Comparing White Teeth with at least one other appropriate text, explores the presentation of family and family relationships in postcolonial literature. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The “metanarrative” of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth differs from the straightforward linear narrative of other postcolonial texts such as Things Fall Apart and Disgrace. The metafiction of White Teeth presents the tensions and fragmentation of families in the postcolonial context with a delicately humorous, unserious and perhaps optimistic approach, while these other texts are more ambiguous but emotional. The serendipitous events of White Teeth can sometimes become unrealistic, and Smith has been accused of neglecting plot characterization; however, in its three central families (the Joneses, the Iqbals and the Chalfens) it develops a powerful expression of postcolonial struggles for its characters. Family and history are two central relationships in the postcolonial genre. Things Fall Apart begins with an explanation of Okwonkwo's history as Umuofia's greatest wrestler and his attempts to distance himself from his father's reputation as an unserious and unsuccessful Ibo man. Achebe develops the importance of family history and relationships throughout the novel and uses it to lament the destruction of Ibo tradition with the arrival of the colonizers. The positive portrayal of Uchendu, a relatively distant relative in the amount of support he provides to Okwonkwo during his seven years of exile, is a central example of the family values ​​celebrated in the traditional postcolonial novel from the perspective of the "colonized." Although the story of Okwonkwo's father is not central to the narrative (other than explaining some of the qualities Okwonkwo possessed), Achebe uses the device to develop understanding of Igbo values ​​and advance the more conventional postcolonial theme of world destruction . livelihood of the "colonized" since the arrival of the "colonizers". White Teeth presents a less serious approach to the family story as it is an inconvenience rather than the burden it has become for Okwonkwo. Magid and Millat's meeting in a neutral room (a concept which in itself allows the author to develop different ideas about the hybridity of multicultural Britain in an attempt to find a place without 'history'), is presented with a humorous not very serious – “they take what was white and smear it with the smelly shit of the past like excitable children”. Swear words and images of “defamation” and “excitable children” create an unserious undertone to the question of history and conflicts of the past. The innocence of “excitable children” prevents family histories from being considered harmful burdens but simply an element of the displaced existence of the immigrant in postcolonial society. The presentation of the family has a different effect in White Teeth to Achebe's Things Fall Apart as in the novel it shifts into the "post-post-colonial" genre. The “post-post-colonial” perspective and the conflicts of the “second generation” as recognized by Neena, “granddaughter of Shame”. In his words “What are you afraid of, Alsi? He is second generation,” highlights a different family conflict than traditional postcolonial texts. Where Achebe uses the family as a central element of the rich culture of the “colonized” after a certain number of generations, Smith shows the identity conflicts created by the family. Due to the different situations of the two novels in terms of the "colonizer-colonized" dynamic, the presentations of the problems are inevitably different. However, the focus on the postcolonial theme is not specifically on the values ​​offamily but on the consequences of conflicting values ​​between the family and the individual. This is demonstrated by the fact that Achebe details sometimes uncomfortable Ibo family traditions, such as having more than one wife and Okwonkwo's violence towards them, despite his generally positive perspective of Ibo values. Similarly, Smith does not present a judgment on families in his novel but shows the personal conflicts, particularly of his younger characters and Samad, dislocated in the postcolonial society. In Disgrace, Coetzee presents abrasive attitudes by contrasting Lucy's acquiescence in rape (accepting that "maybe this is the price you have to pay") and David's refusal to accept the situation (with his belief that their life in the Eastern Cape is “like a dog”). Political and moral issues underlie the conflict between David and Lucy, who are "so distant, so bitterly separated", while Smith does not address these issues. Instead, it focuses on questions of identity and overcoming the dislocation and "double consciousness" of the second-generation immigrant. White Teeth presents the tensions and fragmentation of families in the postcolonial context through the contradiction of expectations and actions between generations. The Jones family is the one with the least conflict; the connotations of the name itself as a stereotypical "average" British family underline this expectation. The discord between Clara and Hortense is a serious conflict in the family, and since Clara successfully overcomes the burden of her mother's expectations, it can be interpreted as a successful embodiment of the transition from overbearing family expectations (due to her rigorous Witness upbringing). Jehovah). to a sense of independence in her marriage to Archie. However, some critics considered Clara a major flaw in the novel, stating that Smith "privileges plot over characterization". Although Clara is not developed in detail and questions remain about the circumstances and satisfaction of her marriage, the conclusion – in which Irie marries Marcus because “you can only avoid your fate for so long” – may reflect a sense of optimism in the novel and not underdevelopment. Smith might suggest that family squabbles in postcolonial confusion are not as significant as they might seem and that it might be more effective to accept challenges with regret as shown by Clara because “they cannot escape their story any more than you yourself can escape their history". you can lose your shadow. ”The nature of the Chalfen family may reflect an important postcolonial theme. The detailed family tree, "an elaborately illustrated oak tree dating back to the 1600s" develops the contrasts of several families and histories in the postcolonial with the uncertain history of the Jones family. Although the Chalfen become figures of entertainment in the novel, the way they "referred to themselves as nouns, verbs, and occasionally adjectives" has a similar quality to the insular family and tribal values ​​of the Ibo. The focus on family relationships in both examples emphasizes the overriding elements of families' cultural and social expectations. The Chalfens become ironic as their apparent purity is undermined by the explanation that they are “third generation [immigrants], via Germany and Poland, nee Chalfenovsky.” Smith highlights the eclecticism of most families in postcolonial society through Alsana's criticism that “you go back and forth and it's still easier to find the correct Hoover bag than to find a pure person […] Do you think anyone is English? Really English? It's a fairy tale. The Chalfens' attempt to claim "purity" and be aware of their history is ironic because their family seems