“[…] They cannot escape their history any more than you yourself can lose your shadow.”
—Zadie Smith
Why can’t we change the course of our lives for good? Why do we keep on wrecking our lives through life decisions? I’m sure many of us swore we would never become like our parents when we were growing up. However, many of us have ended up making similar mistakes in similar situations without even realizing it. We keep going on with the conviction that every day brings a new beginning only to be disappointed again. Are families just bound to repeat their history? Could it be a curse that is passed on from one generation to the next? This is the main premise of Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth.
“You are never stronger… than when you land on the other side of despair.”
Jamaican-British writer Zadie Smith published White Teeth in 2000, at the age of 24. Media outlets such as The Sunday Times, BBC, and The Guardian have placed the novel among the most brilliant books that have been published in the twenty-first century.
The story unfolds in a twentieth century London and focuses on two best friends living in North London, as well as on their present, past, roots, and family history. At first glance, Archie Jones and Muslim Bengali Samad Iqbal have nothing in common. But despite their differences they forge an everlasting friendship from the moment they fight alongside in the Second World War. Archie is like any typical Englishman until he marries Clara, a beautiful, toothless Jamaican woman half his age. Together they have a daughter calle Irie. As for Samand, he marries a woman named Alsana as part of an arranged marriage. He continues to hold on to his Muslim faith and never stops feeling like an foreigner in England.
This novel portrays London as a melting-pot of voices, textures, and colors. The background of every character takes you on a journey to several countries, and 150 years of history, as it encompasses the origins of each. There is a clever and detailed exploration of the notions of identity, race, and culture. It also deals with the issue of repeating family patterns regarding life-decisions and the impossibility to break with them. Certain situations even seem to be “predestined.”
There is a clash between the new (western) and old (eastern) traditions. Things complicate further when parents realize their children don’t hold the same beliefs they grew up with in their countries of origin. The writer makes a contrast between the old determinist beliefs of the parents and the new beliefs of their children, who seek a different a path that will let them seize control of the future.
“If religion is the opiate of the people, tradition is an even more sinister analgesic, simply because it rarely appears sinister. If religion is a tight band, a throbbing vein, and a needle, tradition is a far homelier concoction: poppy seeds ground into tea; a sweet cocoa drink laced with cocaine; the kind of thing your grandmother might have made.”
White Teeth also has a peculiarly rich narration. Despite all the tensions, it is a sunny novel full of humor, sarcasm, and global historical vision. Throughout its 480 pages it brilliantly merges a wide variety of voices, points of view, friendships, notions about tolerance, and fellowship.
“You must live life with the full knowledge that your actions will remain. We are creatures of consequence.”
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There are many novels that have delved into the immigrant experience before. However, Zadie Smith’s novel will give you a brand new perspective on this topic, while it entertains you with its hilarious and poignant style. Give it a chance and you’ll see contemporary literature still has many wonderful things to offer.
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Translated by Andrea Valle Gracia
