The Waiter’s Wife by Zadie Smith was originally written as a short story and then made into a novel called White Teeth. This short story is about a married couple, Samad and Alsana, that recently immigrated from Bangladesh to London. This story also follows Samad’s friend from the War and his wife, Clara, and Archie Jones. The story talks about immigration and settling into a new environment and culture, multi-cultural families, and the differences between older and newer traditions.
Samad and Alsana, are struggling with the move and settling in. In London, Samad is now a Waiter and is receiving a lot of backlash. Samad has no training to be a waiter but he is a hard worker and is very smart. Even still, he is treated extremely poorly. “You’re the worst of them! You’re the worst fucking waiter I’ve ever seen! You couldn’t get a tip if you mugged the bastards! I hear you trying to talk to the customer about biology this, politics that – just serve the food, you idiot – you’re a waiter, for fuck’s sake, you’re not Michael Parkinson.” (Smith). This quote shows how Samad was being treated as a waiter. Samad was so overqualified for this job, but with the move, it was where he ended up and he did struggle. Today, immigrants still struggle with jobs and how they are treated. As of 2018, “About a third of immigrant workers do not have authorization to work legally in the U.S., and these immigrants are also vital to the American economy.” (Kosten). Immigrants today still struggle just as Samad was struggling in the story. As stated in the quote, immigrants are not only vital to the American economy but they are part of our country and should be treated as such. No matter where someone comes from, they are human beings and deserve to be loved and treated with respect. Kosten, Dan. “Immigrants as Economic Contributors: They Are the New American Workforce.” National Immigration Forum, 5 June 2018, immigrationforum.org/article/immigrants-as-economic-contributors-they-are-the-new-american-workforce/. Smith , Zadie. “The Waiter's Wife.” Granta, 5 June 2020, granta.com/the-waiters-wife/.
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Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a story written in 1902. Conrad’s story dives deep into imperialism and what really goes on in those societies. Imperialism is defined as a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force. In the story, a man is on a journey and once he gets there, the faults and violence of imperialism come to life. This is common even today. Oftentimes we don't see the violence and events going on behind the scenes when we are not there or made aware of the events. Luckily today, we have social media to spread awareness to all parts of the world.
Not only does the title Heart Of Darkness foreshadow at the fact that there is sadness in the story, but on the first page it states “The air was dark above Gravesend, and further back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.” (Conrad). This quote gives readers an idea of the setting and that it may not be the best place to be. It is ironic, however, that in the same quote it says “biggest, and the greatest, town on earth” (Conrad) because the way it is being described does not sound like the best town on earth. Moving further into the novel, Conrad continues to use descriptive words to paint images in the reader’s minds of what the characters are experiencing. “A cry, a very loud cry, as of infinite desolation, soared slowly in the opaque air. It ceased. A complaining clamor, modulated in savage discords, filled our ears. The sheer unexpectedness of it made my hair stir under my cap.” (Conrad). Reading this quote, I feel like I am there. Reading this brings to light what was happening at this time and unfortunately, is still happening now. America’s Black community is hurting and experiencing violence that no human should experience. All of the protests recently are like a loud cry that was explained in the previous quote. The Black community is crying out for help, but America is using violence (imperialism) to diminish those cries. Similar to the story, humankind is not being treated as such. The savage behaviors towards the characters in the novel relate to today's Black community. You know what they say, history repeats itself. Conrad , Joseph. Heart Of Darkness. Penguin Books, 1991. |