The real NW

Though seemingly realistic, Zadie Smith’s NW is loaded with inaccuracies in regards to the area and characteristics of locals that become apparent after an investigation.  

While reading NW something didn’t ring true.  The story did not feel real.  Having never been to the area, however, I accepted the descriptions of all of the actual locations to be accurate.  I accepted Willesden as an area where whites are the minority, everyone smokes and most people are from modest backgrounds, but these characterizations are inaccurate.  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 more detailed picture of the citizens of Willesden.

Phoenix

Mlord

Play in the City 028

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Smith Meets Kirkegaard: Existentialism in NW

            Chapter number 138 in the section titled Host, in NW by Zadie Smith, is titled with a long URL. The URL, when typed into the web address bar of a browser, is merely a Google search on Søren Kierkegaard. The chapter itself is not about Kierkegaard at all. It is short, only 60 words:

Such a moment has a peculiar character. It is brief and temporal indeed, like every moment; it is transient as all moments are; it is past, like every moment in the next moment. And yet it is decisive, and filled with the eternal. Such a moment ought to have a distinctive name; let us call it the Fullness of Time. 303

What exactly this moment is, is somewhat unclear. The preceding chapter talks about the difference between a moment and an instant, but does not mention any particular type of moment that Smith might be describing now. If ‘Such a moment’ is all moments as opposed to instants, then it might describe the “special awareness” that beauty invokes in Natalie. “The fullness of time,” on the other hand, is rather easier to understand and to relate to the title: it’s a Bible verse, Galatians 4:4.5, describing the timing of God sending Jesus to Earth.

The number 37 and Leah Hanwell are introduced at the beginning of NW and resurface throughout it. Leah probably learned about the number 37 from her friend Natalie who said, “The number 37 has a magic about it, we’re compelled toward it. Websites are dedicated to the phenomenon. The imagined houses found in cinema, fiction, painting, and poetry-almost always 37. Asked to choose a number at random: almost always 37. Watch for 37, the girl said, in our lotteries, our game-shows, and our dreams and jokes, and Leah did, and Leah still does.” (46) This quote conveys that the number 37 has a “magical” significance, and is somehow part of the underlining structure of society. The number 37 stays in Leah’s subconscious throughout NW and she notes whenever she sees it.

Leah has many chance meetings with an old schoolmate named Shar. (5) After these encounters, like the number 37, Shar stays in Leah’s subconscious. Shar knocks on Leah’s door one day asking for money. Leah lends Shar money, and Shar promises to pay her back. After that incident, Leah starts to have multiple chance encounters with Shar, and Shar doesn’t pay her back.

Jessica Bernal

ESEM- Play in the City

Race: A factor in Relationship Stability and Function

            In NW, Zadie Smith delves into three preeminent romantic relationships; Leah and Michel, Natalie and Frank, and Felix and Grace. Each relationship with stories and dilemmas of their own like any other typical relationship. Yet, Leah and Michel’s relationship is far more complex than the average relationship as we determine that their different ethnicities play a bigger role in defining their unity. From the view of a London inner city resident, the attitude towards interracial couples emphasizes that race plays a role in relationship stability and function to which such is represented by Zadie Smith’s unique relationship creation of Leah and Michel.

            Leah and Michel’s relationship is more of a physical attraction and sexual compatibility than respect and admiration for one another. Two complete different ends of a spectrum where as she is a white successful woman and Michel is a francophone black man trying to make a better living by disproving all stereotypes based on the color of his skin and in the end proving he as well can do greatness. Their social status creates tension within their relationship causing it to be unfunctional.

In class, several people argued that Zadie Smith’s Natalie was the only character who showed any agency. By doing well in school, becoming a lawyer, and marrying a wealthy man, Natalie escapes poverty. But, is Natalie the only character who has agency in NW?

Sabina Alkirke analyzes several researchers’ methods of studying agency in “Subjective Quantitative studies of Human Agency.” She finds that agency is not only measured by a person’s ability to change her socioeconomic class. Alkirke broadens the definition of agency to be “people’s ability to act on behalf of what matters to them” (Alkirke 223). She presents agency as multi-faceted; it can be measured objectively through a person’s resources, but also subjectively through feelings of empowerment (Alkirke 23). Agency, therefore, is both an internal and an external phenomenon. Using Alkirke’s definition, Natalie has agency, but so do Leah and Felix.

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.

Co-authored by Muni

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.

  "I just don’t understand why I have this life." Leah said.
  "Because we worked harder...We were smarter...We wanted to get out...they didn't want it enough...people generally get what they deserve." Natalie replies.

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

  This is a book that presents vivid reality. This is a book that leads me to ask questions. This is a book that makes me doubt whether social mobility is really feasible. And one of the questions that I keep wondering is why Zadie Smith didn't seem to agree that it is very much possible.

  "Visitation-Guest-Host-Crossing-Visitation". Through a circle of chapters, the four main characters, Leah, Natalie/Keisha, Felix and Nathan, live towards different paths after they leave their childhood's council estate, a place where all of them start from together.

ex·is·ten·tial·ism (n)–

A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.

Throughout the course of Zadie Smith’s novel NW, the reader is treated to three different yet concurrent perspectives from residents of the NW neighborhood in London. The novel stars Leah Hanwell, the perennial underachiever, Felix Cooper, who is actively turning his life around, and Natalie Blake, née Keisha Blake, who on the surface seems the happiest and most successful of the three, but has her own demons to deal with. Each character has chapters following his or her life, leading up to the annual neighborhood Carnival. Besides the neighborhood itself, one of the points of the novel that ties all three sections together is Felix’s death the night before Carnival. It is referenced in Leah’s chapters, experienced in his, and the aftermath is mentioned in Natalie’s. Smith uses the intersection of these perspectives within the city in regards to Felix’s death as a tool to express the ideas of existentialist philosophy, structuring the story to show the connections in order to expose the meaninglessness in the lives behind those connections.

Struggle: I was unable to connect to the multiplayer network because, as a Haverford student, I can only connect to the Bryn Mawr guest network and that does not connect with the Minecraft network, apparently. This was a prime example of how issues with wireless or insufficient connections can REALLY affect the access that people can have to various online tools or systems.

Accomplishment: Luckily one of my classmates was kind enough to let me work with her in exploring Minecraft because she was able to get into the class's network. It was really helpful to go through it with someone else because we were able to share ideas and figure things out together. It was also fun to get to know one of my classmates that I haven't really interacted with very much before that! :-)

Observation: It was pretty clear that some people were "naturals" at Minecraft and were learning how to do various things very quickly, while others were struggling pretty badly. Especially in the beginning of the period, before I had joined with my classmate, I found myself to be in the second group. As it seemed like my classmates were getting farther and farther ahead, I began to feel worse and worse about my Minecraft abilities. I can definitely understand how people who do not have access to technology or do not use technology feel as though they are outsiders to the exclusive club of the tech-saavy.

Question: I still have so many questions, I don't even know where to begin!