Midnight Chit-Chats
In Zadie Smiths novel White Teeth, she depicts Irie as a curvy, Jamaican teenage girl living in an English society, dealing with identity struggles. Her conflicts with herself stem from the untold truths of her parents and their pasts, which hung over Irie until she got frustrated had had enough and started to look for the full truth. The use of Irie’s absurd conflict with her mother at night, lifts from the weight of the seriousness and more serious themes of the book, yet at the same time highlights Smith’s underlying theme of identity and teenage angst.
Zadie Smith includes the argument between Irie and her mother to represent that though this is such a complex book, there are still the subtle tendencies of parent and teenage struggles that a lot of families, everywhere, deal with. All in all, families are families and teenagers, are, well, teenagers. Irie wants to take a year off to go to Africa but she and her mother are in quite the disagreement about her plans. This conflict between Irie and Clara becomes so serious that they stake out different areas in the house and and pretty much play the silent game. That is, until Irie cracks and wakes her mother up in the middle of the night. She believes that in the middle of the night, she is more likely to get what she wants and that, “it was such a well-worn tactic that until now Irie had not considered it worthy of this, her fiercest and longest dispute with her mother. But she hadn’t any better ideas” (312). (don’t end with quote)
While it seems tragic that the characters of Zadie Smiths novel have a difficult time identifying who they are in their own personal way, the relatable and absurd way Smith writes their stories lifts away some of the seriousness of the novel. In the scene, pages 312-314, Irie chooses to walk into her parent’s room in the middle of the night to ask about leaving the country for a year. This is such an absurd thing to do in the middle of the night, that it makes it funny. Adding on to the humor, is the fact that Irie feels totally and utterly betrayed that she did not know about her mother’s fake teeth, enough so that she packs up her bag and leaves the house in the middle of the night. (integrate) “She’d had
Superman Returns “’Don’t you ever use your head?’” These are the words of Darrel Curtis, or Darry, from The Outsiders by S.E Hinton that he repeatedly states in the novel to his youngest brother, Ponyboy. The Outsiders is a realistic fiction novel that includes two main groups, the Greasers and the Socs, who were always getting into brutal fights with each other. The main problems in this novel are stereotyping and finding your identity. Darrel Curtis is the unofficial leader of the Greasers.
When Birdie and her sister are sent to Nkrumah, Birdie is taught to recognize and accept her “black” identity. However, her identity is problematized by her physical appearance, especially her “white” skin colour. Living in Boston, Birdie feels that she does not belong to the black community; in Nkrumah students don’t accept her for being a black girl, then she further feels isolated by her dad’s girlfriend, because she is not dark like Cole. “Others before had made me see the differences between my sister and myself – the texture of our hair, the tings of our kin, the shapes of our features. But Carmen was the one to make me feel that those things somehow mattered. To make me feel that the differences were deeper than skin,” (Senna, 1998, p.91). The students are not the only ones who make Birdie feel as if she doesn’t fit in; Carmen makes her feel as if inferior because of her lighter complexion.
“…. because a girl of my age ought to be able to brush her own hair and it was a travesty that my mother hadn’t taught me” (Evans 39). It is often the case that most people develop awareness of their identity when they become involved in diverse social circles, neighborhoods, or schools. In “Snakes”, Danielle Evans carefully chooses the characterization of her characters to give the reader an insight into the racial division that has been pervasive in America. Having never been aware of her biracial identity, Tara confronts the reality of her identity when she leaves her parent’s house to spend the summer with her grandmother. Evans portrays Lydia, Tara’s grandmother, as brutal, bigoted white grandmother to draw parallel between her and white
Amy Tan’s short story, Fish Cheeks, outlines the general idea of self-acceptance. As the narrator, fourteen year old Tan declares her love for her minister’s son, Robert, who unlike herself, is “as white as Mary in the manger” (Tan 1). This crush is anything but healthy, primarily because Tan is reluctant to reveal her true self to him. This hesitance she portrays is strikingly recognizable in the teenagers of today’s world. Amy Tan 's story, "Fish Cheeks," is significant to the adolescents of today 's society through the overall structure, quality, and applicability of the piece as the struggle to accept oneself as an individual is still as present as it ever was.
