the embassy of Cambodia

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no inclination or feeling of belonging towards England -> prime example of how undocumented workers in any country are affected by racism → shapes the way they work hard for a better life ANDREW: Nigerian student • Fatou's closest friend and moral support → influences and encourages her • religious but often relies on logic→ rational stands for equality attentive, educated, friendly, open-mindet, conscientious important role in Fatous life as her only real closest friend whom she can trust and who respects her -> with his help and (moral) support she can manage her difficult and sometimes challenging life well -> he encourages her to see the important things in life, to do better that she did yesterday THE wealthy Pakistani immigrants • mistreat and exploit Fatou →show discriminating, disrespectful and racist behavior towards their maid →verbal and mental abuse → do not appreciate Fatou saving their daughter - fire her . in full control: superiority possibly aware that their behavior constitutes illegal modern slavery DERAWALS: DEFINITION OF MODERN SLAVERY forced and abused recruitment / harbouring of people, early marriage crime since the modern slavery act of severe exploitation of other people for personal or commercial gain (e.g. forced Labour, human trafficking) people are being controlled - they can face violence or threats forced into inescapable dept, or have had their passport taken away, threatened with deportation SUDANESE SLAVE kid-napped (in someone elses interests) separated from her family and all alone no communication skills due to lack of education experienced a great amount of violence & abuse no access to her passport lots of restrictions and prohibitions: no freedom -> basically a prisoner FATOU taken by her father (in favor of her own well-being) was employmed with her father for a certain amount of time educated: reading skills (English & little Italian) experienced very little violence victim of sexual assault and verbal abuse (by the Derawals) hidden or disappeared passport doesn't get paid (dependent), has to hand in receipts opportunity to leave the house and do things she enjoys every now and then, but isolated -> she cannot be described as a typical modern slave because she still has her own freedom regarding going to church, meeting friends or swimming. Still she is enslaved to a certain extent because although the Derawals give her a home, they do not respect but exploit her instead -> she herself accepts her situation -> the Derawals are integrated and assimilated -> treat her from a British point of view THE ROLE OF THE EMBASSY opposite of the bus stop and between the swimming pool and the Derawals (in the centre) suburbs, surrounded by wealthy residences -> does not fit in, just like Fatou + has to deal with her situation on her own National flag as connection to Cambodia -> Fatou is also still deeply connected with her country of origin and the experiences she made there Strangely compelling aura -> Fatou may see herself in the strange and not fitting appearance genocide represents struggle and suffering of all people (violence and pain) of Cambodia and Fatou Wall: pain and feelings trapped inside the wall or hidden from the outside -> details or origin of pain and violence in human history such as the Cambodian history and colonialism are hidden behind the wall Cambodia controlled and protected by France, later occupied by Japan and Vietnam -> Fatou will never be fully independent, because she needs others -> she does not have an occupation, probably not even a qualification Basketball hoop that is moved inside the wall -> Fatou also has the ability to move and go outside but still sort of trapped as she does not have her passport Game of badminton -> ups and downs or endurance/resilience of Fatou (get knocked down, get back up) -> a match/battle that lasts forever Play in silence and in secret (no show off and hidden secrets) ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION Suffering Narration focuses on the suffering of people (Fatou, genocides (Völkermord)) Story does not give any reasons for any of the suffering in the story Andrew and Fatou discuss the scale at which suffering happened in different cases →Andrew ironically gets his numbers wrong comparison of different examples of human suffering seems pointless text says that the more people suffer the less people notice → becomes evident when Fatou speaks about the reaction to the boy dying in Italy. „A tap runs fast the first time you switch it on" →when suffering happens → when people are not used to suffering, they are shocked by humans tragedy more often, nobody cares Binary Opposition pair of two opposite terms that form a duality (011, man/woman, light/darkness, good/bad). in Western culture hierarchy (colonizer/colonized) only two extreme states (powerful/powerless) making people aware of these binary oppositions and challenging the implied power structures is called "destruction" = pock-smash shuttlecock with it's sound is the leitmotif (comes up again and again throughout the story) . → give reader a hint regarding the underlying meaning of the text represent the link between Fatou's life and the embassy smash: aggressor (dominant, powerful) pock: defender (dominated, powerless smash could stand for Khmer Rouge (led genocide in Cambodia) or those who are more powerful than Fatou represents binary opposition of oppressor (smash) and oppressed (pock) Fatou's life is characterized by oppression → hardly able to bear but manages to cope → like shuttlecock it is return again and again New people vs. old people living in the city = new person living in the country old person → less powerful and less privileged virtually all of