Yellow Teeth (The Novel, vol. 5)

At first glance, the respective cultures of the characters populating White Teeth are indispensable to their realization on the page and their conception in the reader's mind. We are reminded that "Clara was from somewhere. She had roots” (23). Clara: ugly but grew beautiful, discontinued witnessing Jehovah, exposed to sexual deviance by Ryan Topps, from Lambeth (via Jamaica). Samad: war veteran, cheated on his wife, repudiates pagan holidays, proud Bangladeshi. You get the idea.

But looking closer, I find it interesting that Archie's cultural history is nowhere to be found. Archie is apathetic, an undecorated war veteran, suicide attempt survivor, but his identity is not really defined in any way by cultural lineage. Where his grandparents are from is less important. I don't fault Zadie Smith for this exclusion: I think about the people I know and how their respective cultural lineages factor into the shaping of their respective identities, and (forgive my broadness) it seems that many of the white people I know are either ignorant or simply not proud of their cultural roots.

Why is this? It could be that minority cultures existing in America or England are drawn together in concentrated pockets by the very problems imposed by being in the minority. A hub like London allows for this type of congregation, and that communal acceptance in place of its possible, prior absence helps one to grow and celebrate his or her roots. The converse, of course, is that the majority is never really forced to do this. The majority has the numbers advantage, but (historically and unfortunately) not the wisdom to refrain from exercising it immorally. This had led to colonization, slavery, complete usurpation, “ethnic cleansing,” etcetera, but also (ironically enough) to the de-purification of classical Anglo cultures. Clara is Jamaican and British, Samad is Bangladeshi. I don’t even know everything that constitutes my cultural identity. I know there is German blood somewhere in my past; French; Creole; at least 25% Italian – I should explore my family history to a larger extent sometime. The point is, my root canals are tangled, collapsed, intersecting, and the same probably holds true for Archie. He does not have a strong cultural identity because it’s reasonable to assume he doesn’t even know what it would be.