Many denounce Kincaid’s latest book as an over attack, her gaze too penetrating and intimidating. The tone of voice continuously shifts throughout the memoir, starting from sardonic, manifesting into anger, to slowly conclude in melancholy. Though particular accusations, such as when the narrator cruelly rejects “you” as “an ugly thing”, may upset the readers, Kincaid purposely provokes reactions of defensiveness and guilt to challenge us
It’s hard to imagine someone’s personal experience without actually being the one enduring it; however, Jamaica Kincaid’s use of language contests other wise.Through intense imagery and emotional response, Jamaica Kincaid utilizes rhetorical appeals such as logos, pathos, and ethos, which successfully convinces her audience by creating a conversation between herself and the reader. Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place is an expression of her inner feelings on the transformation her hometown, Antigua, and the everlasting postcolonial impact that occurs. Kincaid reacts to the feelings she had as a young girl and compares that mindset to the opinions she holds today as an adult. Kincaid’s piece evaluates the foreignness, race, and power that consumes Antigua. While she descriptively explains the circumstances she faced in Antigua, Kincaid incorporates historical background which provides logical support to her purpose. Notably, the author’s first hand experiences gives her credibility, ethos, and allows the audience to clearly understand the context from her perspective. Not only does Kincaid effectively describe her experiences, but she also makes her audience feel as though they are looking through her eyes. Her purpose demonstrates the difficulty and impossibility of returning to origin after crucial influences. A Small Place proves that the effects of racism and racial inequality are long term and culture cannot simply return exactly how it once was in that specific culture,
Themes of Family togetherness and love are illustrated through the article “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid. Throughout the text Western Caribbean familial practices are discussed. Upon closer examination, the reader is presented with a series of images demonstrating customary cultural practices and moral principles that a Caribbean woman passes along to her young daughter. In the Case of Jamaica Kincaid, she has been influenced by common advice she received from her elders, in attempts to make the life ahead of her easier. In fact, the insight given is hoped to deflect her from bringing shame amongst the family. Moreover, the advices she receives from particularly her mother, are a mother's way of insuring that her daughter has the tools that she needs to survive as an adult in society. Inclusively, the fact that the mother takes the time to train her daughter on the proper ways for a lady to act in their culture is indicative of their familial love. The article "the girl" illustrates themes of familial love, cultural customs, and maternal bond through the eyes of a young black female growing up in the island of Antigua in a quasi society.
Looking for Alibrandi is a prime example on how young adults can be educated on the stresses and losses of life and through reflection they can set you free. Looking for Alibrandi focuses on one girl and the shame of her family’s irresponsibility’s have brought on them. Through her difficult school year, her absent father, falling in love, losing friends and discovering the truth about her identity. Melina Marchetta opened doors to the complications of the first generation Australian born ethnic female identities. Marchetta identified the anxieties of being different and acceptance which comes with being unfamiliar. She shows the reader themselves that people who are alike Josie are normal and mainly important and not alone.
The early 1900s was a very challenging time for Negroes especially young women who developed issues in regards to their identities. Their concerns stemmed from their skin colors. Either they were fair skinned due mixed heritage or just dark skinned. Young African American women experienced issues with racial identity which caused them to be in a constant struggle that prohibits them from loving themselves and the skin they are in. The purpose of this paper is to examine those issues in the context of selected creative literature. I will be discussing the various aspects of them and to aid in my analysis, I will be utilizing the works of Nella Larsen from The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Jessie Bennett Redmond Fauset,
In Jamaica Kincaid essay “On Seeing England for the First Time” conveys the contradiction of a young Antiguan women’s bitterness in her perspectives of learning about England versus exactly experiencing England. Furthermore, Kincaid presents the speaker’s voice as consistently bitter from the beginning by using subjective and sarcastic diction and convincing syntax.
Kincaid, Jamaica.“Girl”. In The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 541-542. Print.
Eileraas, Karina. “The Brandon Teena Story: Rethinking the Body, Gender Identity and Violence Against Women.” Quod.lib.umich.edu, University
Elaine Potter Richardson, more famously known as Jamaica Kincaid, is recognized for her writings that suggest depictions of relationships between families, mainly between a mother and daughter, and her birth place, Antigua, an island located in the West Indies. She is also familiarized with Afrocentrism and feminist point of views. Kincaid’s work is filled heavily with visual imagery that produces a mental picture in readers that helps them connect stronger to the reading. An example of this really shines through in her short story piece, “Girl.” This short story describes the life of a lower class woman living in the West Indies, and also incorporates thick detailing between the relationship between her and her mother. Jamaica Kincaid structures the story as if her mother is speaking to her. She writes broad, but straight to the point, allowing readers to imagine to picture her experience. Kincaid uses visual imagery and repetition consistently throughout “Girl” to reveal the theme and tone of the story; conflictual affair between a mother and daughter.
Over the course of your life, you come to struggle with the philosophical idea of personal identity; the thing that makes you, you. Oneself may shape their identity around aspects of their life that they have no control over like race and physical traits, as well as decisions that are made throughout their lives like affiliations and religion. Your personal identity can be seen through your passions and interactions with others. An individual’s search for their identity is something that may occur in everyone’s’ life. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie highlights the theme of how the search for identity is always prevalent, through the conflicted characters of Junior and Mary throughout the novel.
who wants to get away from her own mother, and a Bengali man who is