and themes all in one novel, it is worth considering the ultimate
15 purpose of The Bible as a part of the religious environment (e.g. church services or religious studies) and the context in which most of its current readers are familiar with it. In a similar way Robinson emphasizes that “[b]iblical allusions can suggest a degree of seriousness or significance their context in a modern fiction does not always support.” She continues to acknowledge such authors who reflect “a profound knowledge of Scripture and tradition […], the kind of knowledge found only among those who take them seriously enough”, with which
Smith most definitely complies, therefore the noticeable elements of the novel are not Smith’s views on the Scriptures but perhaps what surrounds the references.
By the sophistication in her referring to The Bible, it may be concluded that Smith proves herself to be very educated in this field. For instance, The Book of Books is physically present in the novel as it is written that “the passages of the New Bible flicked over in the breeze” (Smith
30) but more importantly there are other countless quotations of Bible verses shared by the characters or the narrator of the story (e.g. Smith 30, 33, 34, 43, 46, 184, 185, 344, 360, 363,
385, 385, 391, 410, 507 and many more). By being able to incorporate Biblical references into her work so many times and in such clever ways, she proves to have an extraordinary level of understanding The Bible and its context and this knowledge is what allows her to incorporate her wit and sometimes sharp humour into her work. As a result, the reader encounters a sophisticated approach to depicting contrasts and antimonies rather than distasteful mockery or derogation.
Therefore, in order to be able to suggest how the role of The Bible might have changed over time it is worth reflecting on what could be concluded as far as Smith’s work with passages of the religious texts incorporated in a postmodern writing is concerned. Firstly, when trying to define what The Bible and its original role are in the religious context accepted by millions of believers, it can be argued that it is:
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The best-selling book ever, with more than three billion copies distributed
worldwide. It is the book where untold millions have found hope and joy and
peace-and the answer to life. This is because the words of the Bible are truth and
life. They are the very words of God. (English Standard Version preface)
Of course, one of many possible issues appears alongside this statement as some people might find a certain sense of bias in such description of the book. To be able to fully accept such statement as the reality or a fact, one’s personal religious views and beliefs must be in accordance with it. Not believing in God may thus cause arguments which could significantly challenge the trustworthiness of such claim. For instance, on the one hand, the Muslim characters in White Teeth such as Samad or atheists such as Archie or Magid may struggle to agree with this preface’s relevance in their lives. On the other hand, for the religious Hortense such statement would be the truthful, reliable and real.
The Bible is also referred to as a “supernatural book” or “God’s own words, His own personal revelation of Himself to us” (English Standard Version preface), although naturally not everybody believes or can relate to that. What is especially interesting, though, is the following passage.
It is no wonder that the Bible is as relevant today as when it first was written. It
is the most popular book in human history and throughout the centuries millions
have risked their lives to have their own Bible. Only a supernatural book could
survive the countless attempts to destroy it. (English Standard Version preface)
Again, it is highly improbable that the preface of any Bible would deal with something to contradict this statement – considering that this is a part of the religious scriptures. This may however serve as a definition of the role of The Bible with regards to its initial purpose for those who would consider it real. Yet this may lead to questioning the part about the relevance of the
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Scriptures as some may argue that its relevance is definitely not the same as when it was first written or at least not in as many peoples’ lives.
Secondly, it is a fact that in The Bible, literary devices such as irony, sarcasm or extremely vulgar descriptions of somebody having a sexual affair do not tend to occur. That is not to say that these topics are not dealt with in The Bible – they are. However, certain absolution or condemnation would not be absent in the religious texts to provide a resolute moral stand which is the major difference between the tone of the novel and the Scriptures. The uniqueness of Smith’s postmodern approach, which may be praised or condemned, is the use of her wit and sarcasm she uses in order to make different aspects of the contemporary England blend together or stand out. Simultaneously, Bible verses, references and allusions to it are incorporated into her uncensored writing.
It could be argued that by doing so Smith portrays the modified role of The Bible in contemporary literature and, above all, the twenty-first-century world. What is more, it may be stated that most of the characters from the novel find themselves hopelessly trapped in what is happening around them as well as inside of them regardless of what religion they follow, if any.
In White Teeth the dominant religions are especially Christianity (with a focus on separate sectarian groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses) and Islam, but there are also references to
Judaism as well as extremist or radicalized Islamist groups. The characters’ emotions and experience often transcend the novel and reflect contemporary phenomena and tendencies in the Western society and culture. It is perhaps this quality which attributes the novel to be a valuable societal mirror reflecting raw authenticity and therefore deserves to belong to the admired masterpieces of contemporary literature.
As previously suggested, due to the amount of religions, therefore various cultures, but also generations, ethnicities and national identities, the major theme of the novel might be defined as the ultimate clash of diametrically different subject matters, such as religious views,
18 personal beliefs, identity, roots, background, upbringing and similar. It is often the Western and
Eastern cultures that clash and shape one another in the story. It is beyond interesting that the adjective Western itself stands for someone or something “of, relating to, or characteristic of the West as opposed to the Orient” (“Western”). That means that it not only represents what is typical of the West, but it also suggests a certain clashing opposition against or a contrasting antipole to the Oriental world – therefore the Eastern religions, morals and traditions. This is exactly what the immigrants such as Samad face as they begin a new life in a foreign culture.
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2. Personal Crises
2.1 Roots as a Metaphor for Inner Stability In White Teeth the metaphor of roots is used several times. When referred to as the “root canals” of different characters (e.g. Smith 83, 356) it represents the actual biological term referring to the human body and the overall theme of teeth. This metaphor serves as the one unifying aspect which is commonly shared by all the people – despite gender, age, race, religion, background, sexuality etc. Simply, everybody has teeth. However, more commonly it is used in the novel as the image of the Western and Eastern culture – both having their separate roots. In this case it may serve as an opposing element as the cultural clash is depicted in specific details. The idea of roots also suggests the awareness of one’s roots, in other words the importance of individual people being familiar with their origin and family heritage. Arikan indicates that the “novel, which presents the characters’ past and root with many minor stories, functions as a historical bond connecting the past to the present and the future” (1679). This statement also applies when reflecting on the quickly-changing values in the geopolitical setting of the story throughout time (considering that the novel covers over a century of British and both the colonial and post-colonial history) and may be relevant even beyond the borders of the
United Kingdom in the broader context of the Western culture as a wider concept.
Similarly, Arikan’s attention is devoted towards the issues related to the first- and second-generation immigrants and “multi-ethnic families” all of whom are dealing with identity search, both on a personal and historical level. He refers to this as the “search for historical identity”. Similarly, the problem of “culturally hybrid children” ought to be mentioned as well as it is evident that such phenomenon plays a major role in the life of many characters in the novel. Not only the twin brothers Magid and Millat (sons of a Muslim) and Irie, the daughter from a multi-ethnic family (a mixed-race child) which will be discussed later but also some of the minor characters. Although not a great deal of information is available about them, the
20 cultural hybridity and the complexity of their roots is apparent: “Abdul-Jimmy” and “Abdul-
Colin” (Smith 503). This is to illustrate the obvious hybridity – the combination of the Eastern
Abdul and a very English-sounding name. Yet the inner hybridity and the sense of not belonging are of great importance as well. Therefore, it may be argued that the novel is hybrid not only culturally but also religion-wise as the two aspects do tend to overlap.
While the Eastern roots are represented through the life of Samad and his ancestors and descendants in a thorough detail, the English roots are questioned merely a few times, e.g.
“[t]hey do love their false icons in this country” (Smith 503). Perhaps it is suggested that in most cases religion has partly lost its relevance and transformed into only a set of mastered traditions without being rooted in a sincere belief – unlike the roots of Islam which are initially portrayed as much stronger and deeper as far as their relevance in the life of Muslims.
In addition, the idea of honouring the British national heritage and culture is challenged by remarks such as “[…] will somebody please tell me: what is it about the English that makes them build their statues with their backs to their culture and their eyes on the time? […] Because they look to their future to forget their past. Sometimes you almost feel sorry for them” (Smith
504). Another rather harsh commentary in a similar manner appears very distant and critical of the English as a secular nation, as if no exceptions existed whatsoever: “They have no faith, the
English. They believe in what men make, but what men make crumbles. Look at their empire
[…]” (504). These and similar remarks challenge the relevance of today’s Britain’s rootedness in a religion.
Another significant role of the term roots may be viewed as the origin and beginning of all things which may lead to the ultimate questions of the purpose of life. It is also used simply as a reference to the beginning of human existence. It is apparent from the following passage that even when Irie tries to find out who the father of her child might be because she had sex with both Magid and Millat, the twin brothers, The Bible is quoted first and then the narrator
21 plays around with the idea of the roots. This is a perfect example of Smith’s witty combination of contexts, styles and clever quotations.
