Fate, In The Novel White Teeth

870 Words4 Pages
Zadie Smith has various themes in her novel White Teeth; the theme of fate was a very prominent aspect in her novel. Archie, the main character, had many instances in his everyday life that fate would come into some sort of contact with. His relationship with his ex-wife Ophelia was one instance of fate, and the vacuum was another; the butcher and the coin were also others. His relationship with his new wife Clara was also another instance of fate. In her novel, fate shows how Smith tries to portray Archie’s life through an everything happens for a reason aspect, which is to obviously teach him something about himself and the world, and also that there is a deeper meaning behind everything that happens in Archie’s life. Archie’s relationship with his ex-wife Ophelia was very bizarre. Ophelia was always considered the crazy and nutty one, yet she was the one to leave Archie. This makes no sense because she seemed like she was so reliant on him, yet she manipulated him at the same time. It seemed like Archie was never able to make his own decisions, and that she was always the one in control. It is fate that she decided to leave him, because inevitably Archie seems like he has regained his life and is better-off. Ophelia’s whole family is also crazy and very vulgar towards Archie, blaming him for all of Ophelia’s problems. In the novel Ophelia’s grandmother was speaking and said, “…he take-a her mind, he take-a the blender, he take-a the stereo – he take-a everything except the floorboards. It make-a you sick…” (Smith 9). Saying such manipulative things was not making Archie rethink his decision that he was about to make, which was ultimately suicide. Archie also has to go back into his old house to get the vacuum which he uses to try and kill himself. In the novel Smith said, “this is what divorce is: taking things you no longer want from people you no longer love”
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