Cultural Identity In Toni Morrison's 'White Teeth'

One’s commitment of immigrating to a new country for a better life indicates that oneself is ready to risk the life given to them by facing many hardships along the way. In the novel Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, Enrique does exactly that, risking his own life at the age of seventeen in order to reunite with his mother who left him when he was five in order to obtain a better job in the US and give Enrique and his older sister everything she thought they deserved. Nazario utilizes an emotional appeal and metaphors to inform readers of the arduous situations migrants experience on their long and tiring journey in search of a family member and a better future.

According to Jie Zong, Jeanne Batalova, and Jeffrey Hallock, the U.S. has been “the top destination for international migrants since the least 1960, with one fifth of the world’s migrants living there as of 2017.” It is well known to numerous people that hundreds of immigrants travel from all over the world to the United States, but what exactly does it take for many of them to get here? One such author, Sonia Nazario, manages to capture the gruesome journey of one immigrant boy, who like many others, is attempting to make it to the United States. The author reveals the brutal realities and the main reason countless of young children make their way to America. In her novel, Enrique’s Journey, Sonia Nazario utilizes pathos, reputable sources,

Writing a novel about immigrant’s lives leaves readers wide eyed and bewildered that such things occur like this

The book focus on the youth immigrant and how they come across the bother. The border in this book does not simply mean nation- state border. It is the racial, language, schooling, racial borders. Basically, these borders usually happen when you come to the country which you have never experienced. Therefore, youth immigrant couldn’t imagine how the new life treat them in new country. Most of immigrant before they come to United State, They all have the beautiful image of America in their head. But The truth behind the “American Dream” is the harsh reality which they have to face everyday.

Enrique’s journey from Honduras to the U.S. unveils the innate loyalty of a loving child to their mother and presents the dangers that a migrant faces on the road with consistent angst; nevertheless, it supports the idea that compassion shown by some strangers can boost the retreating confidence within a person. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” he seeks the beacon of light that all migrants hope to encounter; “El Norte.” Like many children before him, it is the answer to the problems of a hard life. While being hunted down “like animals” leading to “seven futile attempts,” he is

Immigrants come from different parts of the world in many shades of white, brown, and black. In extreme cases, some immigrants are stereotyped as rapists, thieves, drug dealers, etc. or at the very least seen as second-class citizens. Depending if they support the issue or not, even the red or blue side of the political party, people tend to blind themselves from the reality of why they actually migrate. Natives tend to deny seeing the humanity in immigrants’ individual stories and lives. They not only migrate to different countries for better opportunities, but to find jobs to support their families and give their children a better education than they would have had in their country. George Saunders’ short story, The Semplica-Girl Diaries, relates to immigration because the SG’s reflect the treatment of immigrant workers in our society. The SG’s display women who have lived in extreme poverty and don’t have a better choice but to sell themselves to the rich as lawn

Toni Morrison describes Pauline losing her tooth after Pauline and Cholly moved to Ohio. What starts off as a small brown speck grows and “cut into the surface…finally eating away to the root…then the weakened roots, having grown accustomed to the poison, responded one day to severe pressure, and the tooth fell free, leaving a ragged stump behind” (Morrison 116). Morrison chooses to use “poison” to describe what causes Pauline’s tooth to decay and fall out, and the pernicious word conveys the pain of the body betraying its own member. Losing teeth is a common occurrence, and in life’s younger years it is even often an exciting occasion. But when an adult tooth falls out, especially when the body rejects the corrupted tooth, the situation is considerably different.

Immigration to the United States of America has been monumental in the development of this great nation. In both The Barbarian Nurseries, written by Hector Tobar, and Summer of the Big Bachi, written by Naomi Hirahara, are centered around two characters that once moved to America from a foreign land, in hopes to have the American dream, the traditional social ideals of the United States, such as equality, democracy, and material prosperity. Both of the characters work in laborious fields and undergo scrutiny and interrogation of unfortunate circumstances that were out of their control. The strain that is put on immigrants from other countries is prominent in both of these captivating novels.