Psalm 63 – early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for
thee … But it asks too much of her. It requires her to go back, back, back to the
root, to the fundamental moment when sperm met egg, when egg met sperm –
so early in this history it cannot be traced.” (Smith 527)
2.2 The Era of Chaos and Extremism
Certain characteristics of The Bible references or passages mentioned or used in Smith’s novel can be generalized and therefore put into categories based on their specific role and function. The categories are meant to help analyse how the author uses The Bible in her work, what result it might intentionally or unintentionally have and finally, how The Bible is portrayed in the novel based on the style, created contrasts and the context it is put into. The ultimate focus is to depict what role The Bible fulfils in the novel and therefore how Smith presents the sense of crisis to the twenty-first-century reader.
Smith’s style of writing is in fact one of the elements which effectively depicts the chaos caused by the cultural conflict and blending of cultures. One of the ways to represent the schism created by such a variety of cultural roots, religions, origins and backgrounds in Britain and among the Western society, the author of the novel – as previously suggested – twiddles with the language of The Bible and sets it in various contexts. However, Smith’s story does not create the impression of the Western culture as one which is rooted in Christianity. Although the reader may frequently find Biblical references and passages in Smith’s writing, hardly ever are they relevant to somebody else than individual characters who specifically identify themselves as religious. What is more, the most dominant religiosity belongs to a woman, Hortense, who may
22 be described as extremist in the sense of her radical religious views and especially in the way she aims to reach out to all the – as she would call them – sinners around her.
Therefore, the role of The Bible in Smith’s novel may display the shift in rootedness of the Western society in Christian faith. While majority of people would decline from the traditional belief, certain individuals would radicalize their religious views to the extreme. Yet it is crucial to point out that those followers of Christian religion who are neither a part of a sectarian form of religion nor those who could be described as belonging to the deconstructed, secularized religion are discussed in the novel. In other words, the focus of the novel is on those who are on either edge of what may be considered standard. However, it may be argued that the shift of values among the majority may redefine what mainstream means in and outside of religious spheres – changing from God-ism to a do-good-ism, meaning it may be more common to aim to do good for the sake of good rather than for the sake of God or a god.
It is also interesting to point out that originally the language of The Bible was either
Hebrew (The Old Testament), the Greek or the Aramaic language (The New Testament). That leads to a very simple conclusion – all the other translations of The Bible which exist today are already affected by the range of vocabulary, verbs, stylistic elements or even the culture and nature of other nations. Any translation therefore already shapes the meaning, changes the structure of sentences based on the preferences in the specific language and gives the book in another language a slightly different sense.
In this respect it is clear why the author of the novel had chosen to use the English translation, however what might also be worth mentioning it the fact that she used a very traditional one. The language of most of the passages from The Bible mentioned in the novel is rather old-fashioned, formal, with the use of some Old English words illustrated by the following passage.
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“Black and white never come to do no good. De Lord Jesus never meant us to mix it up.
Dat’s why he made a hol’ heap a fuss about de children of men building de tower of Babel.”
(Smith 385) The Babel is known for being the place where, according to Genesis, the languages were confused in order to stop people’s selfish desire to build a tower high enough to reach the skies and be as powerful as God. The passage from the novel continues with a verse from
Genesis including some typical Old English vocabulary: “And the Lord did confound the language of all the earth and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” The language of the quoted verse and the previous introduction by Hortense perfectly reflect the dissimilarities of the two styles. They may very well mirror the sense of tradition and high-sounding qualities which tends to clash with the language used by Hortense.
The result of such combination appears rather comical, too. This may be one of the ways Smith uses to reflect the conflict between the two atmospheres – the worldly and the devout.
This may be viewed from two different points. It might potentially create a comical effect, non-violently teasing the tradition associated with The Bible and its language. However, it is beyond important that it is one character only, Hortense, who usually quotes this specific translation. In spite of the existence of many living-language translations available, the preference of this one may connotate the idea that religion sometimes provides the impression of something unfashionable, old, out-of-this-world which out to be considered and perhaps viewed as misleading. Besides this it is also the typical features of the character’s speech in combination with Biblical verses which enrich the humorous effects and challenge seriousness of certain passages: e.g. “Better hot dan lukewarm […] Ever so. Hamen.” (Smith 391)
With all this being mentioned it is crucial to be aware of the fact that, as previously suggested, currently a great number of versions of translations of The Bible exist. Many versions aim to retell the stories and messages of The Bible in a modern way, keeping the language live and understandable for the readers. Some versions even include a reading or a study guide to
24 make it easier to follow the content in its context and clearer for contemporary audience.
Recently a paraphrased Bible2 has been published by a Czech group of authors which sets the original stories into the context of the twenty-first-century. Therefore, by Smith including the very traditional versions of the translations using the Old English language, she might intentionally portray The Bible as something entirely different from the rest of the text in her book by its form, style and vocabulary. Then again, this may be perceived both as positive as well as negative to a certain extent. By doing so, Smith may challenge the status of The Bible and its relevance in the world shaped by number of crises. Discussing the relevance of religion and perception of Christianity thanks to the novel may serve as beneficial. By accentuating these topics in a novel, their reflection and consideration may be increased even among the actual contemporary society.
Another important aspect which needs to be realized may be the fact that the crisis which is presented in the novel, one of the results of it being family issues with children choosing not to follow their parents’ religion or becoming members of fanatic groups, reflects individual fates presented in the novel. The consideration of individuality is crucial in this case. While some phenomena may be generalized as they deal with real possibilities which tend to happen in culturally hybrid society (e.g. search for national identity, rootlessness, cultural conflicts), others ought not to be applied to the whole society (e.g. not all children of immigrants turn their backs on their cultural heritage and join a radicalized organization or become atheists like presented in the novel).
All of this is to suggest that it ought to be taken into consideration that some results of multiculturalism are strongly individual and differ with each case – e.g. the very religious and extreme Hortense most certainly does not mirror majority of religious people. The struggles of the Muslim father, Samad, who does everything in his power to make sure that his twin sons
2 Further information may be found here: https://www.parabible.cz/. 25 follow Islam may nevertheless represent two general tendencies among the second-generation immigrants in being brought up in the Western culture. One of the sons, Millat, joins a radical
Islamist groups while the other, Magid, fades away from his father’s religion completely for the sake of science and scientific atheism.
2.3 Challenging the Western Christian Rootedness
Speaking of Western culture, its rootedness in Christian values is implicitly challenged throughout the novel. In its context, several Biblical archetypal characters are used. Again, these may serve as allusions to the Christian morals, values and Christian tradition in general. It is not as rare to be familiar with Biblical proverbs, however not all the Biblical archetypical characters which Smith incorporates into her novel may be known or may be used as frequently nowadays. This intertextuality creates another layer of sophisticated humour and may encourage some readers to show admiration to Smith’s brilliant usage of a great number of perhaps even the less popular archetypal characters. The ones the public eye might be less familiar with. Therefore, the novel ought to be credited for raising interest in understanding all the entertaining intertextual references which guarantee the complete experience of Smith’s witty approach. At the same time, it may echo the sense of crisis of Christianity as the dominant religion in the Western world if the reader finds themselves lost in what used to be canonical.
To be more specific, some of the archetypes referred to in the novel ought to be mentioned. Adam and Eve in the reference to the very beginnings in: “Who are they? I am not knowing them from Adam of Eve!” (Smith 344). In addition, references to their son can be found in: “My brother shuns me […], marks me like Cain because I am a non-believer.” (429)
This comparison used by Magid with regards to his twin brother reminds of the mark which
God used to forever distinguish Cain who murdered his blood brother Abel. Samad makes a similar reference to the Biblical archetypal character: “I think I have been cursed with two
26 sons more dysfunctional than Mr Cain and Mr Abel. (454) Third illustration moves from the
Old to the New Testament in the mentioning of Judas, the infamous traitor: “[…] Catholics give out forgiveness at about the same rate politicians give out promises and whores give out; […]
St Jude […] got saddled way back […] with the patronage of hopeless causes (due to the total similarity between Jude and Judas)” (29). In a similar manner, other archetypal characters such as Abraham and Sarah, Zachariah, Paul, Peter, Luke and John occur in the novel. It is even
Jesus who manages to be a part of a discussion between Samad and Poppy, the woman with whom Samad later cheats on his wife when she says to Samad: “[…] I can’t think of a single carpenter!” (157) Being aware of what he is about to do with this woman, the nervous Muslim replies: “There is always Jesus.”
Consequently, it ought to be highlighted how Smith works with different contexts and links them together. The quality of Smith proving herself to be a highly educated author by equipping the narrator of the story with extremely broad understanding of the religion is astonishing. This quality of hers enables her to integrate Biblical characters (naturally not in a literal way) into the every-day situations of the plot. At the same time, she manages to create a sense of sophisticated humour, tackling extremely serious and touchy matters (e.g. adultery) from contemporary world in a witty way as illustrated above during the scene with Samad and his mistress-to-be.
In order to be able to incorporate such diverse range of intertextual references as well as Quran (although there are truly only very few references to the religious text of Islam) Smith must operate the cross-cultural understanding on an excellent level. Mixing a range of religious references in different ways enriches the sophistication found in the humorous scenes often with a touch of sarcasm and irony. As already suggested, it is beyond interesting to mention the ratio of references to Quran and The Bible in White Teeth. The truth is the Christian religious
27 texts dominate in this competition, though the Muslim culture plays a major part in the story as will be discussed in the following chapters.