the people in Willesden are new people, even tough some like Fatou grew up as old people Khmer Rouge wanted all Cambodians to become farmers (old people) again God vs. the Devil • Andrew is a devout Christian and Fatou became Christian they discuss about why God allows Africa to suffer → Fatou concludes that it is the devil that makes Africa suffer Fatou is convinced that the devil can take human →when she was forced to have sex in the hotel in Accra . Water the water in the pool is very warm which stands in contrast to the water in Accra, in which Fatou learnt to swim →she cannot use the hotel pool but has to swim in the cold and treacherous sea" points towards different living conditions, advantages and opportunities in rich and poor countries Power different themes in the story revolve around the issue of power • Fatou is often not as powerful as she would like to, but doesn't see herself entirely powerless compared to the Sudanese girl Fatou is far from powerful (has an Oyster card and is able to visit the local swimming pool) her gender and her status as a migrant put her at a disavantage The significance of swimming for Fatou Swimming is her sanctuary-> it is the one thing she can always do and does not have to give up when leaving .It is her way of coping with the situation and helps her get her thoughts aligned Always keep swimming o Fatou keeps going and does not give up despite all the ups and downs in her life Possibility to escape reality and process her trauma o can let her thoughts wander free without worries . o Pretend that she is a normal girl that likes swim (not feel excluded for once) o Comfort action and relaxing for her o Coping mechanism (can let out her anger/ worries) Symbol for her strength o Taught herself how to swim o Manages to overcome difficult situations on her own o Determination and survival in post-colonial England Getting "washed clean" o Having been raped is a sin that she needs to be cleaned from o Water->hopes her sins get washed away Constant habit that keeps her grounded oSwimming as the only thing that remains the same Multiculturalism in the contemporary British society England's view (former Prime Minister David Cameron) o immigrants failure, they did not want to integrate o Wants monoculturalism (+ increase in nationalistic views) o Negates social state (desolate neighborhoods and poor working conditions) Goal of multicultural policies: create democratic society without ethnic and racial hierarchy o Zadie Smith describes a London contrary to this goal Fatou as female immigrant who is not integrated and does not want to assimilate herself Her situation as a reminder of the failure of Britain's multicultural policies Fatou and the Embassy->strange,exotic objects provoking paradoxical feelings of rejection and curiosity Forced into being a passive member of society Implied inequality of ethnicities-exclusion Fatou sees herself inthe Embassy Natives and the Derawals o two narrativessymbolize hugegapbetweenFatou andthenatives o Aggression and racism towards her (mistreated by Derawals) o Not recognized as an equal member of society o Shows an immigrant's misrecognition in a multicultural society HISTORICAL BACKROUND • Fatou and Andrew speak about various historic events, questioning which of these events os worse than the others Talk about whether Africans are born to suffer and whether or not the number of people killed in one event is bigger than another (numerology and demonology) The Holocaust six million Jews are killed by the Nazis which was organized by the state and carried out systematically Nazi's perspective: final solution to the Jewish question → based on mixture of xenophobia, nationalism and racism Hitler regarded the Jews as subhuman (unmenschlich) Hiroshima (6. August 1945) first city to be hit by a nuclear bomb onehundretfourtythousand people died (mostly of radiation) city was completely destroyed . The Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979) • 1-2 Million people died ( about twenty five % of the population) genocide took place after the Khmer Rouge won the Civil War genocide was based on radical politics and xenophobic nationalism Khmer Rouge's interpretation of Marxism: → country should rely on itself economically → resulted in mass starvation → money was forbidden as a payment and book were burned → educated people were persecuted Rwandan Genocide (April - July 1994 ) eighhundretthousand Tutsi were killed by the Hutu majority during the Rwandan Civil War two Million people fled the country when the Europeans colonized the country, it was governed by a Tutsi monarchi Behaviour and character traits ● Relationships Occupation Place of residence Free time Fatou's emancipation Beginning of the story practical and resourceful shy and obedient dutiful and respectful/ submissive ● one friend: Andrew Onkonkwo her employers who treat her badly and don't respect her / they are superior to her and she depends on them as they have her passport and provide her with food and shelter housekeeper for the Derawals: cleans the house, does the washing, goes food shopping ● Willesden / in the Derawals' house has got one hour per week on Mondays / goes swimming in the health centre goes to Church on Sunday mornings / after that she goes to a café with Andrew ● ● End of the story ● still practical and resourceful, even under pressure more self-reliant and determined / self-assured no longer wants to show gratitude or to serve others in any way proud her very reliable and trustworthy friend Andrew, who promises to respect and help her ● does not depend on the Derawals anymore and is free of their abuse but she is fully dependent on Andrew now no occupation may get a job as a cleaner in Andrew's offices ● decides to live in Andrew's flat fired but free