Zadie Smith's Use of Literary Devices

Her mother was of Jamaican origin and her dad from England (Squires, 2002). Sadie changed her name to be called Zadie at the age of 14. She has a half-brother, half-sister and two brothers. Smith went to local state schools one of them being the Maloores Junior school. She also attended the Hampstead School and later the King's College. She has also written other works like Autograph man. Her third novel by the name On Beauty was published in 2005. This novel got more recognition and acclaim as compared to the Autograph Man (McMann, 2012). Her other novel On Beauty bagged the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2006, the Wolf-Book prize among other awards. Zadie Smith published her novel Swing Time which was the fifth in November 2016.

They wed soon after their first meeting. The story goes on to tell us how these couples interact with Archie's friends Samad and Alsana Iqbal. Due to their difference in race, their friendship is always seen as an awkward one. The novel shows us how these two men struggle with dealing with their young and strong wives. It also depicts to us how they struggle with raising their children. By doing this, she gives her readers a stronger understanding of the characters and thus readers create a more robust relationship with and bond with the characters. it also makes her storytelling better and also gives her multiple voices in the story. This way she can write in the voice of an adult or an adult, man or even woman.

In white teeth there are diverse characters, men, women and children. She can be able to us e their voices by assuming an omniscient role. Teeth remain long after we are dead since they are protected by the skull and thus leave a long legacy that in most occasions connects people through time. Teeth can also represent the experiencing life that people have. Another important theme that is in very clear in the book is the theme of race and identity. Her characters are very much affected by identity crisis. For example, Magid comes back from Bangladesh having turned into an atheist and Millat ends up joining a strict Islamic Organization (McMann, 2012). The language used in the book is rich in symbolism and metaphor.

By using teeth to represent people and what they go through, in life Smith uses symbolism. Symbolism not only comes to play in this novel but also her other novels where she uses other things to represent people and their experiences in life (Squires, 2002). Her style is that of using symbols that people can associate with and thus making it easy to comprehend the novels. Smith also employs allegory by using teeth to symbolize people. Her novel White Teeth was very successful and ushered Smith to a new era of drama, fame and modernity. Alex li is also in the same situation that Zadie is in. so it is clear that she writes from her experiences. Zadie’s characters in this book are mostly young people in search of fame.

Therefore, the language she uses an informal and colloquial language (Ayla, 2014). Smith is very conversant with this theme since she also becomes famous after writing her first book, white teeth. She uses the story of Alex to show us how fame distorts relationships. The theme of multiculturalism is also depicted very well in this novel (Wood, 2014). Alex is half Jewish and half Chinese. One of his friends is a Jew of African origin. This offers an instance of symbolic reference to obstruction. Repetition is also evident where there is the repetition of phrases from autograph-catalogues. This serves to bring in emphasis and on some of the important aspects and topics in the book. Lastly is the setting used in the book.