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3. Multiculturalism
3.1 The “Whose God” Concept and Ambiguity
The idea of the dominant Western and Eastern religions’ and the secularized world’s clash directs the attention to another issue, namely the concept of whose god is the god referred to by the characters. It is in fact the conflict between whose god is mentioned in the sense of individual belief as well as the overall belonging to a certain religion. References to Allah as
God in the context of Islam and then God in the context of Christianity tend to blend in and it may not always be entirely clear whose god is discussed.
White Teeth represents the multicultural society in which it is easy to lose track of to whom and to what the mentioned god applies. Although the argument that “it makes no difference whether you are being watched by Allah, Jesus, Buddha, or whether you are not”
(Smith 103) is presented by Samad, this may be denied by his own longing for devotion to his personal belief in Allah. As a matter of fact, when Irie’s university application is being discussed, we learn that she would “become the first Bowden or Jones (possibly, maybe, all thing willing, by the grace of God, fingers crossed) to enter a university.” (Smith 376) It may be suggested that in the reference to Irie, the granddaughter of a Jehovah’s Witness, God would most likely stand for Jehovah. However, there is chance that it may very well suggest the relevance of the Christian God who would not be referred to as Jehovah but rather Yahweh.
Either way, the chaos and ambiguity in the terminology is exactly what depicts the disorder among many characters who are being affected by growing up under such diverse religious influences.
There are countless references to a god which leave no space for questioning or ambiguity, e.g. when Clara, Hortense’s daughter, says “come de end of de world, d’Lord won’t mind if I have no toofs” (Smith 25). In this case the Lord in an equivalent to Jehovah as at this moment Clara in still under the influence of her strict religious upbringing. Other times the
29 reader may find the allusion to the Christian context which may share some roots with the
Muslim one, namely calling one’s father “Abba” (Smith 147). This term is used by Millat to approach his father Samad. Abba may also be used as the term which Jesus would use to call to his Father – God. Again, it is beyond fascinating how Smith manages to create a religiously- tangled fusion of terms which may open the doors to different religions and their history.
Other times, although it may not necessarily be as crucial to be aware of which god the reference may belong to, it is almost impossible (unless one remains extremely focused which may though be problematic considering the 542-page novel) to distinguish the divine ownership, e.g. “honest-to-God” (Smith 266), “God only knows” (344), “80 per cent God”
(341), “gaining God’s favour” (508) and similar. Somehow the ownership becomes unclear and at the same time too demanding to adjudge. On the contrary, there is strong evidence that the name of God is also being used as a swearword: “No one’s givin’ you abuse, Jesus Christ!”
(281) as opposed to when the actual Jesus is being spoken about: “Can’t sit next to Jesus with the 144,000?” (Smith 368).
All this is to provide evidence for the current state of multicultural Britain with the lack of the sense of a common ground due to previously mentioned cultural and religious chaos which may all lead to a sense of crisis. A certain crisis may be spotted when considering that the conflict which the characters, especially Samad, face is not as much the problem of the clash between the two religions as such, neither has it to do with the differences of their gods. It is rather the confusion, uncertainty and disenchantment which may directly influence how the people feel. On the contrary, it is not always easy to distinguish what exactly is to be blamed for the general chaos as it often is a variety of problems.
Therefore, it is worth mentioning that a much more critical issue might be having to deal with the result of how sincerely and especially how seriously the questions of faith, morals and values are considered. For Samad, the perception of his God (in his case Allah) shifts from
30 a deep admiration and honour to becoming a lukewarm individual who is unable to remain fully committed. This is not the result of another God (Christian God) coming into the picture but more because he slowly becomes to feel the effects of the Western potion. By this I mean that
Samad begins to act and feel as if he were vaccinated with a mild Western secularism or an infectious indifference. The once devoted Muslim is unable to find antidote to the standard
Western culture way of life.
Yet some characters do struggle with a sense of what might be considered crossing a moral line when it comes to a DNA project. Its purpose is to alter DNA and therefore play god in that sense. In this case, the relevance of God is not entirely forgotten. Commentaries as
“[s]eems a bit dodgy to me, messing wiv God an’ all that […]” (Smith 452) reveal that certain boundaries still exist. The question is how generally-acceptable they may be. In Samad’s opinion “[i]t is God’s business. If you meddle with a creature, the very nature of a creature, even if it is a mouse, you walk into the arena that is God’s: creation. You infer that the wonder of God’s creation can be improved upon. It cannot.” (Smith 455)
3.2 Inside the Soul of an Immigrant
Being an immigrant in a foreign country equals facing new challenges and every single day. What is more, being a child of an immigrant may double the challenges as the individuals may often find themselves a part of at least two different cultures but at the same time may experience the sense of not belonging anywhere. This obviously is a phenomenon which occurs not only within the borders of the United Kingdom. The same feelings may be described using different terminology, yet the immigrant experience is perhaps very similar. The “banana children” (Musálková) is a concept which defines the Vietnamese experience in the Czech
Republic. A banana child would grow up in the Czech culture which is so very different from
31 their Vietnamese parents’ traditional culture. However, the physiological features would forever determine their otherness in the European society. Musálková’s Vietnamese interviewee states that this is the reason why they would sometimes feel like a banana – yellow on the outside but white on the inside.
Some aspects of being different in any way may determine how others view the descendants of first-generation immigrants. The banana children experience would serve as an analogy for better comprehension of what the immigrants from the Middle East might feel which is the case of the Iqbals in White Teeth. This sense of not belonging is something that constantly shapes Magid’s and Millat’s characters. Magid may often hear the following teasing suggestion: “‘You’re a Muslim, int ya? You don’t want to break your father’s heart with a bacon sandwich,’” (Smith 450) to which he would ironically respond through the estimation that “[i]t is far more likely that [his] father’s heart will break from the result of a build-up of saturated fat which is in turn a result of eating in [the British] establishment for fifteen years” (451).
Many similar examples would hopefully illustrate the same outcome. Being a child of an immigrant is not an easy job and a great deal of pressure and responsibility potentially comes with trying to please one’s parents while attempting to find one’s place in the society.
These and similar struggles are represented by the closely observed relationship of the two men, Samad and Archie, whose fates are the main focus of the whole novel. To remind what their role in the story is, it is necessary to present Samad Iqbal as a strongly religious, devoted and practicing Muslim originally from Bangladesh, and Archie Jones as a rather ordinary Caucasian Brit or a working-class English divorcee. Their relationship endures despite their opposite views on many crucial topics. They established their mutual friendship on the battlefield several decades before reconciling in Britain in 1974. It was during World War II when they became close while fighting the battles alongside one another. Despite all their quite diametrical differences (e.g. origin, skin colour, religion, beliefs, values and morals) they 32 manage to remain close friends even after the war and reunite when Samad comes to live in
Britain, England, marries and begins a new life here in the nineteen-seventies. While there might have been hope for Samad at the beginning of his British journey to stay faithful and true to his religion, Islam and Quran, it does not take a long time for him to realize that this new life corrupts his beliefs and habits much more drastically than he had expected.
At first, Samad attempts to keep his Muslim faith the centre of his and his twin boys’ lives. They are given very non-English names, Millat and Magid, as their father attempts to honour their origin and roots, staying true to where they, or rather where Samad and his family, originally come from. However, for most of their childhood and teenage years these are the only non-English features of theirs, apart from their looks, of course. At one point, not even the names themselves have the ultimate power to last in the Western world since the boys’ identities, the identities of the second-generation children, are being shaped and (re-)formed by the challenges of trying to fit in while being notably different, or the necessity to remain different even when desiring not to do so. Therefore, Magid starts calling himself and have others call him Mark, a very ordinary name, instead of Magid, a rather atypical one. The search for some sort of balance between being different, or other, while honouring one’s roots, origin and own culture, begins to seem impossible.
Naturally, this causes tension in the relationship between the son and the father, resolving in Samad one day bursting out shouting: “I GIVE YOU A GLORIOUS NAME LIKE
MAGID MAHFOOZ MURSHED MUBTASIM IQBAL!”, “AND YOU WANT TO BE
CALLED MARK SMITH!” (Smith 151). As if Samad believed that even the names themselves do affect who his sons will grow up to be and that, perhaps, he began to lose them. Being brought up by parents of religion, culture, values and similar aspects which define how one lives their life which differ from the mainstream culture could potentially create a tremendous
33 inner chaos. The proof that the Iqbal boys experience exactly that can be found later when they are no longer children and decide what life they aim to lead as young adults.
The Iqbal family choose to and therefore are destined to live their lives in a culture not of their own. It is crucial to grasp what the concept of culture represents in this thesis, as it can be defined as “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization” or “the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic” (“Culture”). Similarly, culture may define national values, it ought to unify the people and justify common actions or behaviour.
Culture should basically to a certain extent answer the question of what tends to be considered normal and what does not, and therefore justify the reason why something is or is not acceptable in the eyes of the majority. Furthermore, without the understanding of the culture while coming from a different one might create things such as a great inner and outer chaos, faux pas, major misunderstandings, arguments and overwhelming disillusionment.
