Before White Teeth begins its journey in exploring the roots of a specific and collective history through various ideological stances, Zadie Smith opens with a reminder that “What is past is prologue”. The novel’s epigraph, a gravid phrase taken from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, tells us the story about to unfold is an inevitable one, a fated account. Smith’s narrator, from the very start knows this—she knows everything there is to know. She is blunt, bemused, casual and almost shaking their head at the stories she is relaying as if trying her best to elude the true sentiment attached and rooted at its very core. Searching for meaning, Smith’s listless characters bumble about, talking at each other through ideological vagaries and crusades of self-validation—all convenient and performative social veils. White Teeth succeeds in emphasizing these themes with its idiosyncratic narrator and a stylistic use of irony, carefully weaved in the novel’s long sentences, thick paragraphs, often interrupting thoughts and added anecdotes. It is an …show more content…
awfully informal discourse that can and often seems willing to try the reader’s patience. The first chapter is itself a balancing act, as the narrator zips back and forth between settings, toppling on metaphors and epic exaggerations, time traveling and contradicting. This builds a continuous relationship of strained trust between reader and writer. In the beginning, there are almost enthusiastic stings of cynicism. Main character, Archie Jones has attempted suicide—“a decided-upon suicide”—on the first of January 1975. The narrator does not make a big drama about it. This is just as it is; a decision made and life goes on. There could not be more of an indifferent succession of descriptions: “Cricklewood was no kind of place. It was not a place a man came to die. It was a place a man came to in order to go other places via the A41” (3). These sentences have a comedic timing that steadily becomes characteristic of the rest of the novel as the reader continues on. Two rather short sentences, both repetitive in nature followed up by a third elaborative sentence which packs on the irony and comedic tragedy. With this, the narrator seems to share the same cynical and witty disposition as the characters. While innately far-removed, this narrator is also close enough to be an “omniscient local” privy to all history, time and place, with all of the correct value judgements of setting and characters. In reading one might gather the image of the narrator walking about the crowded and diversified streets of London, smoking a cigarette as she tells this story to a small group of vaguely curious pedestrians. The narrator’s acquired acumen regarding the story’s full gamut of characters is the official guide to all the answers of this first chapter and of the novel in general. There are no great mysteries to be unraveled and in terms of plot, the novel is limited. Smith’s voice seems to imply that with every sentence. The writing, just in terms of the subject matter, but especially concerning the narration style relies on the audience to have an expected root human knowledge of the world and of culture to make this specific collection of stories feel significant. In Smith’s specificity, the reader should be able to fill in the universal emotional beats. An object is not simply and object to Ms. Smith: “Solemnly he flipped a coin (heads, life, tails, death) and felt nothing in particular when he found himself staring at the dancing lion.” (9). There is more power in giving the full gravid description of the tails side of the coin as a “dancing lion” of death. The dancing lion is thus sort of an ironic and teasing omen. This is also a narrator who wants to make sure that the reader fully understands her meaning and possibly more.
