Custom «Portrayal of Extremism in White Teeth» Essay Paper Sample

Portrayal of extremism in the white teeth is a novel reflecting the religions in the period 1975 to 2000. This is a flashback that portrays the religion characteristic in the many yester years. Portrayal means a word picture of an appearance in a persons’ character. Extremism is any political philosophy that has been associated with favoring exorbitant stringent policies. The book is carefully crafted with three families of mixed ethnicity struggling with heritage and legacy. Samad inclines to the past dearly while Majid is against the past and embraces the current societal setups. Zadie Smith states that “What is past is prologue”: meaning that the past has shaped the present setup. Zadie Smith continues to write the book with the past in her consideration a foundation for the development of the book. The book has been written in a way that it is undistinguishable from the existing societal concept.

The movements have been embraced by people for various reasons. Archie attempts kill himself to death in his car. He is saved by the local butcher. Smith continues to assert that this act of being saved makes Archie feel worthwhile. There develops a spirit of enthusiasm in the process of meeting. Enthusiasm is the spirit of persistent excitement. According to Smith, Archie seems to have lost the motivation to life and had attempted to terminate his life. Archie in then of the world party meets a Jamaican woman by the name Clara Bowden. The lady is missing her upper teeth. The two fall in love instantly and wed.

Clara was involved with Jehovah witness movement in her teenage years. Smith continues to assert that Clara was awkward and unattractive woman in her teenage years. The book continues to assert that Clara was involved with a young man called the Ryan Topps. Clara influenced the religion of Ryan and made him switch to Jehovah witnesses. Clara by then had quite the Jehovah witnesses. The books try to explain how Ryan tries to win Clara back to the church. The book illustrates the characters of the people in a movie like episodes. Smith continues to state that when Clara and Ryan were riding in Ryan’s scooter, they crashed on tree knocking down the upper teeth of Clara.

Archie and Clara get married in a ceremony graced by Samad and Alsana. Samad and Archie served in the World War II and re friends. The cultural differences and faith, the Iqbal’s and the Jones’s are seldom friends. Clara bores a daughter called Irie and Alsana bores twin boys called Majid and Millat. Samad Iqbal is a Bangladesh and Archie Jones is a Briton. The families are in London. Archie had initially married an Italian man and left him. This is the reason Archive tried to commit suicide in his car. The book continues to assert that the daughter of Archie by the name Irie grows with a low self-confidence.

The marriage of Samad and Alsana has been problematic. This has been attributed by the fact practicing Islam in an English country is challenging.  Samad is continually disturbed by the differences in culture. The English people are against Samad’s own moral character. This forces Samad to send Majid to Bangladesh in the hope that the young boy will have an Islamic teaching and backing. The two boys show different faiths. Majid becomes an atheist and devotes himself to science. Magid defies Islamic and Christianity. This is extremely detrimental to Samad who had a strong standing in the Islamic teaching.

Millat who had turned to be a womanizer and daily drinker joins a movement of wild fundamentalists that are associated with the Muslim brotherhood, commonly referred to as the Keepers of the Eternal and Victorious Islamic Nation (KEVIN). The lives of Jones and Iqbal coincide with that of a Chaufens, a Jewish catholic. The book continues to have different and conflicting extremism in various religions. Smith continues to assert that Marcus Chalfen is a geneticist by profession; and working on a controversial ‘FutureMouse’ project. The man is portrayed as a staunch catholic and at the same is committed to controversial projects. Controversies are evident in this book that indicates various reasons for why people embrace the movements and fuels their emotions and actions to fulfill the spirit desires.

The books continue to show how people develop their hearts in the daily decisions especially concerning religions. The book continues to demonstrate the on Joyce Chalfen a staunch catholic who is a part time house wife misguided by the desire to mother and ‘heal’ Millat. The Chalfen is educated people from the oxford. The couple is portraying the concept of abstract liberals. The innermost of their hearts is portraying different commitments; and there is a conflict of interests. Chalfen are ignorant to the cultural differences and are blinded by the intellectual substance thus goes un-noticing the changes taking place in their family.