The challenges related to culture are exactly what Samad’s twin boys experience on daily basis. This leaves a mark on them and their personalities and becomes evident when they become older and it could be illustrated by Millat’s complete denial of religion as he becomes an Anglicised atheist and Millat who joins fundamental extremists. “Magid and Millat display extreme behaviour. […] Millat’s going to get himself into terrible trouble with these fundamentalist people.” (Smith 436) In the culture where they grow up - which is new to their father and mother - everything feels different: “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs” (“Culture”, Cambridge), “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits” and “also the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life)” (“Culture”, Merriam-Webster). The clash of the two cultures (Western and Eastern) is inevitable.
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Regarding culture and cultural clash, lately the concept of multiculturalism has been discussed. Ashcroft and Bevir state that in order to understand the multicultural situation in
Britain, we must understand what preceded it.
To analyse the modern British multiculturalism we must understand its historical
background. There are two crucial contexts: first, the post-war British
political landscape within which it arose and developed, and second, the wider
discourses surrounding multiculturalism in the UK and beyond. Contemporary
British multiculturalism was conditioned by the circumstances surrounding its
emergence after the Second World War, yet the debates in the UK are not fully
intelligible without some understanding of the parallel inter- and transnational
discourses. Both contexts help to draw out the particular nature of contemporary
British multiculturalism, suggesting that British policy discourses are unduly
narrow and that this masks connections with broader philosophical and political
issues.
In general, the multicultural Britain is closely connected with the colonial and decolonial times. The immigration to Britain of people from former colonies is the major cause for today’s multicultural British society, currently with the existence of generations whose ancestors are not of British origin but they fully identify with British culture as they might be aware of their roots but would not be interested in taking on any of their values or customs, just like the Magid and Millat Iqbal. Regarding not only the diversity, Ashcroft and Bevir continue to explain that
[m]odern Britain is multicultural. Since the Second World War the United
Kingdom has seen an influx of immigration that has radically altered its nature.
The population has changed from one that was overwhelmingly white, ethnically
British and Christian, to one constituted by creeds, cultures and communities
drawn from all over the globe. A degree of demographic diversity that would
35
have been scarcely imaginable in the middle of the previous century now forms
an inescapable part of British life. The term ‘multiculturalism’ invokes these
demographic changes, the intersecting political, legal and theoretical debates
over how to respond to them, and governmental attempts to accommodate and
even promote cultural diversity.
The Iqbal boys embody what the results of cultural diversity are and what they may cause. On the one hand, the disrespectful Millat, evolves from being a rebel who drinks, smokes marihuana. There is an apparent worry in Samad’s statement: “[…] there is rebellion in them
[…]. I can see it – it is small now but it is growing. I tell you, I don’t know what is happening to our children in this country. … smoking marijuana. Like a Jamaican!” (Smith 190) However,
Millat appears not to mind getting into trouble, although he eventually starts following the extremist radical Islamic organization. On the other hand, Magid, despite being sent to
Bangladesh as a young boy by his father in order to escape, as Samad calls it, the corrupted and god-less wasteland (meaning England) and gain his true religion back, becomes an atheist scientist. Magid, the son who even as a child did not feel like he belonged within the English society and desired to be called Mark, in other words not to stand out from the crowd but rather to merge with the dominant culture, loses the desire to follow any religion whatsoever. The clues that this is how his fate might resolve had been apparent early on, yet not even the attempt to reconcile with his roots back in Bangladesh led him to his father’s faith – in fact, the opposite is true.
All this considered, the case of Magid and Millat resolves with them becoming “cultural hybrids” (Arikan). It can be illustrated by the following passage: “[…] all children are nothing but trouble. They won’t go to mosque, they don’t pray, they speak strangely, they eat all kinds of rubbish, they have intercourse with God knows who. No respect for tradition. People call it assimilation when it is nothing but corruption. Corruption!” (Smith 190). It is extremely
36 interesting to draw attention towards the language of this quotation, as the written language adds another layer to Samad’s anger. While it is common even nowadays to say “god knows who” in the sense of whomever, a random person not important enough to be further mentioned or similar, here the allusion may suggest a rather different connotation. The outcome may vary be it only the one difference in the word God – in this case the capital letter G. Samad is very much aware of his God’s (the God with a capital G) supernatural power as Muslims believe in an all-knowing God3. While Christians would ascribe the same quality to their God (again, the
God with a capital G), a lot of the times the word god would be misused, used for different purposes or not given the adequate credit.
Neither do the twin brothers become devoted Muslims (taking into consideration that
Millat became a member of a fanaticized group or Islamic radicals, not a respectable follower of the Quran teaching) as their father wished for them, nor would they lean towards the dominant religion among the British Isles – with the question if such thing still exists or whether the contemporary religious movement in Britain could be called prosperity. Similarly, the question whether the supposedly dominant religion (Christianity) is still relevant and alive among the British/Western society remains. Perhaps the contemporary state of religion, rather than a set of beliefs and values, ought to be defined as merely a set of traditions, expectations or simply habits. More of a drill rather than inner persuasion and faith.
Despite Samad’s attempts to maintain his status of a well-behaved and an entirely devoted Muslim, in other words a strongly religious believer in basically secularized Britain, most of his tries fail. It might be claimed that he faces a sort of a culture shock through the clash of the two religions, or perhaps clash of Samad’s commitment to religion and the secularized
Western society where religion had been deconstructed. The longer he lives surrounded by the immoralities, disrespect and rotten behaviour, the more challenging he finds it to stay true to
3 “…so that you might know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge.” (Qur’an, 65:12) from http://www.arabnews.com/islam-perspective/news/689991 37 the religion of his own. Not that he would simply turn from what he originally believed, however his desire to remain his purity constantly repeating to himself that “(t)o the pure all things are pure” (Smith 137), to not let the environment he and his family live in together take its toll on him and to keep the values that honour the teaching of the Quran begin to seem impossible to preserve. It is interesting that the same verse that Samad repeats to himself regarding purity can be found in The Bible – Titus 1:154.
Although some of his religious needs do get fulfilled in the Western world (e.g. going to the mosque, reflecting on his life and every-day struggles with religious elders and trying to raise his children according to the Islamic teachings), majority of the influences lead towards
Samad’s breaking of the rules. What is meant by the rules here are all the aspects which would go hand in hand with his religion and his personal religious values. From drinking alcohol, getting drunk, falling for the sinful temptations such as masturbation and committing adultery to failing to pass the religion on both of his sons, Samad fails to defend his position of a true
Muslim in the spoilt society whose values differ diametrically.
This process could very well illustrate how one is not capable of remaining their values and easily loses his religion despite attempting to keep it. Samad’s case does not reveal as much about fading away from Islam (or any religion in general) as it does about the struggle of an individual or a small group of individuals to not go with the flow of the majority.
3.3 Multiculturalism at Its Best (and Worst)
Challenging the thoughts on how much Christianity in the twenty-first-century is based on sincere faith and how much on merely the tradition is another very prominent feature of the novel. This may be illustrated by Samad making sarcastic references in order to show his
4 To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted. Titus 1:15 (Bible)
38 frustration with the situation connected with a supposedly Christian festival happening in school. Such grotesque situation (grotesque for the audience, yet not so much for Samad) occurs during one of the school’s teacher-parent meetings regarding the special events the school holds, one of the discussed being the Harvest Festival.
Samad, for whom the religious celebrations are a serious matter, is determined to save himself and his sons from losing their religion at this point. The British educational system plays a major role in shaping Samad’s sons’ beliefs and he is very much aware of that.
Therefore, he begins to feel the need to strengthen the attachment to their roots. By strengthening the roots I mean that he is “denoting or relating to something from a particular ethnic or cultural origin, especially a non-Western one” (“Root”), in this case the Eastern tradition of Islam. Opening the discussion whether so many Christian events need to take place and consequently overshadow the Muslim ones is worth the reflection. What could happen if other religions and cultures were privileged to the extent that the role of Christianity would decrease while already quite weakened now remains unanswered.
What is more, Samad objects to one of the teachers arguing that the Christian festivals, especially the annual Harvest Festival, is not even anyhow related to the teachings of The Bible.
This situation occurs to be a little bizarre, quite humorous and very tense – significant adjectives when reflecting on multicultural issues. What happens, in fact, is that Samad begins to imitate the Old English language that some of the older or more traditional translations of The Bible use. At the same time, he seeks the real purpose of some of the Christian traditional celebrations today. For him, it is the generally secular feeling among the society and the religious habits – not actions – that collide.
At one point, one of the teachers argues that she is incapable of removing Christian festivals from the face of the earth because otherwise she would be able to save herself a lot of trouble and stress by removing e.g. Christmas Eve from the calendar (Smith 130). Obviously,
39 this statement does not add to the relevance of Christian religion in the life of hers and perhaps of many others. Again, it is suggested that the spiritual level disappeared from the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth and transformed into a chaotic and stressful time full of commercially- fed consumerism (feasting, spending money on useless things, over-the-top decorating etc.).
