December Meeting "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith

Since our December book, "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith, was about English, Bangladeshi, and West Indian people, three of us feasted on Indian food at the Bombay Brasserie.  The chicken curry and saag paneer were mighty fine.  Before our discussion we had lemon-buttermilk cake, baked from scratch by Mary B.

"White Teeth" is about two families and, at the beginning, it seems to center on two men:  Archie, an ordinary Englishman who works for a company that prints advertising flyers and Samad, an immigrant from Bangladesh, a waiter.  They originally became acquainted during World War II as soldiers in the British army. 

Later, another character becomes important. This is Irie, the daughter of Archie and his West Indian wife.  We are introduced to other characters as the story develops.  Another family, the Chalfens, becomes important to the story.  The father is descended from Jewish immigrants and is a scientist who is developing a genetically manipulated mouse aka "future mouse".

This is a long and complex novel (although free of any postmodern effects) with many interconnected subplots.  In fact, some in our book group felt that it (like other books we’ve read) could have used some editing. My candidate for editing would be the long section about Archie’s and Samad’s army adventures. 

We talked about the title. As a teenager, Clara (Archie’s wife) has her front teeth knocked out in a motorcycle accident.  A dentist later replaces them with gleaming white dentures.  In a completely unrelated incident, an elderly man tells Irie, Millat and Magid (Samad’s twin sons) about the gleaming teeth of the Congolese that made them excellent targets in the dark.  What does all this mean?  Are immigrants set apart by their gleaming teeth?  Does this make them targets for the mainstream culture?

If I were to choose  a theme for this book it would be the acculturation—and loss of original culture—in the children and grandchildren of immigrants.  Or perhaps the lack of control that immigrants have over their children’s choices. Samad is particularly concerned with this, sending one of his twins back to the homeland in the hope that he will become a proper Muslim.  However, the boy returns as a young adult who idolizes Englishness. It is the twin who stays in England who flirts with “Muslim power” by joining the KEVINs, a quasi-military group.

The book’s final scene, where Future Mouse is introduced to the public, brings everyone together.  FATE (an animal protection society) and KEVIN both plan to disrupt the proceedings.  In the end Archie leaps in front of Millat’s bullet, saving Chalfen.  In the confusion Future Mouse runs free.

A great quote: . . “Irie has seen a time . ..when roots won’t matter anymore because they can’t because they mustn’t because they’re too long and they’re too tortuous and they’re just buried too damn deep.”