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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis:
While White Teeth analyzes difficult topics like racism toward immigrants in contemporary England, nonetheless the mood is optimistic. The novel criticizes White-dominated society because Smith's narrator believes in a better, more equitable future for immigrants from throughout the British commonwealth. A major theme in the novel concerns how to learn from the mistakes of history in order to avoid committing them again. Thus the mood is as hopeful for the future as it is disdainful toward the past.
In general, the mood is light, and often Smith's narrator is rather funny. The novel's humor comes both on a large scale, like the mock-serious survey of the social groups and drug trade at Glenard Oak throughout Chapter 7, and on a smaller scale, in brief, smart jokes added to serious passages. One particularly funny example comes in Chapter 12, when Alsana's worry about the dilution of Millat's Bengal bloodline becomes a textual joke based on Punnett squares:
Even the unflappable Alsana Iqbal would regularly wake up in a puddle of her own sweat after a night visited by visions of Millat (genetically BB; where B stands for Bengaliness) marrying someone called Sarah (aa, where a stands for Aryan), resulting in a child called Michael (Ba), who in turn marries somebody called Lucy (aa), leaving Alsana with a legacy of unrecognizable great-grandchildren (Aaaaaaa!), their Bengaliness thoroughly diluted, genotype hidden by phenotype.
The genre of maximalist novels like White Teeth often feature humor of this kind, in which an erudite, discursive narrator makes absurd connections for comic effect.
The novel's plot follows the Chalfen, Bowden, Jones, and Iqbal families with all their various relationships, affinities, and feuds. The novel's narrator seems to relish the dense web of relations between these families. These interwoven connections are treated with a reverent mood. The complicated family trees allow the novel to create a myth-like history for its characters, which results in climactic scenes often described in a fittingly grand and dramatic way. One simple example of this effect is the use of full names, like the dramatic return of "Hortense Bowden" in Chapter 20. White Teeth attempts a sweeping history to present the experience of British immigrants in grand terms.
Related Themes:
