Perfection in the novel "White Teeth"

The search for perfection seems both so important and yet so futile.   This search for perfection is evident in Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth, especially in the character of Samad.

Samad is trying to create the best life for himself and his family that he can.   He does pretty well at chasing perfection for awhile: he has a younger, attractive wife, twin sons, a steady job, and devout faith.  Yet, the perfection is just a facade.  Underneath, it is all imperfect and slipping from Samad’s grasp.   This comes to a head when Samad succumbs to temptation and begins an affair with his sons’ music teacher.  

Smith foreshadows the fact that things that seem perfect are, in fact, flawed on page 144.   The children, Magid, Millat, and Irie, are trying to fulfill their school’s service obligation by delivering food to an old man. The old man, Mr. Hamilton, returns their favor by talking about how teeth rot - while also offering them more sugar for their tea, which I thought was an incongruous touch.  Mr. Hamilton does point out that everything has two sides.  After all, the only way he was able to see the enemy in the Congo was by their beautiful white teeth.  In addition to going along with the overarching metaphor of the book, Mr. Hamilton’s statement also shows that perfection can be deadly.

On the next page, page 148, we again see Samad in the throes of his affair. Full of anger at himself for not staying true to his faith, he decides that the best course of action would be to send his sons away from this sinful place in order to preserve their faith.  That’s right - instead of taking responsibility for his own actions and recognizing his own weaknesses, he instead blames his indiscretions on England and the sinful lifestyle there. 

Over the next chapter, Samad devises a plan to send his son back home to Bangladesh.  The chapter follows Samad on a crazy mental course as Samad tries to justify to himself why packing off one of his sons - he’s not really sure which one it should be, but it doesn’t really matter anyway - without discussing it with either son or his wife.   Even though Bangladesh is full of violence and rioting at the precise moments that Samad is carrying out his plan, he is positive that it is for the best because it will return his son to the “old” ways and traditions and save him from the temptations and trends of England.

Naturally, the plan doesn’t work.   He is able to send his son away, and disturbingly, no one seems to be too upset about it.  His wife Alsana certainly isn’t too happy about it, but after a week of trying to get Magid back, she seems fairly accepting of the situation.   No, the plan doesn’t work in the sense that when Magid does come back 8 years later, he acts more “English” than the brother who stayed in England.  Thus, the search for perfection once again leads Samad astray.