White Teeth Chapters 16 & 17 Summary & Analysis

Magid, Millat, and Marcus 1992, 1999

Chapters 16 & 17

Summary: Chapter 16, The Return of Magid Mahfooz Murshed Mubtasim Iqbal

Marcus Chalfen sits in a waiting area at Heathrow Airport. The pretty Asian girl sitting next to him happens to be reading Marcus’s book on genetic engineering. The girl explains that genetic science is scary because there’s something fascist about it. Marcus realizes that his FutureMouse has caught the public’s imagination. He now gets large amounts of hate mail. His son, Joshua, refuses to speak to him. Marcus goes to Gate 32 and meets Magid Iqbal as he arrives from Bangladesh. Magid looks just like his twin brother Mallit, but Marcus bonds instantly with Magid in a way he has never done with Millat. To Marcus, it is a meeting of the minds.

Magid’s return to London creates upheaval. Samad claims this pro-English son must be a clone, although Alsana is delighted with Magid and his promising career. Millat refuses to live in the same house as his twin, so Magid moves in with the Chalfens. Joshua is jealous of Magid, so he moves in with Clara and Archie. Irie spends much more time at the Chalfens because she now works for Magid as well as Marcus.

Magid is the perfect protégé for Marcus. He edits Marcus’s writing, composes his press releases, and coaches him on how to appear on TV. Marcus and Magid make plans for a public display of FutureMouse. The event will last from December 31, 1992, to December 31, 1999, allowing the public to observe the programmed genetic changes in the mouse.

Summary: Chapter 17, Crisis Talks and Eleventh-hour Tactics

Joyce Chalfen visits the Iqbals to share her concerns about Millat. Alsana accuses Joyce and Marcus of taking her sons away and of creating a war between the twins. Alsana shows Joyce some leaflets from KEVIN, the radical Islamic group Millat now belongs to. KEVIN is calling for action against the FutureMouse, the genetics project that Marcus and Magid are working on. Joyce and Alsana agree that Magid and Millat should meet and make peace.

Archie and Samad take Magid to O’Connell’s, their regular hangout, to sound him out about meeting with Millat. Magid makes a good impression on Mickey, the bar owner, but is soon arguing with his father. Like Millat, Samad considers the FutureMouse to be against the will of Allah. However, Magid agrees to meet his brother. Archie, Samad, Alsana, and Clara decide that Irie is the best person to bring the twins back together since she is a lifelong friend to them both.

Irie visits Millat at the Iqbal home. Millat is trying to live up to KEVIN standards for good Muslims and has been denying himself the pleasures of the flesh. When Irie enters Millat’s room, she inadvertently touches him, setting off waves of passion. Irie and Millat make love desperately, but Millat then breaks away and falls to his knees in prayer. Irie is humiliated. In tears, she makes her way to the Chalfens’ house, goes upstairs to Magid’s room, and makes love to him as well. When the brothers finally do meet, neither can persuade the other. Magid determines to continue the FutureMouse project, and Millat vows to oppose him.

Analysis: Chapters 16 & 17

Magid and Millat are case studies in extremes and constant foils for each other. From childhood Magid, the older twin by two minutes, is sober and industrious, while Millat is charming and carefree. Magid gets shipped back to Bangladesh for his education, while Millat gets stuck in British schools. Magid becomes a scholar and scientist, while Millat becomes an Islamic extremist. The narrator uses the twins’ contrasting circumstances to speculate about nature versus nurture and religion versus science. The twins are also a case study on the effects of parental approval.

Magid’s new relationship with Marcus triggers a realignment of all the relationships within the Iqbal, Jones, and Chalfen families, but especially the relationships of Irie. The comic shuffling of young people among the three households shows how interconnected the families have become. The interconnections meet in the person of Irie, who works for both Magid and Marcus, remains in love with Millat, and empathizes with Joshua over his jealousy of the Iqbal twins. Irie is the person all three households have in common, so it becomes natural for the adults to confide in her. Eventually, they depend on Irie to bring about the reconciliation between the warring twins.

Irie’s lovemaking with both Magid and Millat is shocking to the reader but understandable in terms of the emotional state of the three young people. Irie has been emotionally attached to the twins since childhood and in love with Millat throughout her adolescence. Millat is torn between his sexual desires and his increasing need to purify himself according to extremist demands. Magid, who has transferred all his emotions toward Marcus and the FutureMouse project, now looks down on Irie and makes her feel invisible. Irie fulfills her dreams of romance, only to have them cruelly dashed down by the reality of Millat’s intense guilt. She then rushes to Magid. Irie, a teenager, has been given the adult task by the adults of getting the two brothers together. Her lovemaking with Magid has a defiant edge, like an adolescent saying, “So there.” However, the tone of the encounter shifts from anger to melancholy because Magid understands why Irie is there and accepts the fact with sadness.

When the two brothers meet, wild emotions give way to objective reality. Neither brother will budge from his position. Magid believes in science and in FutureMouse, while Millat insists that genetic research goes against the words of the Qur’an. The brothers talk for a long time but resolve nothing. The conflicts between Magid and Millat are too deep for resolution. The inability of Magid and Millat to make peace adds tension to the rising suspense of the story. Both young men are headed for trouble because they both believe in propaganda. The date for the launch of FutureMouse (December 31, 1992) establishes the probable time the trouble will come.

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