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Joyce Chalfen
Joshua is the son of Joyce and Marcus, and the oldest brother of Benjamin, Jack, and Oscar. Josh is a student at Glenard Oak who knows Irie Jones from orchestra class. He is intelligent (considered a “nerd” by his peers) but also wishes to fit in with the other students: he takes the blame for providing the marijuana that he, Irie, and Millat are caught smoking one day at recess. Joshua grows jealous of Millat and Magid, since his parents develop relationships with both boys, neglecting their own children; he eventually leaves the Chalfen house to focus on FATE, an animal rights organization that opposes Marcus’s FutureMouse project. Joshua intends participate in a staged protest FATE plans for the FutureMouse launch event, which would involve Crispin, a FATE leader, pretending to take Josh hostage in front of his father, in order to force Marcus to surrender the mouse, his treasured scientific experiment. Ultimately, however, Josh decides not to go through with the plan and accepts his place in the Chalfen family instead. He and Irie end up in a relationship at the end of the novel, and he eventually helps her raise her child.
Joshua Chalfen Quotes in White Teeth
The White Teeth quotes below are all either spoken by Joshua Chalfen or refer to Joshua Chalfen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12
Quotes
The Chalfens had no friends. They interacted mainly with the Chalfen extended family (the good genes that were so often referred to; two scientists, one mathematician, three psychiatrists, and a young cousin working for the Labour Party) […] Bottom line: the Chalfens didn’t need other people. They referred to themselves as nouns, verbs, and occasionally adjectives: It’s the Chalfen way, And then he came out with a real Chalfenism, He’s Chalfening again, We need to be a bit more Chalfenist about this. Joyce challenged anyone to show her a happier family, a more Chalfenist family than theirs.
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Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Joshua Chalfen Quotes in White Teeth
The White Teeth quotes below are all either spoken by Joshua Chalfen or refer to Joshua Chalfen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12
Quotes
The Chalfens had no friends. They interacted mainly with the Chalfen extended family (the good genes that were so often referred to; two scientists, one mathematician, three psychiatrists, and a young cousin working for the Labour Party) […] Bottom line: the Chalfens didn’t need other people. They referred to themselves as nouns, verbs, and occasionally adjectives: It’s the Chalfen way, And then he came out with a real Chalfenism, He’s Chalfening again, We need to be a bit more Chalfenist about this. Joyce challenged anyone to show her a happier family, a more Chalfenist family than theirs.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