Irie runs away from home and an opportunity that finds Clara’s mother who is a street Jehovah Witness becoming involved with the Clara’s ex-boyfriend. The book portrays commitments that are perfectly conflicting to the faith. The emotions and actions of the characters are controversial and characterize cultural ignorance and the societal decay. The religious movements seem to have disoriented the communities.

Magid had returned to Bangladesh on the basis of learning the Islamic faith and turns to be an atheist. Magid works as Marcus research assistant. Millat gets befriended by the Chalfen who are staunch Catholics. Millat is a Muslims while Chalfen are Catholics. Religions come conflicting in another incidence. The Chalfen who are Catholics seems to have provided a haven for Magid and Millat. Josh finds his difficulties ignored; and rebels against the parents. Josh is not satisfied with the catholic tradition and wants a change. The book continues in identifying various children rebelling against their paternal religions. This has been evident in the reflection of Clara, Majid, Millat and Josh. It is evident that there is a problem with the religions.

The movements in the play are the KEVIN which was driven by Millat, Josh had the radical anomaly rights group (FATE), Clara’s mother (Hortense) had her religious connections that opposed the FutureMouse as destructive interference with beliefs and has been planning on stopping it. The FutureMouse is run by catholic followers Chalfen. Irie works for Marcus and displays the hidden attraction to Millat: but the relationship is rejected on the basis of KEVIN inspired Islamic beliefs. Irie has the impression that Millat cannot be committed to her. This is because Irie has always been the second son symbolically and literally. The region describes that Millat was born two minutes after Magid; the religion continues that the first born takes away her purity. Irie sleeps with Magid; to make her second born and causes her to become pregnant. Irie finds herself unsure of the father as she had slept with Majid and Millat and they were identical twins. This brings the revelations of extraordinary consequences.

Smith continues to affirm the movements are established in the development of people trying find their identities in demonstrate by their inner feelings. People are against their original faith. The extremist is experienced both in Christianity and Muslim religions. The children especially are devastated with their religion background and searches for identities. This has brought about the establishment with the movements. The movements identify with the individual's faith position. The people feel the sense of belonging and self-identity. Self-identity motivates people to perform tasks exemplary. This was Cleary seen in eyes on Josh, Majid, Millat, Chalfen, Clara’s mother among other significant characters in the book.

The emotions in the book are emphasized by pathos and humor. There is a sense of compassion and sorrows. There are numerous dilemmas of immigrants and their children. The children never identifies with the faith of their parents. The offspring establish a new dimension in life. The societal cultural differences influence the actions of the children. The characters of Chalfen and Archie present in the satire in the British cultures in relation to religion.

The immigrants find themselves with a challenge of assimilating their cultures also preserving their cultures altogether. The novel has touched a wide range of cultures. There is the Afro-Caribbean, Muslim, Christianity and Jewish. Smith has approached multiculturalism and racial differences in the various urban lives in the world. The novel has applied a set of characters. It has been established in the book that every culture has its strongholds and enthusiasm. There is no culture that is appropriate. The children are rebellious to the faiths of their parents. The tradition is fading away. The book has a strong emphasize on the respecting the cultural differences; and promoting the best out of the differences.

Conclusion

The characters in the novel white teeth try to connect with the different cultures. The past does not let out easily. There are individual struggle with the past; and present cultural setups. The book identifies that ‘What is past is prologue’. This is weaknesses demonstrated by the characters in the book. The white teeth continue in the play and features on various occasions. White teeth demonstrate quality. All people have white teeth irrespective the cultural backgrounds. Irie discovered that Clara has a set of forged teeth in her teenage. This shows that cultural differences are difficult to identify. Iries become a dentist to serve the white teeth of the community. The book has fostered human relationships.