Blogs

Co-authored by Frindle

Zadie Smith begins and ends her novel, NW, with each half of a friendship. The novel opens with Leah, grown up and on her own, listening to a radio that at some point mentions what it is to define oneself. The novel closes with Keisha (now Natalie), going through an existential crisis. A large portion of the middle of the novel is devoted to the events that lead to the beginning and the end of the novel, toward the adulthood of these characters. In this way, the book appears to almost grow from the inside out, which parallels the theme of existentialism throughout the novel. Existentialism is the idea that one is defined through one’s own actions; what one chooses to do internally is observed by an “Other,” who then is able to define the other. In this way, one cannot be defined without an Other (in this case, a close friend). When one loses their Other, they also lose a large part of their identity and fall into despair, which leads to an existential crisis. This can cause one to try to find meaning in sources apart from their Other or to abandon the search for identity completely.

            Existentialism is a philosophical movement focused on the “analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.” (Existentialism) This particular movement deals heavily with the idea that human existence is as it is perceived and there is no general human experience, just individual’s experiences. (Crowell) A significant philosopher and proponent of this idea was Jean-Paul Sartre who first created the idea that “existence precedes essence.” (Crowell) This means that humans are not born with any predefined essence or nature, it must be created through their actions and decisions.

            In the book “NW” by Zadie Smith, all of the main characters go through their own form of identity crisis, however, none quite as explicitly or extensively as Keisha Blake. From very early age Keisha had trouble figuring her identity and how her own perception of herself was related to how other saw her. As she continued thought her life, this crisis followed her, even after she changed her first name to Natalie in an attempt to leave her past behind her. She spent her whole life trying to cover one identity with another only to end up with a completely different identity that she did not want to have.

The Representations of NW

While reading NW something didn’t ring true.  The story did not feel real; it was too exaggerated.  Having never been to the area, however, I accepted the descriptions of the people and places to be realistic depictions.  I accepted Willesden as an area where whites are the minority, everyone smokes and most people are from modest backgrounds.  But I realized that these characteristics are representational.  According to a report on the public health of Brent County in London, more than half of Willesden residents are white and about 70% of all people in London are as well (Willesden).  This report goes on to show that “at least a fifth of the population… smokes” and in all of the separate sections of Willesden, for men and women, unemployment ranges from 3.4% to 7.4% which is about 50% higher than that of all of England; the report does not, however, indicate the actual socioeconomic statuses common in Willesden.  Though just numbers, these statistics paint a much different picture of the citizens of Willesden.

Jessica Bernal

ESEM- Play in The City

As I was growing up, every achievement I'd receive whether it was in school or with anything really, my mother never failed to say, Nunca te olvides de donde vienes ni quien eres, Never forget where you’re from or who you are. After a while, you get tired of hearing it and I never really understood why she would always get so serious and make deep eye contact as she’d say it. To be honest, I didn’t care, I thought it was just one of her silly dichos.

Anywhere you live, whether we’d like to acknowledge it or not, defines us as individuals. It either speaks for your race or your socioeconomic status in society. In NW, Zadie Smith splits the book into three major parts, Visitation, Guest, and, Host, each section focusing on a different main character, Leah, Felix, and Natalie (Keisha). Each one of them has a story of their own to share. But Natalie and Felix both have one particular thing in common, they’re both trying to get out of either their social, or economic status stagnation in life. They feel trapped and unsatisfied with themselves. Through the lens of a minority myself and other examples like rappers, NW’s Natalie, Felix, and Zadie Smith herself we determine whether race and socioeconomic status ultimately determine you’re success and setting in life or whether you really can escape stagnation.

    "I just don’t understand why I have this life"(Smith 399). Leah says.

    "Because we worked harder...We were smarter...We wanted to get out...they didn't want it enough...people generally get what they deserve"(400). Natalie replies.

    I paused at this paragraph towards the end of Zadie Smith's NW, thinking.

    "People generally get what they deserve" is a common assumption, or a faith, that almost everybody, including me, accepts. It is such an American dream that if people work very hard towards their goals, they will get what they are striving for, even rising to a higher class. However, is this a practical depiction of how things work in the real world? Looking through the stories of the characters in NW, I am in search for the reasons and meanings of their social mobility.

