The main topics covered in Zadie Smith's 2000 novel White Teeth are the problems that humanity is currently confronting, particularly in the wake of colonialism. Identity, multiculturalism, assimilation of culture, and hybridization are among the topics covered in the book. Samad Iqbal from Bangladesh and Archie Jones from England are the major characters. Given that the bulk of them are descendants of British colonies in Africa and Asia, the setting of the story accurately captures their lives and experiences. London is where the text is put up. The post-colonial criticisms of the book are discussed critically in this essay. Zadie Smith’s main idea is that the social space in Britain after the colonization period has turned fluid. The traditional culture of the Englishmen is no longer entirely applicable to the population because the question of culture is no longer based on ethnicity or race. For example, different characters migrated to Britain immediately after colonization and have been able to fit well within the English population in London (Smith 5). The outcome is that the different character brings diverse cultural practices considering they originate from various parts of the world, implying that none can claim t won the London culture. Instead of the all the individuals strive to negotiate their lifestyles in London and find a proper place in the society. The ethnic diversity is thus proving a hindrance to the strict adherence to the traditional English culture by rewriting the new norms of culture associated with the different races in London. In this regard, there is a modification of the social meanings which arise from the diversity of re-presentation of the diverse characters considering there are of different races (Smith 9). For this reason, the authors have failed to come up with a definitive agreement as regards the culture of the English people. The work by Zadie Smith is thus best described as hybridity since it combines literature and ethnicity.
Change of Identity
First of all, the book by Zadie Smith is based on colonialism, and all the characters are conscious about their identity after colonization. The theme thus brings out colonization as a factor that leads to the confusion of identity (Fernández 144). The foundation of this effect is from the basis of all the characters of in the narration meeting in London is because of the colonization. These people bring different identities together. For example, Hortense Bowden who is a member of the Jehovah Witness comes from Jamaica, but his father is an Englishman. Samad Iqbal, on the other hand, comes from Mangal Pande and is responsible for the Indian Mutiny of the year 1857 (Smith, 24). The author focuses on Smith who the father was English and mother a Jamaica and whose family is authored to be in Bangladesh. Considering how Smith is presented, the author apprehends a mixture of cultures as she can mix customs, vocabularies, and races by herself at will. She is thus a perfect example of an individual with creative freedom because she is always ready to accommodate other people cultures and values (Fernández 144). Her role in the move sends imaginations to her parents about how the parental genotypes are hidden in Smith’s phenotype. In this regard, her ability to speak English hides her true identity as a half cast of a British and a Jamaican. It thus gives rise to a new person, with new beliefs and cultures found in English as the primary language.
Cultural Criticism
The post-colonial interrelations amongst the people of different tribes is a hilarious phenomenon because it gives rise to several rich cultures. For example, Archie who fought in the war for independence had several visions. These aspirations are comprised of the fight for democracy, bangers, promenades and every other thing that belonged to his culture. In expressing the story, it is evident that the culture in which he finds himself in London is one that does not provide the desired meals (Smith 33). Archie only speaks of his traditional foods prepared at home. Samad also responds to the same by characterizing diet in England as “Terrible food.” Food thus emerges as a challenge to the modern culture (Fernández 150). While people are willing to intermingle and negotiate on their ethnicity, it becomes tough to neglect their traditional home foods for those in the foreign countries.
The changes in the identity of the people in London according to the author is thus the constant modifications experienced in life through interrelations. Language is the unifying factor of people between the different ethnicities because, through it, individuals can negotiate their identities amongst themselves. A setting that features Archie, Samad, and Smith is what constitutes a multicultural setup because it presents people who find themselves interacting amongst each other despite differences in their background (Smith, 42). The inference, therefore is that the post-colonial experience as presented by Zadie Smith in the novel is one characterized by a mixture of identities and cultures, leading to the formation of new concepts. Most of the authors of literature today have termed this kind of existence as hybridization (Fernández 147). Further, it should be noted that one of the places that act as a catalyst for emulating new cultures is the city. The urban setup is usually the destination of the majority of the immigrants from the former colonies of the British. These people exchange varied ideas, change the environment around them and leave round possibilities of multicultural identities, their advantages and the disadvantages of the same.