Smith likes to leave the reader with the possibility of more intrigue to an already verbose tale or anecdote. No explanation (or rather exploration) is left simply explained in full, the reader is given a nugget of something else to think about as well: “So there existed fathers who dealt in the present, who didn’t drag ancient history around like a ball and chain. So there were men who were not neck-deep and sinking in the quagmire of the past” (271). Smith is certainly keen on using metaphor and simile as there will often be two or sometimes three metaphors or similes all packed in a single elongated sentence. “He wanted it to be perfectly quiet and still, like the inside of an empty confessional or the moment in that brain between thought and speech” (4). Simile is Smith’s most used literary device, one used affectively
in In accordance with the exhaustive exploration of meaning, Smith’s ability to invoke meaning in the imagery she conjures comes in even longer stretches of uninterrupted description. Descriptive lists are used to great effect, pulling no emotional or comical punches. These lists are rapidly fired off with the usual ironic tone and extensive vision, occasionally helped along with a courteous set of parentheses. It is impressive how often Smith veers off into a stream-of-consciousness style and suddenly jumps back into a more traditional narrative as if her literary excursion suddenly finds its way back to its original path. In this way, it seems that Smith weaves back and forth between being a dutiful daughter of literature and a deviant eccentric prone to prose experimentation. In terms of punctuation, the comma, the colon and semicolon feel used much more frequently than the full-stop period. Paragraphs more than twenty lines thick frequently turn out to be single sentences full with punctuation sans a period. It is also worth noting that Smith uses differing cultural dialect to emphasize a certain level of miscommunication and a lack of understanding. Differentiation being another big theme in the novel, this tool is useful. Clara, a young woman with a thick Jamaican accent is sometimes infantilized or even disregarded because of others’ lack of understanding. Another character early in the book essentially admires her for her admiration of him but can barely understand her when she tries to tell enlighten him to become a Jehovah’s Witness. How Smith frames her language is also worth effecting because it again insists that the reader look closely to discover more than what is on the surface. Single abstract ideas are often capitalized such as “Life”, “Yes” and “Him”, both referring to ideologies larger than life and based on varying conceptions. This reflects on the thematic concept of personal character perspective. Character thoughts are italicized and noted as wishful would-be quotes that often go against said character’s nature: “I’m here, Archie felt like saying, I’m right here you know, I’m blood right here. And it was my blender.” (9). Elsewhere, italics are used to emphasize words spoken in the past, such as a quote from a character’s father or a familiar religious figure, remembered in a moment of consequence. In italicizing these bits, Smith is calling for the reader to consider the difference between what these characters say and how they move about the world they live in and what they actually believe. Given that the characters often contradict themselves so much, the italicized bits of texts have more power in illuminating the complex psyche of such incongruous subjects. This all might seem strange when one remembers that the narrator is the one that supposedly knows all and tells all in the most acute fashion. However, Smith’s narrator is also a contradictory creature, full of herself in being this telling of the story, so sure of her narrative perspective. This works very well in emphasizing the novel’s biggest theme: conflicting ideology and perspective that insists on a single true story, a single way of life and a single history. The reader is very much inclined to believe this omniscient, third-person narrator but there are small moments where, with the narrator’s own collection of value judgements about settings, events and characters all alike, Smith plays with the idea of her narrator being just as inevitably fallible as her characters, which is perhaps the basic principle (or moral) of the entire novel. Smith writes the narrator as someone having a little too much fun telling the story. Consequently, Smith’s narrative voice is a curious blend of modernist omniscient and postmodern or contemporary informal intimate. The expanse and flourish of Smith’s narrator is not so much distracting as it is decorative, especially in a moment such as this: “Whilst he slipped in and out of consciousness, the position of the planets, the music of the spheres, the flap of a tiger-moth’s diaphanous wings in Central Africa, and a whole bunch of other stuff that Makes Shit Happen had decided it was second-chance time for Archie.” (4). All of this in the midst of a man attempting suicide. The narrator often does this; telling sub-stories or articulating abstract ideas where the novel’s main story is already in motion. This adds questions of uncertainty and wonder to an already congested history. These sub-stories and anecdotes are only ideas the narrator can contemplate. Smith’s narrator assumes authority in her telling of this history and we believe her, which is in itself a profound commentary on the nature and history of storytelling. This makes the novel (especially during a reread) feel more like a psychological thriller. Can we totally trust this narrator’s limitless point of view in full? The nature of literature insists we should and have to in order for the story to work, but Smith questions otherwise many times throughout the novel: “Full stories are as rare as honesty” (209-210). White Teeth has a lot of bite to it if the reader is willing to stick with it throughout its embellishments and asides. Smith’s writing style works and pays off as the novel perfects a balancing act of mixing narrative elements. Meaning depends half or at least a quarter on the reader’s behalf. This kind of narrative trickery is tough to write and sometimes even harder to discern. The novel’s psychological subject is always on the forefront at every turn of the page even as Smith piles on stories and anecdotes, abstract thoughts and some occasional stream-of-consciousness style choices. There is a great deal that Smith says with all of these elements and yet if the reader can believe it, there are still ideas that go unsaid. The trust bond between reader and writer is continuously strained throughout, all for the better once one reaches the abrupt end. As cathartic and pointed as this novel is right from its grim start, the narrative tools Smith utilizes allows the reader to discover their own opinions about some of this world’s most conflicting histories and ideologies.
