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 …show more content…
This was because they were born in the country their parents immigrated to and thus should assimilate easily. Yet, they were seen as strangers of the society regardless of their citizenship. “Their identity [was] questioned [simply] due to their ethnicity” (Abrahamsson 15). In the novel, the Iqbal family, hoping that one of their children can be raised up according to traditional Islamic values, sent one of the twins, Magid, back to Bangladesh, so that he would become “a real Bengali, a proper Muslim” (Smith 179). However, he felt “the feeling of belonging nowhere that comes to people who belong everywhere”(Abrahamsson 16). He then responded to the conflict by mimicking everything that he considered English so that he could fit in. For instance, he began to call Alsana “mum” instead of “amma” and himself “Mark Smith” among his friends. His parents have hoped that he could continue the Bengali tradition; however, in reality, his education in Bangladesh ironically made Magid discover his “Englishness” rather than his Bengali roots, and eventually returned to Britain as “more English than the English” (Smith
This book also attempts to explore how social and cultural forces encourage white people to expend time and energy on the creation and re-creation of whiteness. Whiteness is invested in, like property, but it is also a means of accumulating property and keeping it from others. This book in response to the crisis that confronts us in regard to race.
Multiculturalism in relation to Society and Culture is how persons work corporately in regards to their culture in a society. However, over time the growth of Australia's population has increase their culture in the country, yet the spectrum of persons in the media remains the same. Despite Australia having a multicultural policy that describe the "cultural and ethnic diversity of contemporary Australia". It is inefficient in the media, on a macro level. With the rise of media, there is a common trend with the persons in the industry being all Caucasian according to PWC recent report. This trend has interest me due to 6.7 million of Australians were born oversea. My interest is influenced by persons in the macro world, Osman Faruqi statement
Working Towards Whiteness is about immigrants who are coming to the United States during the twentieth century and struggling to become white. This is because America has this identity of being white and the new immigrants are facing the problem of fitting in based on their race and class. The states have applied restriction so that they can preserve the population to be more white. In Roediger historical studies he brings these practices to light and his goals to draw attention to the biased white supremacist policy of the government in the regulations of immigration. Roediger most evident strength would be that he has the adaptation of the “in-between” status of the new immigrants coming in, which they are neither accepted as white neither can they be able to identify themselves as their pre-existing background.
They educate themselves, gain wealth and prominence in their surroundings, emulate and eventually become a part of a certain type of elevated culture. Their associations consist mainly of an exclusive mulatto circle that aspires to be white. Despite John and Mr. Clayton’s feelings that they have been denied their birthright and their inclinations towards being white, the powers that be do not allow their acceptance into white society. A key component of literary naturalism is the idea that the world is a greater force than man and will make man’s determination to exert free will and change his environment futile. No matter their passion to be seen as white, by heredity they are black.
In sixteen years of life, I have received an opportunity to experience different cultures, learning styles, and languages. To start of, I am an American since I was born here, but the reality is that I was raised in India. My parents’ main motivation for moving back to India was because they wanted us to embrace our traditions, and most importantly, value our family relationships. We relocated back to the US at the start of 9th grade. This transition was a huge factor for transforming me as a person. I am cognizant of the two systems, cherish both, and realize that these multicultural experiences have encouraged me to grow and mature beyond my years. Relocating from a place is not as easy as one can imagine. When compared to the US, India
If racial minorities are more likely to be held for trial than White Americans it could indicate several different problems. First, it could be an indicator that Asian Americans, African American and Hispanics are being racially profiled and being stopped, questioned, searched, and ultimately arrested, for being a minority. It could also indicate that minorities are having higher bond amounts set. Minorities in America have a lower median income that White Americans (McNamara & Burns, 2009). The same bond amount for an African American is going to be more difficult for a member of a minority than it is for an average White American. Both of these situation could come under what McNamara and Burns (2009) termed overpolicing (p. 224).
Rather than merely examining the affects of racism on people of color, the book turns its attention to whiteness and how a system of white privilege, supported and perpetuated by whites, also damages whites by inhibiting them from making meaningful connections with other human beings. Until I almost reached the end of this book I was uncomfortable and disturbed by the way the book made me feel. As a white male, I am aware of the pain that my ancestors have created for others to advance the free world. I have pain for those who suffered and disagree with actions that were taken by my white predecessors. But I believed that we are now in a much more advanced world where we have chosen the first black president and equality was a focus of most Americans. Identifying with my culture as currently being a white supremacist society is something I have never considered, or would not want to consider. In Neuliep, within the Coudon and Yousef’s Value orientations, we perceive the human nature orientation within the United States with people being essentially rational. This term, rational, can be somewhat subjective. And if we continue with the same value system, and look from ‘the self’ values, we foster our self-identities from the influence of our culture’s values. If we are to reflect truthfully to how our country evolved and what we ‘had to do’ to create our freedom by limiting the freedom of other, how would we then perceive
“Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination” written by American author, feminist and social activist, bell hooks, dissects the dichotomy of black and white culture in a westernized society. Hooks utilizes the term ‘whiteness’ throughout her piece as an acknowledgment of the domination, imperialism, colonialism, and racism that white people have asserted among black people. This discipline progressively has evolved from history; through slavery and forth, leaving an imprint in
Ask any American how they feel about multiculturalism you are likely to get one of two responses: either a cringe or a smile. Those that cringe will say something along the line of “Multiculturalism is the wrong way to look at things. It separates us by saying that everyone is different instead of saying that we are the same and unifying us.” Those that smile will talk about how great multiculturalism is because they get to see aspects of all different cultures on television and on the radio and they are free to explore all the different things that various cultures have to offer. In actuality, one cannot help but wonder if either of these responses reflects the true meaning of multiculturalism? What do
"Social justice is what faces you in the morning. It is awakening in a house with adequate water supply, cooking facilities and sanitation. It is the ability to nourish your children and send them to school where their education not only equips them for employment but reinforces their knowledge and understanding of their cultural inheritance. It is the prospect of genuine employment and good health: a life of choices and opportunity, free from discrimination" (Dodson, 1993).
Sometimes is can be quite difficult to know whether or not someone is foreign to a nation, in this case however, it is easy to spot. Naeem’s father and mother have trouble speaking fluid english and often mix their language in. Naeem, on the other hand, does not show much of his culture through his speech and tends to blend in better with the community. It
Today, we live in a world where many cultures and races collide. In Neil Gaiman’s novel,
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,
Multicultural counseling are counselors who understand that the client with different cultural background from themselves will have different views and that could effect their treatment. Multicultural are aware of the different cultures and the differences in groups meaning not everyone in the same group thinks the same. MCTs advocates to enhance the traditional counseling role by teaching and consulting plans that relates to culture and roles in the healing process. They also are aware of the balance between individualism and collectivism when it comes to assessing, diagnosing and creating a treatment plan for the client (Sue & Sue, 2016).
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.