Samad ignored the general giggle this prompted and pressed on. ‘But this is my
whole point. The Harvest Festival is not a Christian festival. Where in the bible
does it say, For thou must steal foodstuffs from my parents’ cupboards and bring
them into school assembly, and thou shalt force my mother to bake a loaf of
bread in the shape of a fish? These are pagan ideals! Tell me where does it say,
Thou shalt take a box of frozen fishfingers to an aged crone who lives in
Wembley?’ (Smith 130)
By these words, a clever argument and a witty form of delivering Samad’s thoughts on the issue, he succeeds to hit the nail on the head. Not only does he engage the crowd of the other parents present at the meeting, but there is nothing which would not be true about what he had just claimed about the Harvest Festival. The layering of the message, the use of the archaic biblical language and the excellent imitation of the language which created a parodic mash-up are rather comical. Samad uses the weapon of the dominant culture against itself in this matter of clashing religions – he targets the Christian roots and challenges whether they still prove to be relevant, whether they are not used only to create an appealing title for entirely god-less events and activities. Moreover, he does not hold back in his well-targeted attack of the postmodern trends but uses the phrase to follow “pagan ideals” to describe the situation.
The response he finally receives is surprisingly sincere and may reveal the truth behind many seemingly-Christian traditions: “To be honest, Mr Iqbal, we like to think of these things as more about community than religion as such.” (Smith 130) Admitting this does not help
Samad feel more at ease in any way. “‘A man’s god is his community!’ said Samad, raising his
40 voice.” (130) Samad’s response does not show contentment with any of the presented ideas but rather increases the sense of confusion and misunderstandings he finds himself overwhelmed by.
3.4 The Era of Do-goodism
In a similar manner, a sense of crisis infiltrates the novel as the story randomly reveals different chapters from the characters’ lives at various points of the past. As the storyline ravels out, a strong sense of crisis apparently congests the fates of those living inside of the ever- changing melting pot. As the story develops, there appears to be a more relatable and understandable reasoning of what caused the crisis in the first place and more evidence for it arises – all due to the nonchronological organization of the chapters of the novel. However, not a thorough attention is devoted to the mainstream concept of a certain form of a “pseudo- religion” (Drápal). Based on the thoughts of one of his articles dealing with current trends among Christians, he criticises this common tendency among today’s believers. Drápal refers to the shift of Christian religion’s focus as a sentimental form of the “moralistic therapeutic deism”.
The issue he struggles with is that contemporary tendencies among Christians, no matter if they take place in America, Czech or Britain, support the idea that it is of greater significance to attempt to be and do good rather than have a sincere faith. In other words, he basically argues that the modern tendencies in Christian religion apply cross-culturally and turn away from the genuine principles of Christianity. These tendencies are rooted in the thinking that we ought to lead good lives with no real need to remain committed to believing in God. Although White
Teeth does not focus on these ideas exclusively, they most certainly relate to the mainstream
Western society in which the characters of the novel live. Perhaps many of the people the characters meet regularly – the teachers, neighbours, shop-assistants, bus drivers, church
41 members – would belong to the representatives of the “moralistic therapeutic deism” Drápal mentions. The mindset of being and doing good without God’s involvement and therefore the
Western need of freedom and liberalism may be one of the problems of mass thinking and the individualistic interpretation of the essence of Christian religion.
Drápal tends to be very real but at the same time quite sceptical when it comes to reflecting on the shift of values and perhaps even the lost focus among many believers. He suggests that the Christian character of the Western civilization has been lost for quite some time now. This criticism is not directed to the society as a broad concept but rather those
Christians – and he gives the impression that there are many of them – who had shifted from honouring God to trying to live a good life with the focus on themselves, not God. This contradicts the initial principles of Christianity.
This is referred to as postmodern Christianity trends. The problem behind this concept may be actually the fact that one will perhaps find more postmodernity in it than Christianity.
Also, the postmodern agenda hidden behind the Christian values may tend to be a lot more self- centred or church-centred than God-centred. This all may greatly intensify the sense of crisis which people in and outside the Western church environment face regularly.
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4. Responding to the Crisis
4.1 The Power of Relationship
Not all the characteristics of the novel lead to the feeling of hopelessness. The key to finding understanding among cultures may be in seeing the other person with all their human aspects which fundamentally do not differ first. Only after that could one notice the differences and the otherness without contempt and rejection. This may be illustrated by the relationship of
Samad and Archie as previously described. A similar relationship is shared by their very young wives also. One day, before their children are born, Alsana, the wife of a Muslim, and Clara, the ex-Jehovah Witness and the wife of an ordinary nonreligious Brit, discuss the possibilities of baby names for their soon-to-be-born offspring. Clara, influenced by a strong religious upbringing and still enduring excellent Bible knowledge, reveals to her friend that “[…] Archie likes Sarah. Well, dere not much you can argue wid in Sarah, but dere’s not much to get happy
‘bout either. I suppose if it was good enough for the wife of Abraham –” (Smith 75). However,
Clara’s mentioning of Abraham astonishes Alsana and she suddenly begins to claim the ownership over the reference Clara makes. As a result, a religious discourse comes to existence.
Clara’s comment allusions the profound Old Testament story of the famous Abraham and his wife Sarah. This is also the story which Clara originally refers to – in The Bible it is written that the elderly couple were too old to have children of their own, however, eventually through God’s promise they had a son Isaac and therefore were blessed to establish a wide nation. Alsana hints that the patriarch’s name Abraham ought to be replaced by the Arabic
Ibrahim: “‘Ibrāhim’, Alsana corrects, out of instinct more than Qur’ānic pedantry, ‘popping out babies when she was hundred years old by the grace of Allah.” (Smith 75) She questions not as much the origin of the story as a certain sense of the cultural ownership. At the same time, what ought to be considered more important, it the fact that this may be viewed as a friendly and non- violent discussion between two friends. There is no hidden agenda behind their words and the
43 different religious backgrounds do not have the power to overshadow their relationship in any way.
What ought to be pointed out is the narrator’s addition which is explanatory of Alsana’s motive to correct or perhaps to complement her friend Clara. It is learnt that Alsana’s response is spontaneous and more of an impulsive reaction rather than a fundamental religious contest for the right over the Abrahamic (or Ibrahimic) heritage. While the roots of Christianity and
Islam may reach the same story, regarding the story of Sarah and Abraham, the father of faith is recognized by not only Christians and Muslims but even by other religious groups as
Mormons and Jews5.
While the two discuss an aspect of difference, they are able not to let the dissimilarities get in the way of their friendship. They choose to see the other person and do not let the fact that they do not originally come from the same culture or share the same religion stop them from cherishing this multicultural friendship.
When reflecting on the issue of the multicultural European continent and its religion it might be more adequate to use the plural form of the word – religions. It tends to be problematic to define the current sense of crisis as far as its complexity is concerned. While it may be of great significance to search for the answers in the past in order to comprehend the result of the shift of the morals and values of the Western world at present, the possibilities of the evolvement of the trends ought to be considered and paid attention to as well.
One point of view would suggest that “faith in Europe will be re-energised by a creative
Christian minority and by the example of Islam” (Kaufmann). When comparing this claim with what happens to Samad’s faith after he moves to Britain, it is both confirmatory and contradictory.
5 More at The Idea of Abrahamic Religions: A Qualified Dissent by Jon D. Levenson | Originally published in Jewish Review of Books, Spring 2010 (https://tikvahfund.org/uncategorized/the-idea-of-abrahamic-religions-a-qualified- dissent/)
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On the one hand, in the beginning he truly could have re-energized other people’s faith by his devotion and real commitment to Islam. While Samad questions Archie’s identity (e.g.
“You don’t stand for anything, Jones […]. Not for a faith, not for a politics. Not even for your country. […] You’re a cipher. (Smith 120-121) But Samad very clearly and confidently repeatedly defines himself with the following chants: “I’m a Muslim and a Man and a Son and a Believer. I will survive the last days.” (121) This is how he himself views who he is as a person and what the soil for his identity’s roots is. In this sense, the example of the principles of Islam and the devotion Samad proves to have may theoretically have the positive effect on other people’s commitment or faith as Kaufmann mentions. Despite Samad’s beliefs, his young wife
Alsana would not entirely relate to how seriously her husband takes his faith. She comments on this matter with frustration: “I don’t call myself anything. I don’t make claims. You call yourself a Muslim. You make the deals with Allah. You are the one he will be talking to […] You,
Samad Miah. You, you, you […].” (200) Which could serve as the reminder that religion is very personal and differs among believers of the same religious group. On the other hand, Samad’s mindset gradually transforms into quite a hopeless impasse. Being shaped by all the influences the West has to offer, he slowly loses the determination he once had.
Kaufmann continues to suggest that “religiosity is, in part, a function of white ethnic anxiety” and regarding the “integration of Muslims” into Europe uses the term “Eurabia” supposing that “Islam seems to be surging ahead, leading to a spate of apocalyptic books […] with titles like While Europe Slept.” The problem of religion functioning merely as a tool to escape the Islamization of the European continent, it appears fake, dishonest and especially hypocrite, distrustful. Without the acts, deeds, practicing it in daily life, religion is fake. It becomes a dead religion and people like Samad feel it. The Bible becomes a victim in the hands of the rotten society which claims to have Christian values, morals and roots while living according merely to their selfish desires.
