In The Waiter’s Wife by Zadie Smith, readers are faced with the subject of immigration, race, social class, age, and gender. One of the biggest themes (which can also be considered their own themes) in the story is the clash between modern thinking and traditional thinking, as well as cultural displacement. I want to focus on this clash, because I also struggle with my own. Alsana and her husband Samad have moved to London from Bangladesh to start their lives as a married couple. Their marriage was arranged, which is very traditional in many Eastern countries, and they have a large age gap between them. We are also introduced to Clara, who is from Jamaica and is married to an Englishman named Archie. She befriends Alsana through Archie and Samad’s friendship and becomes pregnant at the same time as Alsana with a baby girl, while Alsana is pregnant with twin boys. We also meet Neena, who is Alsana’s “Niece-Of-Shame”, and it is Neena who brings in the modern, Western thinking that clashes with Alsana’s more traditional way of thinking. As I read and began to make more connections, I realized that Alsana’s struggle with cultural hybridity and displacement will be shared with her sons, no doubt, and with Clara and her daughter as well. Alsana admits her struggle with the hanging between cultures when she has a conversation with Clara and Neena at the park. For her sons to have a father from a much different time (different, even, from Alsana’s), her son’s will indeed probably be living with “one leg in the present, one in the past” and “their roots will always be tangled” (3068). You also have to keep in mind that these children will grow up in London, not in Bangladesh or Jamaica like their parents. This clash between tradition/modern and cultures is something that is inescapable. After reading this story and reading more about it and cultural hybridity and displacement, I seriously related. My mom immigrated here from Panama 30 years ago and my dad lived in Puerto Rico from eight years old until he finished his first four years of college (living in New Jersey beforehand). They are incredibly traditional and our culture is so alive in our household. But being raised in Ohio all my life (Dayton since birth), hybridity and displacement has been with me forever, and my mother experienced it like Alsana did. I had friends from all different backgrounds (only two Latinas, like me, in my life) which I didn’t entirely notice until I was in college. It was very confusing for me, figuring out who I was (a combination of three different cultures) and to be honest, it still is confusing sometimes, especially with regards to the traditional vs. the modern. I struggle with that almost every day, mainly leaning toward traditional but trying to implicate the modern because it’s just as important. There’s a tug from all directions and all kinds of influence. At the end though, I have hope for Alsana’s boys and for Clara’s girl. I think the more culture, the more beautiful, even if it’s difficult sometimes. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1334&context=asc_papers Photo taken by me
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Welcome!My name is Yasel and this website will be filled with my analysis on the British texts I'll be reading in class. I enjoy reading poetry and fiction and I occasionally write my own poetry. I welcome all comments with open arms so long as they pertain to the literature. Archives |