Migrants cultivate their status as outsiders in a variety of ways. Some migrants are able to collaborate their identities with both the aspects of their ethnic heritage and their local community, at times managing to create a dignified sort of reputation within a sea of suspicious gazes. Then there are some who refuse to perceive their heritage as part of their individual identities, while doing their utmost to belong to a community separate from that of their parents. The struggles of various migrant communities and individuals are difficult to transfix at a simple point. What does appear to be the most prominent strand of commonality, however, is the idea that while migrants may not be able to guarantee a way to avoid being seen as outsiders by others, it is within their everyday abilities to refine their relationships as migrants towards others as they

Toni Morrison once said, “In this Country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.” In the novel Black No More, by George S, Schuyler, the main character Max lives in Harlem, New York as an American citizen during the renaissance period, but he doesn’t feel as though he belongs. It wasn’t until max receives a transformation to become white, that he feels like he is a man who can play an important role in society. Max is living in a whole new world now, one that if full of wealth, power, and acceptance. He no longer has to feel like a burden on society due to the fact that he’s now white. This was seen as the only true definition of an “American.” As Max’s transformation takes place, one can see the oppression

Suddenly a story of the mob, transforms itself into the story of a family; of typical hardships and the struggles of assimilation- a completely relatable topic for many , with migration becoming all the more present post-WW11.

Beloved is not just the story of a ghost that came to haunt the living. Behind the word engraved on a tombstone, there is the history and the memory of an entire people. With this novel of a new genre, Toni Morrison delves into the horrors of slavery and through fiction depicts the suffering and the lives of her ancestors. Yet far from being a documentary, the novel raises the question of amnesia in America regarding its own history. This is done through denouncing the excesses of a segregation system, abjection and rejection, which lasted for centuries. Even though Toni denounces the hurt, shame and pain black people went through because of slavery, she does not portray that community as a victim of history. This is much more than Sethe’s individual fate. Toni Morrison exposes the emancipation of an entire nation. In an attempt to repress the past, the ex-slaves have lost their identity. In order to regain a sense of who they really are, they need to reconnect with the hideous past they lived. Here, Sethe is the symbol of the quest for oneself. I will analyze how Toni achieves that identity recovery.

almost all events in Zadie Smith’s novel, White Teeth. The story of White Teeth takes place in a diverse London between the periods of 1974 and 1992, beginning with Archie Jones attempt at suicide. Archie and his long time friend Samad and their families must cope with their internal struggles and solve their external conflicts with each other throughout the novel. Through this process roots and relationships are discovered. In White Teeth, Smith includes a variety of themes, revealed using a wide range of different literary devices. One of the most crucial themes in the book is the repetition of the theme, identity and heritage. Identity and heritage are a crucial part of how the book’s story unravels. Smith reveals this theme using a multitude of literary elements, which include the use of setting, imagery, characterization, and more. Some devices are used more than others, and others even barely. The most essential ways Smith uses these devices to convey the theme of identity and heritage is through the use of allegory, symbolism, and characterization.

White Teeth. The title of Zadie Smith’s novel exquisitely expresses the author’s use of metaphor for unified race and cultural heritage. The author, by implying that people all have white teeth, despite different forms and faiths, illustrates a unified picture of a diversified race and cultural heritage. Indeed, race and cultural heritage are significant factors in the lives and experiences of the characters in White Teeth. The novel “tells the story of three different families: the Chalfens, Bowdens, and Iqbals. All have been placed into the multicultural setting of London, England where characters question their cultural practices and identities” (Thomas 15). The Iqbal family in London have been assimilated and integrated, still the first

For a subset of migrant writers, translation gains additional importance outside of its parallels to the migrant condition. For migrant authors writing in an adopted language, there is a linguistic uprooting which lends itself to translation. Transitioning between languages adds another dimension to the task of mediating between cultures. For the migrant writer, translation can occur in many ways. It can occur through translation by other entities translators. This translation is external both in agent and location of the process. The migrant author writes in their mother tongue, producing a work that exists externally of the author. An individual who has a different relationship to migration is tasked with conveying the migrant author’s work to the adopting nation, engaging in interpretative work. Translations can be constructed by the migrant author after the initial production of a text. This translation is external in the location of the process. However, it does not involve an external agent. Personal translation allows the author to grapple with the appropriate method for conveying their text and relationship to the natives of their adopted nation. Lastly, translation may occur in the process of writing in a second language . In this process, the translation occurs internally in terms of the agent and location of the process. Again the author retains a degree of autonomy in defining the way in which the adopting nation’s audience receives the text. In each process