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4.2 The Danger of Exclusivity
Kaufmann draws attention to the religious minorities and a “boost provided by Afro-Caribbean
[…] and other Christian immigrants, who bring a vibrant new spirit to the religion.” He concludes that as the nonwhiteness of Europe will increase due to immigration, so will the
Christian religion. This statement may be relevant when it comes to Hortense Bowden. The very religious Jamaican and a fully-committed Jehovah’s Witness “Hortense – born while
Jamaica crumbled – did not accept apocalypse before one’s nineteenth birthday as any excuse for tardiness.” (Smith 34)
With the review of the character of Hortense Bowden, a new topic related to religion appears. It is the issue of religious exclusivity supported by such claims as e.g. “[o]nly Jehovah saves” (Smith 29), sectarianism of a cult and different forms of religious extremism. In a similar manner Hortense believes that
[s]ome people […] have done such a hol’ heap of sinning, it late for dem to be
making eyes at Jehovah. It take effort to be close to Jehovah. It take devotion
and dedication. Blessed are the pure in heart for the alone shall see God.
Matthew 5:8. Isn’t dat right, Darcus? (Smith 30)
This time, a Bible verse is directly quoted, as if Hortense aims to prove her power to strike her
Bible knowledge at any moment. This is actually a very frequent habit of Hortense’s throughout the whole story, namely referring to the Biblical passages by not only quoting them word to word but also adding precisely where in The Bible one can find the reference. In the previous example Hortense specifies the book of the New Testament (Matthew), the chapter (fifth) and the verse (eighth). Such reference is usually made in order to allow the listener to be able to find it in their Bible, whereas Hortense’s goal is most likely different. It may perhaps come across as boastful simply to prove that she knows her Bible and memorises her verses.
46
Hortense is very much aware of her exclusiveness which is guaranteed by her belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even
[o]ut of eight million Jehovah’s Witnesses, only 144,000 men could join Christ
in heaven. The good women and good-enough men would gain paradise on earth
– not a bad booby prize all things considered – but that still left a few million
who failed to make the grade. Add that to the heathens6; to the Jews, Catholics,
Muslims; to the poor jungle men in the Amazon, whom Clara had wept for as
a child; so many unsaved. (Smith 38)
In this sense, the sense of exclusivity may come across as negative and not helpful in any way to unite people of different backgrounds. Hortense’s religious commitment may tend to be too extreme and not desired in the multicultural world in which it may be more important to find similarities rather than differences.
Despite being aware of this, thanks to her passionate faith as well as her excellently drilled religious habits, Hortense raises her daughter Clara as a fellow Jehovah’s Witness.
Clearly, Clara attends the youth group where she is taught the necessity to be “[s]eparating the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31–46)” (Smith 34), learns e.g. the ten commandments (32) and is called “Hortense’s miracle baby” or “the Lord’s child” (33). Therefore, it could be claimed that Hortense’s life is centred around her strong religious belief. However, the problematic aspect of sectarian groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses is their persuasion that it is them and them only who stand a chance to be saved after they die (unlike e.g. different
Christian denominations whose history, traditions and religious practices may differ, yet the overall thinking is based on the same belief).
6By heathens she means the people “who “[do] not belong to a widely held religion (especially one who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim (“Heathen”). 47
While Hortense is generally able to maintain her creed, Clara, despite her mother’s efforts and consistent religious upbringing, fails to do as her mother wishes. It is perhaps her mother’s belief that Clara first imitates – while she does not really have a choice of following or not following her mother’s religion. As Clara grows older, she struggles to keep the high standards of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. For instance, Clara offers “up to God a multitude of silent contracts – I’ll never have sex, I’ll never smoke another joint, I’ll never wear another skirt above the knee” (Smith 39). This is caused by her not believing in what her mother believes in.
First, she accomplishes her duties such as going from door to door and telling the non-believers about Jehovah. However, she soon realises that she is more interested in rather secular activities.
In spite of the second-generation immigrants’ feelings that they ought to honour their parents’ culture or religion, the story of Clara clarifies how also the individual approach determines the fate of the descendants of the immigrant families
4.3 The Narrator Intervenes
While having the perspective of Samad, a Muslim, and Hortense and Clara,
(ex- ) Jehovah’s Witnesses, the narrator’s commentary also plays a major role in providing detail and sometimes even irony or sarcasm to what is happening. One of such examples is the following opening of one of the third chapter:
It is better to marry then to burn, says Corinthians I, chapter seven, verse nine.
Good advice. Of course, Corinthians also informs us that we should not muzzle
the ox while it is treading out the grain – so, go figure.
By February 1975, Clara has deserted the church and all its biblical literalism for
Archibald Jones, but she was not yet the kind of carefree atheist who could laugh
near altars or entirely dismiss the teaching of St Paul. The second dictum wasn’t
48
a problem – having no ox, she was excluded by proxy. But the first was giving
her sleepless nights. Was it better to marry even if the man was a heathen? […]
More worrying than God was her mother. (Smith 46)
This is a perfect illustration of the role of the narrator. The whole passage includes nothing but the commentary of the narrator with quite an ironic tone referring to The Bible verse as not such a suitable recommendation for today’s society. The narrator evaluates the teaching of The Bible and it almost appears as if the narrator was on Clara’s side when it comes to this matter. The passages are approached with a rather negative insight. Although two completely diverse verses are mentioned, in addition to that dealing with significantly unrelated issues, here the narrator becomes involved as they question the relevance of the two pieces of advice for
Clara - and perhaps their relevance in general. The role of the narrator guides the reader into further consideration of the meaning of The Bible.
Another comment with a similar tone is made by the narrator when they explain the background of the families that are the main characters in the story. “For all three have been brought up in strict, religious families, houses where God appeared at every meal, infiltrated every childhood game, […]” (Smith 77). This time there is an obvious negative tension as the verb infiltrate is used regarding the presence of God at every single moment. Even such short description given by the narrator may lead towards the suggestion that the excessive religiosity in which some children are forced to spend their childhood and grow up is one of the main issues indirectly criticized in this novel. The Bowden household is depicted in a similar manner:
For Time was running out in the Bowden household. This was 1974, and
Hortense was preparing for the End of the World which, in the house diary, she
had marked carefully in blue biro: 1 January 1975. This was not a solitary
psychosis of the Bowdens. (Smith 32)
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Here it is pointed out by the narrator that despite the awareness of this mindset not being merely of the Bowden family, again they claim that this state is to a certain extent diverse from what is considered typical.
The end of the world had been officially confirmed with a gold-plated letterhead,
and Hortense had risen to the occasion by setting it in an attractive mahogany
frame. She had given it pride of place on a doily on top of the television between
a glass figurine of Cinderella on her way to the Ball and a tea-cosy embroidered
with the Ten Commandments. She had asked Darcus whether he thought it
looked nice. He had hmphed his assent. (Smith 32)
Although a sense of irony could be spotted in this part of the story as it is obvious that the end of the world, despite being officially confirmed, did not take place, this may open the discussion of forcing religion upon somebody by the created sense of pressure, as it is mentioned that “time was running” etc. Also, the fact that the announcement of the final remaining days of the world were honourably displayed among such treasures as a glass
Cinderella decoration may seem quite comical, yet disturbing. The Ten Commandments, closing the list of randomly displayed items, only underlines the strange yet humorous list of valuable things.
The end of the world was nigh. And this was not – the Lambeth branch of the
church of the Jehovah’s Witnesses was to be assured – like the mistakes of 1914
and 1925. They had been promised the entrails of sinners wrapped around the
trunks of trees, and this time the entrails of sinners wrapped around the trunks of
trees would appear. They had waited so long for the rivers of blood to overflow
the gutters in the high street, and now their thirst would be satiated. The time had
come. This was the right date, this was the only date, all other dates that might
have been proffered in the past were the result of some bad calculations:
50
someone forgot to add, someone forgot to minus, someone forgot to carry the
one. But now was the time. The real thing. I January 1975. (Smith 32)
The exclusivity of sectarian groups may lead to an even broader sense of separation among people. The importance of finding the necessary compromise in the multicultural society is more significant every single day.
We learn that “Hortense was once again ready to be convinced that apocalypse, just as the right holy Mr Rangeforth had explained, was round the corner. The promise of the 1914 generation still stood: This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled (Matthew
24:34).” (33) This leads to another possible conclusion. The Scriptures have not lost the relevance but perhaps some people use the interpretations in their favour. It is especially concerning that the misleading happens in politics when fear and xenophobia are used in order to manipulate others into something. This may lead to another crucial idea. It appears as if suddenly a great number of countries began to define their roots and cultures as ones which had been built upon Christian values with the aim only to present their political agenda7. They would, in fact, manipulate their audience through creating the sense of fear – just as some religious groups may manipulate their followers as suggested in the previous quoted passages.
