On Beauty...

On Beauty was written by Zadie Smith. The main theme is multiculturalism.

Zadie Smith
"You can't just hit people over the head by telling them your political truths."
She believes that novels are political, but it is important not to command her beliefs in such a Stalin-esque fashion; to Smith, this kind of art is immoral and bad. Good art, on the other hand, "is a case of morals." Smith feels that good art is based not solely based on perceptions of oneself and not thinking of one's own personal feelings and ideals, but rather it is important to be able to look at the overview and realizing that you are not the center of the universe. It is necessary to incorperate all sides of the story.

In relation to everything we've been talking about in our recent classes, it is important to play devil's advocate and look at Zadie Smith for, well, basically her background: she is black and she is of a lower-class background.

Zadie Smith vs. "Zadie Smith:"
"Zadie Smith" is a brand; she is a character, not a real person. "Zadie Smith" is the bardolotry of Zadie Smith. Because Zadie Smith is black and not wealthy, "Zadie Smith" is created. Because of "who she is," it somewhat gives her this elevated status.

Psychological analogy for behavior: when people get upset with others for being messy or whatever, chances are that they are actually really just upset with themselves for the same thing that they are seeing as a defect in the other individual.

The Left, the Multiculturalists, say that there is no "great art." Is On Beauty art? Who can judge?

Jerome's family is the family in America. The Kipp's are the British family from the Carribean. Kiki is black, and her husband is white; the children are of mixed heritage. Monty is very religious, and thier children are very religious. His wife stays at home. They are a "typical" family.

Jerome is an interesting character. He is rebelling against his father. Kiki is upset with her husband because he has had an affair. He goes to work for Monty, which is somewhat of an interesting move. "Jerome had fallen in love with a family." Jerome does NOT want his family anymore; he looks at the other family, and he thinks that is what he wants.