Assimilations and Resistance to Culture
From the novel, there emerge several aspects in which the new ways of life are created. One of such techniques is assimilation. Here, the local population recognizes the foreigners as some of their own and vice versa. The process involves the change of language, cultures, and religion. Samad, for example, is assimilated in specific ways as he accepts to speak English and recognize some of the valuable traditional British cultures. The second manner in which a new identity is created is through resistance to the local culture (Fernández 145). In the novel, for example, it is apparent that as many of the foreigners from British colonies arrive in Britain, it becomes challenging to impose upon them the English culture. They resist by deciding only to accommodate favorable cultures to them and negotiate over the rest with the other cultural groups to find common ground for all people (Smith, 14). The rise of ethnic kind of literature in the UK especially after the colonial period speaks much of the resistance of the English culture which ought to be the dominant culture in London. The strict application of local culture to the foreigners is ignorance of the fact that culture is evolving. If everyone embraced the idea of unity, it would be easy for each of them to compromise their differences for the sake of the others and thus ensure that there is coexistence (Fernández 149). Majid and Millat are perfect cases here. For example, Millat an Englishman denounces Christianity and Joins Islam which is the Muslim faith. Moreover, this is a form of resistance to the local culture. Majid, on the other hand, rejects the Muslim values and faith and adopts exemplary English manners. The aspect of assimilation of culture is thus depicted here because despite being a Muslim, Majid is entirely incorporated into the English culture.
Gender Criticism
Gender is a hotly contested issue in the novel; thus, with the change in the cultures and ushering in the period of multiculturalism, gender perceptions change. For example, the culture of the English people was majorly shaped by Patriarchy, something that changed during the post-colonial period (Zapata 88). In a different instance, when Smith was born, she took after the culture of both her Jamaican mother and English father. For this reason, she was forced to adapt to a new culture that has no basis in patriarchy. Further, men are portrayed as being violent during the post-colonial period; for example, Joshua’s son kills his father for allegedly infecting his mice (Zapata 89). During this time, women are also getting away from dressing to please men and being deemed as sexual objects. One perfect illustration is when Iqbal accepted the English culture and was disturbed by the manner in which women dressed. When he sees her girlfriend Karina dressed with her stomach out, he says she is prostituting. However, these subjects say it is fashion and men have to live with that. Further, females are continuously taking up male roles. When Mallit attacks Shiva, she replies by saying that in England, ladies dress the way they want and play the roles of men.
Psychoanalytic Criticism
As far as the book is concerned, psychoanalysis focuses on the desires of the characters, the suppression of the wishes and the dreams. The assessment is based on the theory of the interpretation of dreams as proposed by Freud. Freud further stated that psychoanalytic criticism refers to the avoidance of the personal feelings and desires of the author within the novel and instead focus on the wishes of the people as a whole (Buchanan 18). In the novel, while the author deals much with the struggles facing many interracial relationships, there is still the need to unify all the people notwithstanding their cultures. Smith struggles hard to find common ground amongst all the people, something that proves impossible. The reason for the challenge is that a lot of conflicts arise out of the culture as a result of globalization.
Post-Colonial Criticism
The post-colonial criticism of the White Teeth novel involves the collapse of the British rule in the former colonies of Britain. The failure then led to the formation of new and independent countries that were ready to propel their countries to economic success. Since most of the people in these countries were illiterate, most of them decided to migrate to Britain to seek Education. The shift to Europe is what causes them to experience differences in language, ethnicity, and way of life (Sell 29). One thing that becomes evident from the novel is the need to go back to the parents and seek advice and learn about the culture. For example, Hortense Browne decides to seek the help of her grandmother after which she decides to join Jehovah witness (Sell 32). As the novel goes on, however, individuals realize that all the boundaries which separate people are broken thus leading to a free interaction amongst them.
