White Teeth Chapters 6 & 7 Summary & Analysis

Samad 1984, 1857

Chapters 6 & 7

Summary: Chapter 6, The Temptation of Samad Iqbal

Samad Iqbal is now the father of nine-year-old twins, Magid and Millat, and a parent-governor of the local school. At the July 1984 governor’s meeting, to the acute embarrassment of his wife Alsana, Samad protests against the school’s Harvest Festival because it is a pagan holiday. Only a few other members support Samad, including Poppy Burt-Jones, a music teacher. After the meeting, Poppy proposes that she and Samad work together to introduce students to Indian music. She tells Samad that he reminds her of Omar Sharif. Samad is overcome by the desire for Poppy. His obsession consumes every waking moment of his life. Because Samad tries to be a good Muslim, he feels guilty about his obsession. Samad’s fellow workers at the restaurant notice that he no longer pays attention to his job.

Samad and Alsana’s sons Magid and Millat and Archie and Clara’s daughter Irie refuse to speak unless they are allowed to attend the school Harvest Festival. Clara supports her daughter, and Archie goes along with Clara. Samad and Alsana have already discovered that Magid sometimes calls himself Mark Smith at school. Now Samad fears that Magid and Mallit are losing their Muslim identities. Samad forbids his sons from taking part in the pagan holiday.

In September 1984, Samad goes to school to observe Poppy as she introduces Indian music to her student orchestra. The students produce comic Indian sounds. When Poppy asks them to share their favorite music, Samad makes Indian dance moves as a hint to his sons. Millat thinks his father means Michael Jackson, so Millat dances and sings “Thriller.” After the orchestra rehearsal, Poppy invites Samad into her tiny office. Their lips meet in a passionate kiss.

Summary: Chapter 7, Molars

Both Samad and his twin sons get up earlier than usual to prepare for the day. Samad puts a change of clothes in a plastic bag. Samad has plans to meet with Poppy Burt-Jones. Magid and Millat put canned chickpeas, bags of crisps, and apples into their backpacks. The boys are taking part in the Harvest Festival, during which schoolchildren visit elderly poor people to distribute food.

Magid and Millat meet up with Irie Jones. The three children ride the 52 bus west, to Kensal Rise, where their charity case lives. Samad rides the 52 bus east, toward Harlesden. He’s surprised that Poppy lives in such a dark-skinned area. Samad changes clothes in a McDonald’s restroom. Then, to establish an alibi for himself, Samad visits the shop of some cousins.

Magid, Millat, and Irie arrive at the house of J. P. Hamilton, the man on their list. Hamilton is an old white man who reluctantly invites them in. He then reveals himself as a racist madman, describing how he once used white teeth to pick out Black people as targets. Hamilton raves about wisdom teeth and the need to remove them at an early age. Magid, Millat, and Irie flee the scene, taking their apples with them. The children are familiar with mentally ill people on the streets, but Hamilton is much more terrifying.

Back in Harlesden, Samad and Poppy undergo a verbal attack from a well-known street person, Mad Mary. Samad stands up to Mad Mary, earning Poppy’s admiration. Poppy and Samad spend the late afternoon walking around Harlesden and deciding to spend the night together. As Poppy shows Samad a toothbrush she has bought for him, just in case, Samad sees Magid, Millat, and Irie across the street, waving.

Analysis: Chapters 6 & 7

Samad’s activism on the school board, as well as his infatuation with Poppy Burt-Jones, shows how the process of assimilation is changing Samad and his family. Samad has now lived in England for eleven years, and his twin boys, Magid and Millat, are nine years old. Samad and Alsana’s circle has expanded to include their boys’ school friends and their parents. The Iqbals are involved in a multiracial community, not just with their own extended family.

The events of the school board meeting show that Samad’s difficulties in assimilating owe as much to his personality as to his ethnicity. Samad is infamous for being a pain at meetings. Alsana is acutely embarrassed by her husband and uses physical force to try to stop him from speaking out. Samad also embarrasses Archie and Clara Jones. They support his proposal to eliminate the Harvest Festival, but only reluctantly. The initial seduction scene between Samad and Poppy exemplifies the author’s gift for portraying human absurdity. Poppy gushes about Indian culture and music while spouting racial stereotypes such as most Indian children being more subdued than white children. (Magid and Millat are an exception.) Samad suffers a struggle between his physical desires and his Islamic principles, a spiritual struggle that reflects both Samad’s hypocrisy and his difficulties in reconciling his traditional culture with modern life.

The events around the Harvest Festival reveal how the Iqbal boys and their friend Irie Jones, the next generation of immigrants, are separating themselves from their parents. Magid, Millat, and Irie want to be like all the other kids at school, while the adults are trying to keep them Bengali and Jamaican. The three nine-year-olds have little direct experience with their parents’ cultures, resulting in some comic miscommunication, such as Millat’s thinking his father is trying to be Michael Jackson when he mimes some Bollywood dance moves.

Detailed descriptions of Willesden Green and its environs transport the reader to the social concerns, fads, and street life of 1984, a culture that everyone shares, regardless of their race, national origin, or age. For example, at the school meeting, the chairwoman tries to insist that Samad address her as “Ms.” Samad’s son Millat likes Nike shoes and other name brands popular at the time. Millat also plays electronic games, using a special headset that he wears even in the car. To Samad, this secular world represents a threat. To everyone else, it’s just normal. Other details reveal that Samad’s economic circumstances have not improved very much. He still works at his cousin’s restaurant, though now he is the headwaiter. Alsana Iqbal still sews sex costumes to supplement the family income.

The plot takes a dark turn during the events of the Harvest Festival, when Magid, Millat, and Irie encounter the pure evil of racism, without their parents present. The children circumvent Samad’s prohibition against the festival with the help of their mothers and Archie, a clue that Samad is not as much in control as he thinks he is. The custom is for the children to distribute food to elderly people in the area. But Magid, Millat, and Irie’s charity case is a madman who talks about using white teeth to target Black people. The children have just escaped from the terrifying old man when they spot Samad, who is about to kiss Poppy. Poppy produces a red toothbrush just as Samad sees his boys’ white teeth biting into their apples. These symbols and allusions represent the innocence being lost by not only the twins but also their father.

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