Zadie Smith’s novel NW is very much a story of struggle that explores dilemmas between several couples and friends.  Two marriages Smith focuses on are Leah and Michel’s and Natalie and Frank’s.  One of the most influential aspects between the couples is their biculturalism.  Nearly all characters face an identity crisis but none so much as Frank and Leah which has a great deal to do with the barriers in each relationship put up by communication problems.   Both Frank and Michel are described in the novel as being “very European” and having a drastically different upbringing.  Due to this large difference, they often have difficulty expressing themselves and understanding others.

    People in NW are special. Different from most of self-interested people in economic world, characters such as Natalie and Felix are not rational all the time. Rationality-“wanting more rather than less of good” (Wiki) is the most important and obvious factor in modeling people’s behavior and decision-making. For example, what rational choice people prefer is to maximize profit and minimize cost. However, in ZW, it is easy to find the irrational behaviors result no benefits for the charters at all.

    At first, it seems that Natalie and Felix are the most rational people in the book because they know how to behave well to maximize their interests. Although born in poor family in the council estate in Caldwell, they are upwardly mobile. Felix met Grace, a girl “who is conscious” (Smith, 179) and motivates him to get rid of the demons in life such as drug and alcohol. It’s wise and beneficial for him not to dwell in life but move up to a next level. Also, for Natalie, she follows her plan cautiously and studies so hard. With her rationality, she marries to a man who is rich and beneficial to her academic life and career. Frank owns ability to help Nat maximize her self-interest. Everything Felix and Nat have done is “right” and wise. They make large efforts to become the person they thought is worthy of being and the person they think should be. They are happy and satisfied with the profit brought by their rational choices.

Imagine moving house.

Packing up, leaving, and not looking back.

Now, imagine that you new house is for all intents and purposes the same as your old one, because your socioeconomic status is based on where you live and your mobility is limited, so you have to live in basically the same place.

That situation is a very loose interpretation of the way Marxist economic theory works in regards to a person’s housing situation.

In NW,  Zadie Smith’s novel about people living in the Northwest portion of London, the three main characters—Leah, Natalie, and Felix—are all defined by their peers and themselves by their housing situations.

What does a middle-class white kid need to go to college? GPA, SAT, and extracurricular activities. What else does a poorer kid need? Financial aid. What more does a poor, marginalized, minority kid need? Incentive, a convincing reason to “waste” four years, and parents’ consent. For middle-class white kids, going to college is unquestionable, predestined, and natural as eating and drinking; for minority kids, it’s out of the question, an option of life that never crossed their minds—why waste money and time? Just find a trivial job, get married, have kids and live on government aid. When a minority kid meets all these prerequisites and goes to college, there’s still one essential thing that he needs to deal with: his background.

Tierney concludes two sorts of scholar opinions on regard of minority background. Some claims cultural suicide, indicating that minority students must abandon their cultural/family/neighborhood/economic backgrounds and accept the college notion, because their uneducated families, violent neighborhoods, and different cultures do them no good in academics or future success. Others advocate cultural integrity, holding that backgrounds are not harmful hindrance but to be valued and respected, and if made good use of, can help those students excel.

We all have ideal stories for book characters. When we see a character struggling, common sense takes over and forces the reader to think about how their story should be happening. Zadie Smith’s NW refuses to allow the reader have this perfect story, and instead defies the flawlessness of common sense for all characters.

From a common sense point of view, Felix would be perfectly happy in his relationship and sure that it’s right for him, without having to check that he loves Grace because he doesn’t like sex with other women anymore. In a perfect world, he would separate himself from anything to do with Annie, his ex-girlfriend with whom he still has sex and meaningful conversations with.

It isn’t that Felix is not happy with Grace, just that he’s not as happy as he could be. She is not his true love, but she is good enough that he can feel content and safe spending the rest of his life with her. Especially after going back to Annie and double checking that Grace is, indeed, seemingly better for his sake.