Fundamentalism and Multiculturalism
Another challenge presented by White Teeth novel is fundamentalism. By definition, fundamentalism refers to the rise of a very strict belief in the scriptures. Some of such religions include Islam and Protestant Christianity. Denominations, in particular, bring about very sharp and radical ideas on religion in a multicultural society. In the book, Smith is used to elaborating on the challenges facing multicultural societies from a religious aspect. For instance, she has used representation of both the Indian and the Jamaican descent. These are countries that do not ascribe to rigorous adherence to religious fundamentalism. Such kind of religion brings about a lot of animosity because people want to live freely (Smith 20). The friction is seen in the movie when Smith describes religious fundamentalism and monomania. She goes further to bring out a very strict Jehovah witness grandmother who happens to come from West Indies and residing in London. Another person she brings out is a Muslim youth extremist hailing from Bangladesh. Smith goes further to disclose the existence of a genetic mutation scientist who is an atheist and has committed his life towards mice mutations.
Smith states that all these people suffer from monomania and are thus brainwashed are thus incapable of doing anything meaningful. Hortense Bowden, a Jamaican grandmother, for example, lives her whole live predicting and preparing for her death and the end of the world, something that is followed by all the elders of her Jehovah Witness religion (Smith 56). It should further be noted that this doctrine only recognizes the males as elders as opposed to the women. The unfortunate part of predicting the end of the world, however, is the fact that whenever a date of the end of the world is set, it never comes to pass. The reasons cited by the elders is a misinterpretation of the law. They, therefore, spend their entire life not doing anything meaningful but rather just concerned about their death.
Millat Iqbal who is a darling of many ladies in the novel and a youth Muslim extremist joins a terrorist gang over the need to play the role of the mafia godfather. He further goes ahead to abandon all his girlfriends for terrorism Smith 70). After self e evaluation, however, he discovered that whatever he was doing is offensive to Allah and thus decides to learn the art of sound physical prayer positions. Joshua, the Atheist scientist, dealing with mice mutations is also murdered by his son who had joined a radical animal rights group on getting information that Joshua had inflicted his mice. His primary reason is that it was never the intention of God that animals should be experimented upon. From the above examples from the White Teeth novel, it is evident that a multicultural society brings about aspects of radical fundamentalism.
Why Smith is Criticized
Zadie Smith’s novel has since been controversial and been subject to sharp criticism despite being received positively by those who believe it its themes. Most of the critics think that everything expressed in the novel is mere radical extremism. These people attack her concepts of multiculturalism terming Britain as a country that adheres to the English and not any other culture (Fernández 145). The book explores the diverse culture of English settlers and thus explains the challenges that involved migrating too England during the colonial period. Many of her critics have notably argued that Zadie is engaging in a lot more issues than she can chew. The truth, however, is that the novel is a perfect reflection of the society today amidst globalization. With people moving from one country to the other after colonialism, cultures are changing in the world, religious fundamentalism is arising and a multicultural society developing (Fernández 149). The changes are inevitable and the earlier the world recognized that, the better. While the author only uses London as a place where the novel is set, the happenings in the book are an explicit model of what is happening across the globe.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is plausible to conclude that Zadie Smith is one of the most courageous young authors who has defied all odds to expose the true reflections of the English culture. The author has revived a lot of criticism over what is termed as extremism in her book, but she has stood firm. The author explains Lond has been turned into a multicultural society since culture is no longer based on nationality but rather the negotiation between different races. Further, such kind of a society gives rise to fundamentalism where different people start ascribing to certain religions with the strict adherence to the scriptures.
Works Cited
Buchanan, Brad. “The Gift that Keeps on Giving”: Zadie Smith’s White Teeth and the
Posthuman. Ed. Philip Tew. Reading Zadie Smith: The First Decade and Beyond. London: Bloomsbury, 2013, pp. 13-25.
Fernández, Irene Pérez. "Representing Third Spaces, Fluid Identities, and Contested Spaces in
Contemporary British Literature/Representando Terceros-Espacios e Identidades Fluidas en la Literatura Británica Contemporánea." Atlantis, 2009, pp. 143-160.
Smith, Zadie. White Teeth. New Tork, US: Vintage, 2003.
Sell, Jonathan, ed. Metaphor and Diaspora in contemporary writing. Springer, 2012.
Zapata, Beatriz Pérez. "In Drag: Performativity and Authenticity in Zadie Smith’s NW." Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal, 16, 1, 2014, pp. 83-95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ipcj-2014-0006.