John McPhee used similes throughout his essay “Under the Snow”. One of his similes was him describing how a researcher put the bear in a doughnut shape. It was to explain to the audience that the bear was wrapped around with room between her legs for the bear cubs to lay when they are in hibernation. He describes the movement of the bears and the bear cubs like clowns coming out of a compact car. The similes help the audience see how the moved and how they were placed after the researcher moved them.
When an author romanticizes a piece of literature, he or she has the power to convey any message he or she wishes to send to the reader. Authors can make even the most horrible actions, such as Dustan murdering ten savages in their sleep and justify it; somehow, from both the type of mood/tone set in this piece of literature, along with the powerful word choice he used, Whittier had the ability to actually turn the tables on to the victim (i.e. the ten “savages” who were murdered in their sleep). “A Mother’s Revenge” by John Greenleaf Whittier, is a prime example of how authors can romanticize any situation into how they want to convey their message.
The purpose of this essay is to highlight the issues that Dana, a young African-American writer, witness as an observer through time. As a time traveler, she witnesses slavery and gender violation during 19th and 20th centuries and examines these problems in terms of how white supremacy disrupts black familial bonds. While approaching Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred, this essay analyses how gender and racial violation relates to familial bonds through Dana 's experience in Tom Weylin 's plantation. It is argued that Butler uses pathos, ethos, and in rare cases logos, to effectively convey her ideas of unfairness during the American slavery, such as examining the roots of Weylin’s cruel attitude towards black people, growing conflicts between
In the novel, the author proposes that the African American female slave’s need to overcome three obstacles was what unavoidably separated her from the rest of society; she was black, female, and a slave, in a white male dominating society. The novel “locates black women at the intersection of racial and sexual ideologies and politics (12).” White begins by illustrating the Europeans’ two major stereotypes o...
Through this essay I plan to analyse 3 short stories from Tim Winton’s book ‘The Turning’. The 3 short stories I have chosen are long, clear view, Immunity and damaged goods, through these short stories I will be focusing on the themes for each of them and seeing if these stories in some way link together through theme or story.
Metaphors and Similes are often used in this story, so the reader has a better image of the setting, this is something, and I find Connell did incredibly well, for instance when he refers to the darkness of the night like moist black velvet, the sea was as flat as a plate-glass and it was like trying to see through a blanket.
D'Aguiar's central purpose is to make us reflect upon American society during the slavery era and to acknowledge its realities so that we understand the capability for evil that exists in society. D'Aguair has used Whitechapel and his memories to encapsulate the brutality and inhumanity of slavery. The succeeding narratives further our understanding of the society and these are presented in a manner that forces the reader to accept D'Aguiar's judgements. The characters represent all of the voices of the society including people from different races, social status's and both genders so that the reader can see the position society imposed upon all citizens. The forms of the individual narratives help us to understand the reality of society because they allow the characters to emerge as individuals, telling their own stories with undisguised honesty. The Longest Memory is told from the oldest to the youngest character showing how society instilled its ideals on each generation in an uncompromising manner and so the stories overlap and intertwine, to illustrate this D'Aguiar has used an overwhelming tone of sadness and despair to emphasise the negative feelings that society created.
The book follows Dana who is thrown back in time to live in a plantation during the height of slavery. The story in part explores slavery through the eye of an observer. Dana and even Kevin may have been living in the past, but they were not active members. Initially, they were just strangers who seemed to have just landed in to an ongoing play. As Dana puts it, they "were observers watching a show. We were watching history happen around us. And we were actors." (Page 98). The author creates a scenario where a woman from modern times finds herself thrust into slavery by account of her being in a period where blacks could never be anything else but slaves. The author draws a picture of two parallel times. From this parallel setting based on what Dana goes through as a slave and her experiences in the present times, readers can be able to make comparison between the two times. The reader can be able to trace how far perceptions towards women, blacks and family relations have come. The book therefore shows that even as time goes by, mankind still faces the same challenges, but takes on a reflection based on the prevailing period.