All the mentioned elements the narrator uses may lead to better understanding of what is happening around us and therefore help ease the sense of crisis which may otherwise appear as completely hopeless. Other element which may ease the sense of crisis a little may be the use of language. “Private Mackintosh, for all his big talk, had shat himself at St Peter’s Gate.”
(Smith 93) The combination of vulgarisms and reference to dying as coming to St Peter’s Gate, a Biblical allusion, may have a positive impact on how the extremely serious and controversial issues are dealt with in the novel in general. The exact allusion is used again and with Clara’s dialect may seem comical: “‘You know,’ she said brushing a long hand across his bold spot,
7 For instance the Czech political party SPD - https://www.spd.cz/program. 51
‘you look pretty djam good for someone come so close to St Peter’s Gate. Man […] dis life no easy!’” (Smith 25)
In this passage, Clara and Archie discuss the previous incident regarding Archie’s unsuccessful suicide attempt. We also learn that the two eventually get married despite their tremendous age difference. A Biblical reference is made here through the mention of coming close to St Peter’s Gate as a comparison of nearly dying. Smith succeeds in achieving an excellent combination of comical effects here. The wittiness is rooted in the mixture of several aspects – one of them being Clara’s speech. The humorous way that she communicates, while yet so precisely depicted by the author, makes almost everything she says seem not to be entirely serious.
Not only the way Clara speaks but also the way she creates her sentences, these are the typical features of her Jamaican dialect. Her religious upbringing, her culture and nature, could be the defining factors of why she so easily and naturally combines an ordinary talk and a reference to the Biblical St Peter’s Gate. There is no other explanation necessary to help the reader understand what she means, it simply feels as if every single person would know what she means by referring to being close to death or dying itself (and what happens after it) this way. This kind of humorous and witty approach definitely benefits the reader’s experience when facing difficult topics presented in the novel and perhaps offers a sense of hope.
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5. Postmodernism
5.1 Postmodernism as a Mirror of the Chaos and the Reality
Postmodernist writing tends to often be challenged for its “chaotic structure”, however, White
Teeth’s author Zadie Smith herself argues that the “deliberate rejection of a controlled style reflects the messy complexities of the human heart”. (“Love, Actually”). According to Smith, one can grow “intellectually responsive to the text” and therefore the style of writing may influence the reader in a powerful way. Smith refers to this as “an emotive response” to a literary work.
Smith adds the fact that “we are thrilled to be able to talk of theme” (in White Teeth the quanta of themes overlap – e.g. the role of religion, the search for identity, cultural heritage, rootedness, multiculturalism, fundamentalism, extremism and other), “of the mechanics of plot” (e.g. the aspects of the non-chronological narrative, the effectiveness of flashbacks and fast-forwards within the overwhelming over a century-long timeframe and the medley of characters etc.), “and vicissitudes of character” (“Love, Actually”) – e.g. the transformation of
Millat and Magid, the decline of Clara’s religious upbringing, Samad’s burnout and disillusionment and many more. All these features make the postmodern novel such complex masterpiece. Another reflection of the literary style made by Smith supports the idea that
[t]he conflation of the simple in style with the morally prescriptive in character,
and the complex in style with the amoral or anarchic in character seems to me
one of the most persistently fallacious beliefs […]. The truth is, surely, that every
variety of literary style attempts to enact in us a way of seeing, of reading, and
that is never less than an ethnical strategy. (“Love, Actually”)
White Teeth, in a similar manner, is full of varieties of literary style. The use of and varieties of language, several dialects, levels of formality, use of slang and explicit vulgarization
53 all help to mirror the state of the contemporary multicultural (and, in fact, multi-everything)
Britain. Hughes describes this as Smith’s craftiness of being able to
depict a world that’s recognisably 21st-century London: diverse, vivid, at times
cacophonous, stuffed full of dreams and aspirations, of fear and friction, where
the houses of the wealthy abut the estates of the poor and tension simmers
beneath the humour.
The idea of combining serious matters with a slightly ironically humour approach may be one of the most dominant characteristic features of the novel. In order to illustrate this feature, a few examples of a specific kind of textual layering are analysed.
For one, challenging even over a hundred years old Christian values through a, at the first impression, gentle criticism. It is a modern trend to challenge morality of religious people nowadays, however, here even the standards of the much more traditional colonial times are being questioned. Towards the end of the novel, more about the Jamaican roots is learnt through
Hortense’s mother. The following passage deals with how one of the Brits in Jamaica takes advantage of Hortense’s mother.
“A little English education can be a dangerous thing. […] ‘The English are the only people […] who want to teach you and steal from you at the same time’”. (Smith 356) In one of the flashbacks in time to the early 1900s, we learn about Clara’s ancestors from Hortense.
Although the language in the passages contains no vulgarism, no explicitly ironic or sarcastic allusions or a directly criticising tone, the in-between-the-lines message of the passage may reveal a softly distributed denouncement of the English. Hortense’s mother, Ambrosia, is tutored by an English gentleman. Italics are used to suggest that an implicit irony may be discovered – as we soon discover how gentle, generous and moral Ambrosia’s Christian teacher truly is. It says that Ambrosia, at that point already “impregnated” by an English captain who
54 had been sent to Jamaica (Smith 356), would come to him three times a week to be educated.
She would be taught the
[l]etters, numbers, the bible, English history, trigonometry – and when that was
finished, when Ambrosia’s mother was safely out of the house, anatomy, which
was a longer lesson, given on top of the student as she lay on her back, giggling.
(Smith 357)
The narrator casually lists all the benefits of the sophisticated English education
Jamaican could be enriched by during the colonial times. The layer of creating the impression of normalization all these skills, including the ones which basically reveal that Ambrosia was, if not raped, treated as a sex slave and misused. What is more, all these practices are to a certain extend justified or hidden behind the term that these were the privileges of getting an excellent
English education (the package including also the dominant religion – Christianity). What a questionable approach to Christianizing the rest of the world.
The victimized Jamaican ancestor of Hortense and Clara was taught “how to read the trials of Job and study the warnings of Revelation, to swing a cricket bat, to recite ‘Jerusalem’,
[…] to add up a column of numbers, […] to kiss a man’s ear until he wept like a child”. (Smith
357).
The English were “of the opinion that the natives required instruction, Christian faith and moral guidance” (358) but they would not hesitate to establish wicked morals of their own when it came to “pretty, obedient girl(s), willing and able round the house” (358). Finally, it is revealed how Hortense came to her faith.
“[…] Durham had left instructions that Ambrosia be introduced to the English
Anglican Church, and Glenard had suggested the Jamaican Methodist Church,
but Mrs Brenton, a fiery Scottish spinster who specialized in lost souls, had her
own ideas. ‘We are going to the Truth,’ she said decisively when Sunday came,
55
because she did not care for the word ‘church’. ‘You and I and the wee innocent,’
she said, tapping Ambrosia’s belly just inches from Hortense’s head, ‘are going
to hear the words of Jehovah.’” (Smith 359)
The problem of missionaries and generally their attempts of converting others to any belief in this story begins and ends with the people. Perhaps in the twentieth century, all the involved
English men would define themselves as Christians. They might without any doubt consider themselves honourable members of the Anglican Church. However, it is more than apparent that they were men of rotten morals and character. Their words would claim one thing and their deeds would suggest the opposite. As a result of this, we find out that Ambrosia and therefore also her daughter Hortense become neither members of the Anglican Church, nor the Jamaican
Methodist Church, but rather follow the isolated teachings of the supposedly sectarian
Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The issues with the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and with the mindset in which
Irie, Clara’s daughter, Hortense’s only grandchild, is being brought up are the fact that they proclaim exclusivity and therefore separatism from the rest. They believe to have the only complete truth and therefore could potentially radicalize most of their committed members – precisely Hortense’s case. This, however, creates an enormous tension over Irie and in that sense does not allow her to question anything related to her faith as “[n]uffin’ changes about the word of God, […] [o]nly people are mistaken. The best thing you can do for the Truth, is just pray […]” (Smith 389), which does not seem to be a very helpful advice for a young girl starting to think about the meaning of life.
Clara attains several pieces of advice by people such as devoted Jehovah’s Witness Ryan
Topps, who claim they have been “severed from [themselves] by the almighty sword that cut
[them] from [their] past when the Lord Jehovah saw fit to enlighten [them] with the Truth” and that they “as Paul so wisely recommended in his epistle to the Corinfians, put away childish
56 things […]” (Smith 391). It ought to be natural for children to deal with childish things, as well as for youngsters to discover and believe the truth which nobody but them consider trustworthy.
In this sense, the strict religious upbringing denies the opportunities to research, discover and have the possibility to decide for oneself – not only when it comes to religion.
Hortense is therefore surprised when she notices that Clara does not reach her mother’s expectations to become a Jehovah’s Witness. “She was my miracle child, Clara. I was forty- eight!” (391) By the way, it is interesting to suggest that this statement may allusion the story of Abraham and Sarah to which Clara and Alsana refer to later in real time but earlier in the novel. Hortense adds that in relation to her daughter’s birth, she “taut she was God’s child. But
Clara was bound for evil […] she never was a godly girl an’ in de end dere was nuttin’ to be done.” (391) At this point, the idea of predestination (the idea of being destined to either become a believer or not and therefore questioning the idea of free will) comes to the picture.
