White Teeth by Zadie Smith

The first book that I will be reading is White Teeth by british-jamaican writer, Zadie Smith. I picked this book because it was recommended to me, but also because I believe that it will be interesting to see if the fact that Smith is of mixed descent has any affect on her writing about blacks. This will give my research to exploring my essential question some variety.

So, in the beginning of the book there is no talk about any black female characters, which i thought was going to affect my exploration of finding answers to me essential question, but just as the first chapter closes the writer introduces a black woman by the name of Clara Bowden...

When Clara is introduced she is said to be "beautiful in all senses except maybe, by the virtue of being black." This being the first sentence that described the only black female character mentioned so far, I got the idea that black people are going to be portrayed in a negative light in this story.

It seems that Zadie Smith tries to set aside the negative aspects of the portrayal of black women by stating the beauty of Clara but then its like she can't escape the negative aspects and has to include that being black is Clara's only drawback. She goes on to explain all of the qualities of Clara and they are all positively based on the beauty of women. From her curves to her independence. Through the description of Clara I would have never known that she was black if Smith didnt bluntly put it out there. I wonder if this has any significance? After that the only other distinction that Clara is a black woman is depicted by her Jamaican accent.

In literature the dialect of a character can say alot. So with this I see that Smith included this to distance Clara even more as an outcast in society based on her heritage.

As i continue reading and I am introduced to more information on Clara I will track whether or not her place in society changes or does she remain "beautiful in all senses except maybe, by the virtue of being black."