During the course of this work, many ideas and themes are portrayed and readers are able to view subjects that surround the main topic of racial injustice and intolerance. With the three main narrators, Minny Jackson, Aibileen Clark, and Skeeter Phelan, the audience quickly gains an insight on how racial inequalities affected everyone. These thoughts help to form a plot that can easily keep readers entertained throughout the novel. During the course of the novel, there are many points in the plot that decide the actions and events other cha...
John Steinbeck, in his novel Of Mice and Men, makes use of similes and foreshadowing to keep readers in touch with the characters and at the edge of their seats throughout the story. Foreshadowing lets readers keep questioning, while similes add more details and brings out the characters in the book. Steinbeck’s use of foreshadowing and similes brings out the deep meaning and themes learned through the characters and the circumstances George faces. Foreshadowing and the use of similes are two of the many literary techniques that bring out the deep thoughts of an author using great details and suspense. These are the techniques which make authors like, John Steinbeck, successful writers.
In particular, Nemesvari uses Novel on Yellow Paper to explore the way Smith uses language to create interactions between Smith and her audience this “playfulness” Nemesvari names it (26). He goes on to state: “Clearly what Smith desires is the play between illustration and text, but such an interaction immediately subverts the ‘purity,’ the self-sufficiency of poetic language-in-itself” (27). This allows Smith to call attention to the “uncertainties and protean nature of language” (27). Nemesvari uses Smith’s poems as the format of examining her language, including the poem about Casmilus from Novel, which Nemesvari argues tells us how the text should be read. Nemesvari explores Smith’s word choice throughout this poem and other selections in order to encompass ideas of romance, social order, and the limitations of language. He focuses on how Novel forces “the recognition that language and the conventions of fiction are themselves artificial constructs” (30). Smith is aware of the limitations of language, but she is able to utilize it through Pompey by creating a stream of consciousness that allows
The book is a first person point of view about slavery on a plantation in the antebellum south. The author gives detailed and vividly explains the beatings, attempted rape, and constant verbal abuse. “Instead he stopped me with one hand, while he held me with the other. He spoke very softly. ‘You got no manners nigger, I’ll teach you some.’”(Butler, Kindred 41). The cause of the trauma originates from the brutality of slavery. The site of the trauma is adaptation. The audience sees a dynamic change in having to adapt not only in Dana, but also Rufus and Kevin. While traveling back in time, Dana begins to discover her roots and the origins of her ansestors. Before time traveling back to 1815 Dana takes her freedom for granted. Traviling back in time she has to adapt and find her identity in a foreign place. Marie Varsam argues that the “past should be, even must be, retained and manipulated in order to formulate a cohesive identity in the present” (Varsam). Every time Danan returns to
Metaphors are used by Chesterfield, whereby he uses them to portray his son’s values. Chesterfield builds his son up, and provides all the obstacles that could come into his life in the near future. He takes his time to warn his son about the problems, and struggles that he is to face in the future through a metaphor where he says, “thorns and briars which scratched and disfigured me in the course of my youth” (Stanhope 91). He refers to these problems as thorns and briars. He was frightened that his son was going to make the same mistakes he made while he was a youth and so, he had to warn him in advance of what awaits him. He uses metaphors in his warnings just to emphasize his points. Later on, in his warnings to his son; Chesterfield also uses anastrophe in contradicting his points. He uses anastrophe as an understa...
Zadie Smith’s world wasn’t a made up fairyland with an elven language, ethereal metaphors or green setting, no, within her novel, White Teeth, it was a clear reflection of what type of society that she lived in. A society where everything seen can be an interpretation of what society wanted out of you, a false representation that was found in the comfortable ideals of Euro-Centric beauty which were hard to attain yet were so sought out no matter the amount of pain or crippling amount of self-hatred that seems to creep into your life and alter your self perception. This is what Smith explores. Now I may have an unfair insight towards why Smith wrote the types of characters that she did, so realistic in their flaws and manners, yet she states that the book’s settings were created by mish-mashing pieces of literary works that she had previously read from a young age, mind you White Teeth was written while she was attending university, was what made it so interesting.