White Teeth

by

Zadie Smith

Samad Iqbal is a middle-aged Bangladeshi immigrant who fought in World War II with Archie Jones, who becomes Samad’s close friend. After the war, he moves to Archie’s neighborhood in London with his new wife, Alsana Iqbal. Samad finds it difficult to adjust to life in England, where he is only able to find employment in an Indian restaurant owned by his cousin. Samad and Alsana eventually become the parents of twin boys, Magid and Millat. Throughout the novel, Samad struggles with his Islamic beliefs, his Bangladeshi heritage, and his role in Western society. On the one hand, he is religious and determined to preserve his ties to Bangladeshi culture, even going so far as to send Magid to Bangladesh as a child in order to protect him from the corruption of Western society. However, Samad is also drawn to certain aspects of Western culture, and he has an affair with his children’s white teacher, Poppy Burt-Jones. Samad is also obsessed with the story of his great-grandfather, Mangal Pande, viewing him as a great but underappreciated hero; throughout the novel, he attempts to live up to Pande’s legacy, though he does not often succeed.

Samad Iqbal Quotes in White Teeth

The White Teeth quotes below are all either spoken by Samad Iqbal or refer to Samad Iqbal. 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:
Family Ties Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

Long, comfortable silences passed between them like those between women who have known each other for years. They looked out on to stars that lit up unknown country, but neither man clung particularly to home. In short, it was precisely the kind of friendship an Englishman makes on holiday, that he can make only on holiday. A friendship that crosses class and color, a friendship that takes as its basis physical proximity and survives because the Englishman assumes the physical proximity will not continue.

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:

“Do you know who this man is, Jones?” Samad grabbed the doctor by the back of his hair and bent his neck over the back seat. “The Russians told me. He’s a scientist, like me—but what is his science? Choosing who shall be born and who shall not—breeding people as if they were so many chickens, destroying them if the specifications are not correct. He wants to control, to dictate the future. He wants a race of men, a race of indestructible men, that will survive the last days of this earth. But it cannot be done in a laboratory. It must be done, it can only be done, with faith! Only Allah saves! I am no religious man—I have never possessed the strength—but I am not fool enough to deny the truth!”

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal, Millat Iqbal, Marcus Chalfen, Dr. Marc-Pierre Perret (Dr. Sick)
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

O’Connell’s is the kind of place family men come to for a different kind of family. Unlike blood relations, it is necessary here to earn one’s position in the community; it takes years of devoted fucking around, time-wasting, lying-about, shooting the breeze, watching paint dry—far more dedication than men invest in the careless moment of procreation. You need to know the place. For example, there are reasons why O’Connell’s is an Irish poolroom run by Arabs with no pool tables. And there are reasons why the pustule-covered Mickey will cook you chips, egg, and beans, or egg, chips, and beans, or beans, chips, eggs, and mushrooms but not, under any circumstances, chips, beans, eggs, and bacon. But you need to hang around for that kind of information. We’ll get into that later. For now, suffice it to say this is Archie and Samad’s home from home; for ten years they have come here between six (the time Archie finishes work) and eight (the time Samad starts) to discuss everything from the meaning of Revelation to the prices of plumbers.

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal
Page Number: 153-154
Explanation and Analysis:

If religion is the opiate off the people, tradition is an even more sinister analgesic, simply because it rarely appears sinister. If religion is a tight band, a throbbing vein, and a needle, tradition is a far homelier concoction: poppy seeds ground into tea; a sweet cocoa drink laced with cocaine; the kind of thing your grandmother might have made. To Samad, as to the people of Thailand, tradition was culture, and culture led to roots, and these were good, these were untainted principles. That didn’t mean he could live by them, abide by them, or grow in the manner they demanded, but roots were roots and roots were good. You would get nowhere telling him that weeds too have tubers, or that the first sign of loose teeth is something rotten, something degenerate, deep within the gums.

Related Characters: Samad Iqbal
Related Symbols: Teeth
Page Number: 161
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

And this is what Alsana really held against Samad, if you want the truth, more than the betrayal, more than the lies, more than the basic facts of a kidnap: that Magid should learn to hold his life lightly. Even though he was relatively safe up there in the Chittagong Hills, the highest point of that low-lying, flatland country, still she hated the thought that Magid should be as she had once been: holding on to a life no heavier than a paisa coin, wading thoughtlessly through floods, shuddering underneath the weight of black skies . . . Naturally, she became hysterical.

Related Characters: Samad Iqbal, Alsana Iqbal (née Begum)
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories. Archie does recognize the name, faintly, somewhere inside, but he is already twisting in his seat by then, trying to see if Samad is returning. He can’t see Samad. Instead he spots Millat, who looks funny. Who looks decidedly funny. Peculiar rather than ha-ha. He’s swaying ever so slightly in his seat, and Archie can’t catch his eye for a you-all-right-mate look because his eyes are locked on to something and when Archie follows the path of this stare, he finds himself looking at the same peculiar thing: an old man weeping tiny tears of pride. Red tears. Tears Archie recognizes.

