Zadie Smith: The Embassy of Cambodia

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about the Holocaust and other genocides, as well as how governments cover up the real scope of certain atrocities; also they discuss nationality and race in relation to suffering and Christianity Fatou and Andrew walk to the train station in the rain and kiss each other on the cheek in goodbye Fatou returns home and finds one of the children, Asma, choking in a marble; so she saves Asia's life and the family, who suddenly owe her a debt, can't look her in the eye as a result The narrator talks about the idea of ,,Old people" (people who live in rural setting) and „New People" (people who live in urban settings) in relation to the Khmer Rouge 0-16 While swimming, Fat thinks back to her time in Rome and to her baptism; and about suffering despite being a Christian Fatou recalls her time working at the hotel and how the local people were treated by the tourists, then remember how Russian man assaulted her in a hotel room Fatou tells Andrew two stories; one is about dead children washing up on the beach next to the resort in Accra; the other is about a boy who dies in a traffic collision in Rome. - while no one cried for the children, lots of people cried for the boy Fatou asks how Asthma is and Mrs. Derawal dismisses it; she still cannot look Fat in the eye Fatou and Andrew talk about the Cambodian regime and Andrew's ,,Big Man" theory; then Fatou invites him to swim Fatou and Andrew meet to go swimming and hold hands on the way to the pool Fatou and Andrew go swimming, but Andrew can't swim very well 0-21 Fatou is fired and calls Andrew, who says she can stay with him; then she goes swimming, gets her passport from the family she worked for, and waits for Andrew on the damp pavement while watching the shuttlecock's progress AUTHOR - ZADIE SMITH • born in Willesden (North West London) in 1975 • Jamaican mother and English father Mother got to Britain a few years before Smith was born First novel: ,,White Teeth" published in 2000 • She's primarily dealing with race, gender and cultural identity GENRE → can be seen as a short story, but also has some features of a novella: • frame story, i.e. narrator on the balcony • Leitmotif, i.e. recurring symbol that can be found throughout the text (shuttlecock and the sound it makes) • Some ironic elements: Andrew gets a lot of numbers wrong when he lectures Fatou about history and his behavior in the swimming pool is ironic SETTING • set in Willesden, a London suburb • Fatou = main character, also thinks about her childhood in Ivory Coast, her time as a maid in Ghana and her stay in Rome • Plot takes place over several weeks in August in an unspecified year in the 2010 NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE First person narrator plural,,we"/"us" claims to speak for the neighborhood as a whole → questioned when ,,We are not one people and on-one can speak for us" presumably an old lady, born at the crossroad of Willesden, Killburn and Queens Park PEOPLE OF WILLESDEN • bored · person on a balcony opposite the embassy looking tells the background story and what happens at the Derawal's home ,,gormless" (dämlich) prejudiced, stereotypical thinking • self-centered • only cared about Fatou superficially (oberflächlich) easily fed, overwhelmed Third person narrator telling story about Fatou third person indirect speech → limited to Fatou's experiences and thoughts THE EMBASSY • based in the suburbs • Not that big and rather ordinary looking • Has an eight diet brick wall around it • Appeared unexpectedly People of Willesden associate it with Khmer Rouge Symbolic: sign of multiculturalism • Stands for strength of Cambodia fighting for it's rights Represents the right of individualism This particular embassy must have been one of the last ones standing hope CHARACTERS Fatou • domestic (häuslich) servant in the Derewal household . originally from Ivory Coast having worked as a chambermaid in a hotel in Accra (capital of Ghana), her father arranged for her to move to England • she is poor, but does not pity herself • powerless when it comes to the challenges she faces • there is a notable imbalance of power especially with regard to the Derewal's and Andrew despite her lack of education, she seems observant and intelligent Andrew Okonkwo • pious (fromm) business student with Nigerian roots three years older than Fatou generous and thoughtful . • does not hesitate to help Fatou when she is fired and enjoys engaging in conversations • his knowledge is not as good as he thinks feels superior and more educated than Fatou, which can make him sound patronizing when he speaks to her . → characterized in a good and negative light • Fatou thinks of her as ,,a dreamer" • Probably dark skin, bulk and wobble, glasses, mustache The Derawal family • Mr und Mrs Derawal, three children Julie, Fail and Asma • no sympathy for Fatou and treat her disrespectful • Mrs Derawal has slapped her twice they keep her passport (only give it back after she is fired) • do not pay Fatou a wage (Lohn), claiming that board and lodging makes up for it FATOU AND THE SUDANESE GIRL The Sudanese girl • lives in a rich man's house in London • Is kidnapped Only speaks the language of her tribe • Is beaten • Has no access to her passport • Is not allowed to leave the house (prisoner) similarities immigrated to work for rich people in London no access to passport treated disrespectfully differences worked as maid / held captive slapped twice / beaten on regular bases speaks English and has one friend/ only speaks tribe language, no contact to the outside BADMINTON GAME ANALYSIS Suffering concrete level oppressor vs. defender 0- xy the defender always manages to return despite not being able to score one point the defender keeps going and has not lost yet the game is not finished . - . figurative level • Khmer Rouger vs. new people • Fatou vs. the Derawals • 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 score of the badminton game players always stay on their side they are in a position they can't get out of so does Fatou, without any complain she keeps on struggling with no end in sight • text says that the more people suffer the less people notice for Fatou there is still hope to succeed for a change to be better Fatou still has a chance to win → 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 people are not used to suffering, they are shocked by humans tragedy → when suffering happens more often, nobody cares Binary Opposition = pair of two opposite terms that form a duality (0/1, man/woman, light/darkness, good/bad) • in Western culture 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 New people vs. old people • living in the city = new person → hierarchy (colonizer/colonized) → only two extreme states (powerful/powerless) making people aware of these binary oppositions and challenging the implied power structures is called ,,deconstruction" • 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 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 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND • 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 (1941-1945) • 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 • 140.000 people died (mostly of radiation) • city was completely destroyed The Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979) • 1.5 - 2 Million people died (about 25% 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) • 800.000 Tutsi were killed by the Hutu majority during the Rwandan Civil War • 2 Million people fled the country • when the Euro ans colonized the country, it was governed by a Tutsi monarch