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White Teeth
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Part 4, Chapters 19-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “Magid, Millat, and Marcus, 1992, 1999”
Chapter 19 Summary: “The Final Space”
On New Year’s Eve 1999, FATE’s members set out for the unveiling of FutureMouse. They discuss media responses to the exhibit, and Joely praises Joshua for prioritizing animal rights above family. Truthfully, Joshua simply has not thought through what he is about to do, which he realizes is “so huge, so colossal, that the consequences were inconceivable—he couldn’t imagine a moment occurring after that act” (412). Nevertheless, he feels he cannot turn back.
Several KEVIN brothers are on the way to the exhibit—including Millat, who has spent the entire day smoking marijuana. When Shiva remarks that he looks sick, Millat says that he is “preparing [himself] for action” and that he alone “stand[s] firm” (414). He is alluding to the leader of KEVIN’s arrest, after which the other members abandoned their initial violent plans and decided to simply recite a verse from the Qur’ān. When the KEVIN members arrive at the opening, the others go inside while Millat seeks a bench where Samad once carved his name. Samad is ashamed of this, seeing it as an act of pride, while Millat is disgusted by his father’s insignificance. He believes that his actions tonight will avenge historical wrongs and secure his own legacy.
Meanwhile, Ryan, Hortense, and several other Jehovah’s Witnesses make their way to the exhibit. Ryan is in high spirits about confronting Marcus with his “unadulterated, ignorant faith,” which he views as “the biggest fuck-off light saber in the universe” (422).
After much arguing, the Iqbals, Joneses, and Neena are also going to see FutureMouse. The arguing continues on the bus until Irie finally interrupts, pointing out that other people do not constantly rehash past events:
‘I will put twenty quid down now that Samad is the only person in here who knows the inside bloody leg measurement of his great-grandfather. And you know why they don’t know? Because it doesn’t fucking matter’ (426).
Unbeknownst to anyone else, Irie is eight weeks pregnant. She does not know the identity of the father and cannot learn it because Magid and Millat are identical twins. Nevertheless, she plans to tell one brother tonight, though she has not yet decided which. Archie asks whether she is alright, and Irie reassures him that she is.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Of Mice and Memory”
Archie is excited to be at the launch, which is “just like on TV!” (431). He chats about the experiment with Mickey, who expresses total faith in “Magid Ick-Ball” (434).
As Marcus begins to speak, Josh thinks resentfully about FATE’s plan, which he feels has been “designed for the greater glory of Crispin” (435)—Crispin will pretend to take Josh hostage at gunpoint in exchange for the release of the mouse. Privately, Josh suspects his father may actually care more about science than his son’s life and looks forward to Crispin’s humiliation.
Unbeknownst to the rest of KEVIN, Millat has a gun in his pocket. Although he is having last minute doubts, he feels that his actions are beyond his control:
He remembers rewinding and freeze-framing and slow-playing [a scene from The Godfather] countless times over the years. He remembers that no matter how long you hold the split-second of Pacino reflecting, no matter how often you replay the doubt that seems to cross his face, he never does anything else but what he was always going to do (436).
Clara hears the Jehovah’s Witnesses begin to sing outside, and Archie sends Samad to quiet them down. Samad tentatively approaches the group and introduces himself to Hortense. When the women ignore his request, he gives up in exhaustion and sympathy.
Back inside, Marcus introduces his mentor: Dr. Marc-Pierre Perret. At this moment, Archie notices both that Millat “looks funny” and that Perret is crying “red tears” (441), making him the same doctor Archie supposedly executed during WWII. Samad, returning to the room, recognizes Perret as well but feels only momentarily angry about Archie’s lie before he begins laughing and calling out to his friend. At that moment, Archie sees Millat reaching for his gun and jumps in front of it.
The narrative flashes back to the moment when Archie led Perret away from the jeep. Feeling sorry for the man, Archie allowed him to plead his case. Perret responded by describing Archie’s “moral quandary” in being asked to choose between loyalty to his friend and loyalty to humanity at large; in such a situation, he said, the only option is to “choose one, and […] get on with it. Man makes himself, after all. And he is responsible for what he makes” (445). Archie grew steadily more upset as Perret spoke before remembering that he had a coin he could flip. As he moved to pick it up, however, Perret grabbed Archie’s gun and shot him in the leg. Archie, enraged, told Perret the coin flip had gone in his favor anyway.
Back in the present, the bullet strikes Archie in the leg, and he falls onto FutureMouse’s glass box, shattering it. The narrator then reveals several characters’ fates. Because of the resemblance between Millat and Magid, the eyewitness accounts of the shooting are confused, and both twins are sentenced to community service. Irie and Joshua become a couple, and they are with Hortense and Irie’s daughter in Jamaica. In London, meanwhile, O’Connell’s opened its doors to women, so Archie and Samad bring their wives there to celebrate the new year.
What interests the narrator, however, are the two kinds of people who were present when Archie was shot: “those whose eyes fell upon a bleeding man, slumped across a table, and those who watched the getaway of a small brown rebel mouse” (448). Archie himself was part of the latter group, watching in approval as FutureMouse escaped.
Part 4, Chapters 19-20 Analysis
Throughout the novel, Smith foreshadows that Archie did not in fact kill Dr. Perret; during his conversation with Samad about Mangal Pande, for instance, Archie argues that Pande might simply not have been “the type” to kill (216). While Archie is clearly thinking of himself when he says this, it is worth noting that that initial choice to save Perret had nothing to do with Archie’s character or sense of morality. Though he was clearly distressed by Perret’s words, Archie ultimately refused to take a stand one way or the other and deferred the decision to a coin flip.
This makes Archie’s actions in Chapter 20 even more significant. His choice to jump in front of the bullet is made impulsively and probably comes a surprise even to himself. This does not negate its value; on the contrary, it underscores a central idea in White Teeth, which is that even long-established patterns can be unexpectedly broken. The fate of FutureMouse emphasizes this hopeful idea as well. By taking a bullet meant for Perret, Archie fortuitously breaks the glass of FutureMouse’s cage, allowing it to escape. While it will still be limited in some ways by its history (that is, the changes Marcus made to its DNA), it will also enjoy freedom.
The moment of FutureMouse’s escape encapsulates the novel’s ending, which sees multiple characters freed from destinies that previously seemed unavoidable. Josh is saved from participating in FATE’s demonstration and presumably leaves the group altogether. Archie and Samad, who often struggled in their relationships with their wives, bring Clara and Alsana with them to O’Connell’s—and therefore, symbolically, allow them access to their friendship.
Finally, but perhaps most importantly, this pattern holds true not only on a personal level but also on a historical one. Up until the moment of Archie’s intervention, it seems as though Millat is fated to relive the experiences of his ancestor. In fact, Millat recognizes the parallels between himself and Pande but believes that they represent a chance to “turn that history around” (419). Millat is clearly mistaken in this belief. Although his frustration with Western society is understandable, his actions are not a principled stand against imperialism. He does not fully understand the religion or culture he sees himself as defending, he (like Pande) is high on cannabis, and in the moments before he moves to shoot Perret, he feels like he is at the mercy of forces larger than himself. Archie’s actions, however, interrupt what seems like an inevitable and tragic consequence of English imperialism, saving not only Perret but also Millat. For all the attention White Teeth pays to cultural conflict, its ultimate message is optimistic: the longstanding divisions caused by colonialism and racism can ultimately be healed.
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