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Alfred Archibald (Archie) Jones

The protagonist. Archie is a British Army veteran of World War II and a mild-mannered common man. After the war, he married an Italian woman, Ophelia Diagilo. After almost thirty years of marriage, Ophelia divorces Archie. Archie then marries Clara Bowden. Archie serves as a foil, or contrasting personality, to his friend Samad Iqbal.  

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Samad Miah Iqbal

The best friend of Archie Jones. Samad served in World War II with Archie. He is a devout Muslim who struggles to follow the strict rules of his faith. Like other men in his culture, Samad takes patriarchal power for granted and tries to control everyone in his family.

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Clara Bowden-Jones

The second wife of Archie Jones and mother of Irie Jones. Clara is a tall, beautiful Black woman from Jamaica with a warm, outgoing personality. She marries Archie when she is 19, after just six weeks of knowing him. Although she speaks her mind, Clara is even-tempered and not prone to anger. She is practical and objective, frequently reminding herself to be grateful for the good life Archie gives her.

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Alsana Begum Iqbal

The wife of Samad Iqbal and mother of Magid and Millat Iqbal. Alsana is considerably younger than her husband. She is a tiny woman, but she is not the meek, submissive wife that Samad expects. Alsana has a sharp tongue and a bad temper. She does more than her share of work, sewing at home to bring in extra income.

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Irie Jones

Daughter of Archie Jones and Clara Bowden Jones. Irie grows up as the friend and classmate of the Iqbal twins, Magid and Millat. In her teens, she is a big girl with buckteeth and a huge Afro, painfully self-conscious about being mixed-race and her body image. Like her parents, Irie is a problem solver and peacemaker who tries to help everyone get along. 

Magid Iqbal

Elder twin son (by two minutes) of Samad and Alsana Iqbal. From early childhood, Magid is serious and studious and his father’s favorite. Being British-born, Magid does not completely share his parents’ culture and is more concerned about being like other kids. Magid often appears as a foil for his twin.

Millat Iqbal

Younger twin son (by two minutes) of Samad and Alsana Iqbal. Like his twin, Millat is British-born and wants to be like everyone else his age. As he enters adolescence, Millat has a reputation as a womanizer and junior gangster, the coolest, most dangerous kid in the school. Millat often appears as a foil for his twin. 

Neena Beegum

Alsana Iqbal’s niece. Neena is a feminist lesbian.

Hortense Bowden

Clara Bowden’s mother. Hortense is the daughter of Ambrosia, a Black Jamaican servant, and Captain Charlie Durham, Ambrosia’s employer. She is married to Darcus Bowden, who immigrates to London but never sends for his family, so Hortense comes on her own, bringing her daughter Clara. Hortense is a devout Jehovah’s Witness who is always hoping for the end of the world.

Ryan Topps

Clara Bowden’s first boyfriend and Hortense Bowden’s assistant. Ryan is physically repulsive and the most unpopular boy at school, so Clara, who also feels like an outsider, identifies with him. 

Marcus Chalfen

A genetic engineer and mentor. Marcus develops FutureMouse, a creature to produce specialized cells for cancer research. He also volunteers to help tutor troubled young people. Marcus is liberal in his social policies but casually sexist and racist in his everyday life.

Joyce Chalfen

A gardening expert and mentor. Like her husband, Marcus Chalfen, Joyce has a professional career and liberal political ideas, undermined by racist and cultural prejudices. 

Joshua Chalfen

The oldest son of Marcus and Joyce Chalfen. Joshua is a classmate of Irie Jones and the Iqbal twins. He is the class nerd. When he reaches his teens, Joshua becomes a fanatic participant in a role-playing game called Goblins and Gorgons. 

Poppy Burt-Jones

A romantic interest of Samad Iqbal. Poppy Burt-Jones is a music teacher at the school attended by Magid and Millat Iqbal. She is young, red-haired, and good-looking, with a goofy smile. Poppy flirts with Samad and claims to admire Indian philosophy and culture, about which she is both racist and naive.

Abdul-Mickey

The owner of and short-order cook at O’Connell’s. In Abdul-Mickey’s family, all the men are named Abdul, with English names to distinguish them from each other. Mickey buys an Irish pool hall but doesn’t change the place’s name, so now it is neither Irish nor a pool hall. Instead, it’s a hangout for neighborhood men. Like all bartenders, Mickey is a universal confidante and adviser.

Dr. Marc-Pierre Perret

A genetic engineer and Nazi supporter. During World War II, Dr. Perret hid out in a small Bulgarian village near the Greek border. As British soldiers, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal decided he must be executed on the spot.

Mangal Pande

The heroic great-grandfather of Samad Iqbal. Pande (an actual figure in Indian history) was a Bengali sepoy (a native trooper) in the colonial British Army and the first to rebel against the British in the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857. He functions in White Teeth as a literary device. Although most serious scholars downplay Pande’s role in the mutiny, Samad Iqbal makes Pande’s heroism part of his own identity.

Horst Ibelgaufts

Competitor and pen pal of Archie Jones. Horst, who is from Sweden, competed against Archie Jones in track cycling at the 1948 Olympics. After that, Archie receives letters from Horst at odd intervals.

Next section Alfred Archibald (Archie) Jones

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