Isolation in the Inheritence of Loss and White Teeth

In both the world and in novels, it is impossible for people to be with each other. At some point in people’s lives, they become isolated. It may happen from being estranged from others, or it may occur from deep within oneself. Isolation from others arises when there is no common ground between people and they drift apart. Isolation from self transpires when one fundamental value or view conflicts with another fundamental aspect of the same person. In both The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai and White Teeth by Zadie Smith, the judge and Millat experience both kinds of isolation. They experience isolation from others, which leads to the isolation of the self, which then leads to extreme actions happening. Isolation leads to the continuation of isolation until a point of no return occurs.

In The Inheritance of Loss, Jemubhai, or the judge, experiences isolation from family and friends, which leads to the isolation of his self, which finally bursts out in an extreme form. The judge first experiences isolation from his family when they send him off to England to study: “Jemubhai looked at his father, a barely educated man venturing where he should not be … Never again would he know love for a human being that wasn’t adulterated by another conflicted emotion.” (Desai 42) Despite being young and “uneducated” Jemubhai is practically forced to go abroad in order to study. Without being fully mature yet, he was thrust into a world in which he had idea about with basically no support except for 10 quid a month. He had no family there to support or guide him, he had no friends in which he could relay his problem to, all he had was himself and the expectations of his family. Although his father’s intentions were good, the consequence of this action was huge. Because of this isolation, he never received unconditional familial love nor did he experience the love of a friendship or of a lover. This led to the tainting of this emotion, to the point where he would either be suspicious of it or the person giving it.

Because Jemubhai had been isolated for too long, he then began to question his own self:

“He grew stranger to himself than he was to those around him, found his own skin odd-colored, his own accent peculiar ” (Desai 45) Because Jemubhai was isolated from his family and he had no friends, he began to feel shame for being the way that he was. He began to compare himself to others around him, and felt that he was wrong because he was different. It did not matter that he was an immigrant and that they had been in England the entire time, it did not even matter if they were not the same race. Jemubhai slowly became isolated from his self and who he truly was, and tried to conform to being the perfect English man. He tried to change who he fundamentally was. The result was the mixture of Indian and English that did not belong anywhere.

The mixture of isolation from his family and others lead to the isolation of Jemubhai’s self, which resulted in an extreme action: “The distaste and his persistence made him angrier than ever and any cruelty to her became irresistible. He would teach her the same lessons of loneliness and shame he had learned himself.” (Desai 186) Jemubhai raped his wife, and continued to use her body for his sexual desires. This extreme action was a result from the isolation from his family and from his friends. He did not understand what pure unadulterated love for a person was, and this was the only way that he was able to show it. Since his family had never given him the familial love and support that he had needed growing up, he would thus never be able to show his own family love. The scars of isolation that Jemubhai carries over even towards his granddaughter. Right after Sai’s parents die, he shows no emotion towards his daughter and son-in-law nor does he try to empathize with Sai. He becomes so disillusioned with love that the only thing that is capable of moving him to do anything is his dog. Jemubhai’s “created” self also gets in the way of reality. He idolizes the englishwoman and thinks that nobody could be as pretty as them, so his wife would never be up to his standards. This is why when Nimi does not act like an englishwoman the judge has no reservations in beating her and sending her home. Since she was not English, the Jemubhai treated her as a lesser being and devalued her for all to see.

The end part of this quote exposes the judge’s loneliness and how much his isolation had affected him. Before he was sent off from his family and friends, Jemubhai had been a sweet and considerate boy. On his wedding day, because he saw that his wife was scared and crying, he did not force her to consummate the marriage. Even after days had passed, he had still not forced her, even though there was a lot of external pressure for him to do so. After Jemubhai returned from being isolated for so long, he had changed. Because he went through various shameful events alone such as facing discrimination as an Indian or not being able to read english without his accent, he wanted his wife to go through her own trials of shame when she was isolated. He wanted to drag her down to his level so that another person would be able to understand and sympathize with the pain that he had gone through alone.

In White Teeth, Millat also experiences extreme isolation from both others and from himself. Although he fits in with almost all groups, yet he does not belong to any of them. First he becomes disconnected with the people around him. “She said she didn’t know what was happening to him. Problem is, thought Millat, ass he slammed the door off its hinges, neither do I.” (Smith 309) Millat is still unsure of who he really is, and what he wants to become. Karina, who is the one mentioned in this passage, had been his girlfriend, whom he had loved a lot previously, and he loved all that she was and what she represented. She would freely give her love and accommodate any of Millat’s desires. However, ever since Millat joined KEVIN, he had to force himself to change to the point where even he did not even recognize himself. He ordered Karina