Yet another question is raised regarding Irie concerning her studies: “And do they acquaint you with the only true church?” While Irie is not comfortable with such view in general, her response reveals that there are other major religions in the picture, as she answers that “it’s more the big three. Jews, Christians, Muslims. We did a month on Catholicism.”
(Smith 391)
When closely reading this reference to religion, it is interesting to notice that Irie is referring to the three dominant religious groups – Judaism, Christianity and Islam as one group, and then referring to Catholicism separately, as if it was a religious group of its own and not a part of Christian religions. Of course, when reflecting on the Catholics and Protestants dispute and its radical effects on e.g. separation of the Catholic Republic of Ireland and the Protestant
Northern Ireland which remained a part of United Kingdom, religion without question has played and still plays a major role in shaping British history and culture. All this is to say that postmodernism allows the controversies to be approached with extreme honesty as well as
57 direct criticism yet enables the readers to be entertained at the same time – which may be perceived as a rather unique combination.
5.2 Elements of Postmodernism
Taking into consideration the previous analysis of Smith’s novel and its prominent features, it might be worth summarizing why postmodern elements, which Smith also works with in her writing, may serve as an excellent tool for portraying contemporary society and its issues. In order to root the concepts in a theoretical background, a great deal of concepts described by Lee will be presented. They may create a complex definition for what postmodern writing could be considered.
Lee draws the attention to the idea that “[p]ostmodernism plays – seriously – with the structures of cultural authority.” (i) When it comes to White Teeth, this claim applies as cultural authority is an overall topic dealt with throughout the whole story. Moreover, the novel brings to the light the difficulties with cultural authority which may affect any deviation in a negative way. However, Lee suggests that “[…] postmodern is not a synonym for contemporary” (x) which may or may not apply in Smith’s case. If postmodern is understood as “the contradictory phenomenon that uses and abuses, installs and then subverts, the very concepts it challenges – be it in literature, painting, sculpture, film, video, dance, television, music, philosophy, aesthetic theory, psychoanalysis, linguistics or historiography” (x), then Smith would most definitely prove to follow the postmodern play of styles, approaches and a combination of contexts and levels of formality and informality with the purpose of placing a mirror to all the diversities one may face in contemporary Britain.
What is more important, postmodern writing ought to reflect the “crisis of cultural authority, specifically of the authority vested in Western European culture and its institutions”
(x) which is exactly the theme which unifies the complex novel and all its character’s fates.
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A sense of crisis invades every single element of the story, from the begging to the end, and is approached in different ways - on a personal level but also as a shared phenomenon which many can relate to.
Lee also aims to clarify crucial concepts in postmodern writing, namely the concept of otherness, pluralizing culture, dominant culture, contextualized identities, notion of individuality and the novel and the reader-author relationship. All these pervade the novel from the beginning to the end. It is significant also to remember that postmodern texts “place the subject firmly within political, social, class, racial, and gender forces” (Lee xi).
White Teeth approaches such topics, especially political correctness and the issues of race and ethnicity and therefore the overall questioning of the significance of culture in the times of the crises plays a major role in Smith’s writing. Regarding culture, Lee states that “the heterogeneity that is asserted in the face of that totalizing (yet pluralizing) culture does not take the form of many fixed individual subjects […] but instead is conceived of as a flux of contextualized identities: contextualized by gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, education, social role and so on. (xi) Lee continues with a reflection regarding the concept of a dominant culture and how postmodernism “plays with the structures of authority” (xii). The strongest sense of authority may in fact belong to the dominant culture. Consequently, it could be concluded that a postmodern “novel is a mirror” (7) reflecting the reality we are surrounded by. In other words, it may aim to avoid blindness to current issues. This is supported by “the belief that the novel should mirror the world, and through this impersonal mirroring show
“truth”.” (11)
The analysis of the novel focused on complicated issues related to religion in various ways. When it comes to the roles of religion and literature in postmodern writing, it may be interesting to consider that “[l]ike religion, literature works primarily by emotion and experience, and so was admirably well-fitted to carry through the ideological talk which religion
59 left off. […] Literature […] is the enemy of “ideological dogma”.” (14) This is why Smith crosses the dogmatic boarders and with determination tackles the results of the cultural and ideological concepts in the Western world. Again, by doing so she mirrors the reality rather than the ideology.
When considering the complexity of Smith’s novel, it applies that the
variety of cultural and textual codes […] can influence interpretation: reading
a narrative implies organizing it and interpreting it in terms of several more or
less complex (sub-) codes. The reader frequently has to determine the
connotations of a given passage, the symbolic dimensions of a given event, the
hermeneutic function of a given situation, and so on. Reading interludes provide
him with certain specific sets of connotations; they make some symbolic
dimensions explicit; they define the hermeneutic status of some situations. (24)
Connotations, various interpretations, symbolic dimensions, the role of explicitness and implicitness, all these terms are of great significance when analysing a postmodern text. This is all the more to keep in mind when it comes to this analysis. It presents a certain point of view but at the same attempts to consider various approaches to the sense of crisis the characters in the novel as well as people dealing with similar issues face on daily basis.
The focus on a sense of crisis does not automatically mean that there is no space for humour and wit, playing with different contexts and styles. What is more, “[p]lay-fulness is also a questioning of authority on both the level of textual process and that of textual reception.”
(81)
All in all, it is necessary to claim that the individual interpretation of the issues White
Teeth deals with remains “ambiguous and plural” (25) as “it is language which speaks, not the author” (25). “The postmodern itself is defined in terms of “otherness”, even of “notness”.”
60
(83) In other words, there are many points of view with regards to being other or not belonging or fitting in and there are various possibilities for interpretation.
61
Conclusion The aim of this diploma thesis was to analyse Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth with the main focus on the created sense of crisis. The analysis dealt with the concept of a general sense of crisis among the society due to the lost sense of stability which may in fact be understood as a general as well as personal matter. In this respect the crisis is perceived as the result of multiculturalism, facing cultural conflicts and especially the transformed role of religion. One of the goals was to challenge some of the ideas connected with the supposedly Christian
Western civilization. The described issues aim to question the relevance of Christianity and the place of religion in contemporary Western world.
In the analysis selected fragments from the novel are reflected on and in most cases the aim is to mirror their relevance to contemporary issues. The outcomes of the interpretations are, firstly, to argue that the crisis of values in the Western world is the consequence of some of the westernized ideas of freedom, the dominant secularism but especially the transformed role of
The Bible. The analysis does not ignore the current tendencies which influence the Western culture such as migration crisis, the lost sense of stability, the problem of losing one’s religious devotion or the concept of multiple national identities. Such sensitive topics are addressed in order to understand the overall format of the crisis.
Secondly, the thesis aims to portray the crisis as a personal matter, paying attention to individual fates of the characters of the novel. It is suggested that one of the problems may be growing up as a second-generation immigrant and therefore being identified as a culturally- hybrid person. This proves to have negative effects on the characters (Magid, Millat, Clara, Irie) but may serve as an analogy to real-life issues. It is beyond interesting to find a similar phenomenon which appears among Vietnamese children living in the Czech Republic who are referred to as the “banana children”. They share a sense of not belonging to either of the cultures by which they are surrounded while, at the same time, are a part of both. The understanding of
62 rootedness in a religion as well as intertextual references to The Bible are mentioned in order to challenge the significance of Christianity which proves to have shifted in the Western world.
One of the reasons is described as the criticized “do-goodism” which defines the current tendencies which may seem moral but in fact are rooted in self-centredness.
Then, the crucial element of the evoked sense of crises, multiculturalism, is payed attention to. The depicted features of multiculturalism result in great confusion illustrated by the concepts of multiple gods, the sense of not belonging, cultural clash, disillusionment and the desire to merge with the dominant culture. All these aspects of multiculturalism enlarge the sense od crisis. Also, the difference between drilled traditions and sincere faith are discussed as these ideas also influence how a number of the characters living in a multicultural society feel.
In addition to that, the crisis is approached from another point of view when the analysis attempts to emphasize the role of friendship, relationship and the power of trying to find mutual understanding and compromise. In this respect the analysis highlights how multiculturalism may be cherished. On top of that, the mutual roots of Christianity and Islam through the archetypal Abraham are mentioned as the reminder that a sense of common ground may be found even among diverse religions. At the same time, the crucial role of the narrator is appreciated with the focus on the text, the use of language and Smith’s witty and fearless approach to writing about serious matters.
Finally, the thesis’s goal is to acknowledge the complexity of postmodernism and postmodern writing which prove to significantly help during the process of mirroring the serious issues and the current chaos in the Western world. What is more, the postmodern elements create another layer of humour and playfulness in which the novel is covered.
However, this specific style of writing does not attempt to hide the sense of crisis of cultural authority, does not hesitate to approach concepts of pluralizing culture and contextualized identities and to raise awareness of what is happening in the multicultural world. 63
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