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal, Dr. Marc-Pierre Perret (Dr. Sick)
Related Symbols: The FutureMouse
Page Number: 441
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire White Teeth LitChart as a printable PDF.
White Teeth PDF

Samad Iqbal Quotes in White Teeth

The White Teeth quotes below are all either spoken by Samad Iqbal or refer to Samad Iqbal. 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:
Family Ties Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

Long, comfortable silences passed between them like those between women who have known each other for years. They looked out on to stars that lit up unknown country, but neither man clung particularly to home. In short, it was precisely the kind of friendship an Englishman makes on holiday, that he can make only on holiday. A friendship that crosses class and color, a friendship that takes as its basis physical proximity and survives because the Englishman assumes the physical proximity will not continue.

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:

“Do you know who this man is, Jones?” Samad grabbed the doctor by the back of his hair and bent his neck over the back seat. “The Russians told me. He’s a scientist, like me—but what is his science? Choosing who shall be born and who shall not—breeding people as if they were so many chickens, destroying them if the specifications are not correct. He wants to control, to dictate the future. He wants a race of men, a race of indestructible men, that will survive the last days of this earth. But it cannot be done in a laboratory. It must be done, it can only be done, with faith! Only Allah saves! I am no religious man—I have never possessed the strength—but I am not fool enough to deny the truth!”

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal, Millat Iqbal, Marcus Chalfen, Dr. Marc-Pierre Perret (Dr. Sick)
Page Number: 100
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

O’Connell’s is the kind of place family men come to for a different kind of family. Unlike blood relations, it is necessary here to earn one’s position in the community; it takes years of devoted fucking around, time-wasting, lying-about, shooting the breeze, watching paint dry—far more dedication than men invest in the careless moment of procreation. You need to know the place. For example, there are reasons why O’Connell’s is an Irish poolroom run by Arabs with no pool tables. And there are reasons why the pustule-covered Mickey will cook you chips, egg, and beans, or egg, chips, and beans, or beans, chips, eggs, and mushrooms but not, under any circumstances, chips, beans, eggs, and bacon. But you need to hang around for that kind of information. We’ll get into that later. For now, suffice it to say this is Archie and Samad’s home from home; for ten years they have come here between six (the time Archie finishes work) and eight (the time Samad starts) to discuss everything from the meaning of Revelation to the prices of plumbers.

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal
Page Number: 153-154
Explanation and Analysis:

If religion is the opiate off the people, tradition is an even more sinister analgesic, simply because it rarely appears sinister. If religion is a tight band, a throbbing vein, and a needle, tradition is a far homelier concoction: poppy seeds ground into tea; a sweet cocoa drink laced with cocaine; the kind of thing your grandmother might have made. To Samad, as to the people of Thailand, tradition was culture, and culture led to roots, and these were good, these were untainted principles. That didn’t mean he could live by them, abide by them, or grow in the manner they demanded, but roots were roots and roots were good. You would get nowhere telling him that weeds too have tubers, or that the first sign of loose teeth is something rotten, something degenerate, deep within the gums.

Related Characters: Samad Iqbal
Related Symbols: Teeth
Page Number: 161
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

And this is what Alsana really held against Samad, if you want the truth, more than the betrayal, more than the lies, more than the basic facts of a kidnap: that Magid should learn to hold his life lightly. Even though he was relatively safe up there in the Chittagong Hills, the highest point of that low-lying, flatland country, still she hated the thought that Magid should be as she had once been: holding on to a life no heavier than a paisa coin, wading thoughtlessly through floods, shuddering underneath the weight of black skies . . . Naturally, she became hysterical.

Related Characters: Samad Iqbal, Alsana Iqbal (née Begum)
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories. Archie does recognize the name, faintly, somewhere inside, but he is already twisting in his seat by then, trying to see if Samad is returning. He can’t see Samad. Instead he spots Millat, who looks funny. Who looks decidedly funny. Peculiar rather than ha-ha. He’s swaying ever so slightly in his seat, and Archie can’t catch his eye for a you-all-right-mate look because his eyes are locked on to something and when Archie follows the path of this stare, he finds himself looking at the same peculiar thing: an old man weeping tiny tears of pride. Red tears. Tears Archie recognizes.

Related Characters: Archibald (Archie) Jones , Samad Iqbal, Dr. Marc-Pierre Perret (Dr. Sick)
Related Symbols: The FutureMouse
Page Number: 441
Explanation and Analysis: