Teeth Symbol Analysis

Not only do teeth factor into the novel’s title, they are also a recurrent symbol throughout the narrative, with several layers of symbolic significance. Importantly, the titular reference to “white teeth” alludes to an early moment in the novel in which Irie, Millat, and Magid visit Mr. J. P. Hamilton, an older and highly racist man in their neighborhood. Mr. Hamilton tells the children that when he was in the Congo, “the only way [he] could identify a nigger was by the whiteness of his teeth.” On one hand, white teeth—contrasted with dark skin—represent the vulnerability of non-white people: throughout the novel, the non-white characters experience prejudice and are confronted by racist microaggressions that draw attention to their status as outsiders in British society. Yet white teeth are also popularly considered an attractive feature, and indeed, the novel characterizes non-white individuals as intelligent, vivacious, and complex, combatting the negative stereotypes upheld by white characters like Mr. Hamilton.

In the novel, teeth are also closely connected to history and its pernicious influence over the present. Chapters dealing specifically with characters’ histories refer to root canals (“The Root Canals of Alfred Archibald Jones and Samad Miah Iqbal,” “The Root Canals of Mangal Pande,” “The Root Canals of Hortense Bowden”), a process in which infections are removed from teeth roots. Just as a root canal involves searching for a hidden problem at the root of the tooth, these chapters examine the underlying events and conflicts that affect the characters or their descendants (so Hortense Bowden and Mangal Pande’s actions and experiences affect Clara and Irie Bowden, and Samad Iqbal, respectively). Moreover, the narrator notes that “old secrets,” like wisdom teeth, “will come out […] when the time is right.”

Wisdom teeth also represent the various secrets that characters keep from each other throughout the novel, all of which are eventually revealed, despite the characters’ best efforts at concealing them: for example, Archie reveals to Samad that he did not kill Dr. Perret, and Clara reveals to Irie that she wears false teeth (having had hers knocked out during a scooter accident with Ryan Topps). Additionally, Irie professes a desire to become a dentist, suggesting her propensity for uncovering hidden problems; she is also the only character in the novel to carefully examine her family history, discovering its blemishes (whereas Samad, for example, refuses to see his ancestor Mangal Pande as anything other than a clear hero). Ultimately, teeth are a shape-shifting symbol in the text, highlighting issues of race, history, and relationships between characters and their families.