verystrange despite being the most “typical” in terms of lineage. Therefore, the postcolonial view of family in White Teeth is one that values ​​variation and considers it inevitable. The diversity of the family and the emphasis that there is no “purity” might be a more positive conclusion about the family than the distance that emerges between David and Lucy in Disgrace or Nwoye's outright rejection of Okwonkwo in ThingsFall Apart. Irie's aspiration to be like the Chalfens (“he wanted their Englishness. Their Chalfishness. His purity”) is not only ironic but is the essence of the struggle in the postcolonial theme to be “normal”. In Things Fall Apart, Nwoye's conversion to elements of Christianity that challenge his native culture's doubts over the murder of the newborn twins and the death of Ikemefuna shows a similar conflict in determining personal identity. The nature of the conflict is contextually different in the two novels due to the change from the postcolonial to the "post-postcolonial" setting. Nwoye faces a different challenge with his family: moving away from being "normal" towards values ​​he finds more attractive. However, Irie struggles to resolve her family history as she goes from a temporary desire to travel to Jamaica with Hortense to a desire for a "normal" life of "the way some families always are." In both situations, the relational tensions are similar, the conflict between generations in families as social values ​​change becomes more complicated with the addition of differences in cultural values. Things Fall Apart begins by addressing the fundamental aspect of intergenerational conflict in the family as Okwonkwo tries to distance himself from his father's reputation. This struggle in itself is significant, but it comes in a more complicated form when Nwoye decides to convert to Christianity which is not only a denunciation of a family history but of the basis of past values. However, it is unlikely that Achebe's primary intent is to examine the family's consequences following the arrival of the colonizers. Things Fall Apart considers the postcolonial from the consequences of an entire society and the Ibo people (as represented by Okwonkwo and his personal struggle throughout the novel) which is contrasted with the familial concerns that are so central to White Teeth. The central family conflict in White Teeth is based on the Iqbals and Samad's difficulties in adapting to British society as he laments: “You start to give up on the very idea of ​​belonging. Suddenly this thing, this belonging, seems like a long, dirty lie.” The decision to separate Magid and Millat emphasizes the tensions of the postcolonial setting on Samad and the ironies of hybrid society as Magid returns as “more English than the English.” It is his relationship with Poppy Burt-Jones and his awareness of having to make "a moral choice" that leads him to the decision to send Magid to Bangladesh. The contrasts between Samad's expectations of his children and his own actions are central to the presentation of the family as dysfunctional and contradictory in postcolonial literature. Samad's dislocation and his double consciousness as he consciously (such as his self-assurance "to the pure all things are pure") and unconsciously (such as his use of phrases such as "sometimes I don't know why I bother" that has distinctly 'English' connotations) contradicts itself is the device that creates much of the drama and humor in the novel. Magid's return as "more English than English", despite attempts to give him traditional values ​​with a Bangladeshi education, and the “problems with Millat” throughout the novel extend the tension between familial desire and the hybridity of the context postcolonial. Millat embodiesthe same flaws as his father as he struggles to define a sense of identity and is unable to give up his sexual desires as he seeks KEVIN's inclusive reassurance. However, the tension in the novel is largely created when Samad attempts to turn Magid and Millat into "good Muslim boys". The family is shown to be dysfunctional in White Teeth and Millat's touching criticism that Samad is a "hypocrite" is more touching than the generally humorous approach present throughout the novel. Although the novel contains touching reflections by Samad on his isolation and the plight of his children, there is little dialogue by Magid or Millat. The lack of voice in these characters and the generally humorous tone that is often created by the absurdity of random events such as both twins breaking their noses may reflect Smith's less than serious and optimistic attitude towards the tensions of the postcolonial family. endured by Samad and his conflicting values, such as his willingness to drink alcohol but refusal to eat pork, reflect the confusion of values ​​emanating from the immigrant family in the postcolonial context. The description of Millat as “schizophrenic, one foot in Bengal and one in Willesden” highlights the confusion and division created by the family. Although “in his mind he was as much there as here,” the transformations and connotations of his “schizophrenic” character suggest an instability and uncertainty of his identity. A significant feature of the family's role in the conflicts experienced by the main protagonists is that Smith does not explicitly "blame" families for the contradictory characters of their children. Millat does not appear to be a victim of his parents' 'foreign' values. Even actions such as the burning of all his belongings due to his involvement in a protest in Bradford where, allegedly, Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses were publicly burned, do not suggest cultural upheaval in the family. (Some critics might use an example in which he states to Joyce Chalfen that Samad had "kicked him out" to show the consequences of cultural differences on the family, although this statement appears to be part of the humor of his manipulation of Joyce for sympathy and) . However, this presentation of discipline and the general treatment of Millat is not based on the cultural expectations of the family as the postcolonial genre might suggest, but on a disciplinary consequence of his actions, such as alcohol abuse, drug abuse and sexual promiscuity, which would be considered right by most Eurocentric or other readings. Lucy's pragmatism in Disgrace in accepting the Eastern Cape's injustice for her survival and Okwonkwo's devastation at his perceived dishonor caused by Nwoye's conversion have distinct connections to the overall presentation of The Family in the Postcolonial. These three texts embody the conflict of new generations with older generations as social and cultural values ​​change. Disgrace and Things Fall Apart are more austere presentations of the postcolonial genre, and the conflicts they explore are not definitively concluded but remain ambiguous. Things Fall Apart summarizes the conclusion of the postcolonial struggle in general and the cause of the conflict within the postcolonial family: “what is good among one people is an abomination among others.” The difficulty of younger generations in overcoming these conflicting influences on their identity and character is a serious concern for both. Okwonkwo's suicide is relatively unexpected and extremely ambiguous; Achebe leaves it to the reader to evaluate the impact of the colonizers on the Ibos. Likewise, David's character disintegrates and the.”