Zadie Smith

“We are shameful of who we are and are always locating our identity.” In NW, Zadie Smith portrays Keisha Blake’s loyalty and disloyalty among friends and lovers, but she overall depicts her struggle to remain loyal to her own identity. Through Keisha Blake’s changing image and relationship to her identity, Zadie Smith explores how outside forces can shape an identity and complicate an individual’s connection to their own identity. Keisha Blake changes her name to Natalie in order to escape the literal definition of her name, “loyalty,” which emphasizes her struggle to balance the culture that she was born into the one that she aspires to be apart of. Keisha’s name change to Natalie represents how even though people may feel shameful of their…

“The people in White Teeth are immigrants” (“An Interview With Zadie Smith”). Before introducing the topic of this paper it is important to understand a few terms and the history behind the novel White Teeth. Said herself; Zadie Smith claims that the characters in White Teeth are immigrants. With the topic of immigration comes the idea of assimilation, which is the “process by which a person or a group 's language and, or culture come to resemble those of another group” (PowerPoint). Characters…

advocate for girls’ education, which culminated in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. On October 9, 2012, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman. And yet what did she do? She retaliated- not through violence or injustice- but through peace and love. She used that past event, as a catalyst, to further speak for her right, as well as all women’s right, to an education. Before Zadie Smith’s novel, White Teeth, even begins we are led with an inscription, “what is past is…

In Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, the characters all have various backgrounds and characteristics that make them very diverse; however, everyone shares a commonality: teeth. As hinted by the title, teeth play a significant role in Smith’s novel and make appearances throughout the novel. I argue that Smith uses teeth to represent one’s identity and their history. Through this identity, teeth show the conflict the characters have with having control over their identity and the fate their pasts have…

Why had she said Captain Charlie Durham? That was a downright lie. False as her own white teeth. Clara was smarter than Captain Charlie Durham. Hortense was smarter than Captain Charlie Durham. Probably even Grandma Ambrosia was smarter than Captain Charlie Durham. Captain Charlie Durham wasn’t smart. He had thought he was, but he wasn’t. He sacrificed a thousand people because he wanted to save one woman he never really knew. Captain Charlie Durham was a no-good djam fool bwoy” (Smith 294).…

others have one main voice they use to communicate with people in their surroundings. In “Speaking in Tongues”, Zadie Smith explains the up and downsides of speaking with more than one voice, as it can either provide flexibility for things in life or come off as unauthentic for the speaker. Having many different voices can be a result of imitating languages from other cultures through memes, as people will tend to pick up on all different kinds of accents and languages and put them to their…

Not necessarily, I do maintain any order of my reading, neither do I control. There isn’t a clue what factor dominates the list of my readings! Lately, my fiction reading narrowed in a specific area, obviously the criteria of selections indicate my recent reading focal point. It’s Bengali Diaspora literature, not the whole, but a major portion of the chunk, which is available in the open market. I remember the instigation of this diasporas reading. It is Zadie Smith, who I consider the pioneer…

What does “struggle” mean to the average person? It may mean writing a trying essay, preparing for a job interview, or even something as simple as riding a bike. However, in “The Embassy of Cambodia,” Zadie Smith shows readers the real meaning of struggle through the main character, an unpaid housemaid by the name of Fatou. There are many protruding themes in the story, but the most prevalent moral of the story is no matter how many times the big guy may knock one down, they must always get up,…

“The Embassy of Cambodia,” written by Zadie Smith, tells the story of Fatou, a young woman from Ivory Coast working in London, from the point of view of those living around her. Through her journey, Smith sheds light on the plight of thousands of immigrants and oppressed people, and the west’s indifference to their suffering. The culture driven need for success and accomplishment has caused Western culture to become more self centered than ever before. Consumerism drives people’s desire for…

Simultaneous Truths Zadie Smith’s “speaking in Tongues” intensely explores the ability to embody more than one voice. Originally a lecture following the inauguration of Barack Obama, Smith compares the then President-Elect to historical figures who share his “irreducible multiplicity” (12). As a biracial man who has lived in multiple states and countries, Obama has the gift to speak to and identify with many different people. Throughout this text, Smith wavers in deciding whether it is…