"White Teeth" & the Presidential Candidates

For this post I decided it would be easiest to start my research on Wikipedia. I read the information posted about both John McCain and Barack Obama and was able to find some articles referenced. It was in these articles that I found some similarities to the characters in “White Teeth.”

McCain is referred to as a maverick, and is known for his tendency to disagree with his party affiliates. While McCain is considered a Republican, columnists refer to him as “conservative” but not “a conservative.” This means that McCain does not always have a conservative stance on issues. I found this similar to Clara’s believe in the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the novel “White Teeth.” In the book, Clara removes herself from her mother’s strict religious household and stops practicing her religion. The novel states, “Clara had deserted the church and all its biblical literalism for Archibald Jones, but she was not yet the kind of carefree atheist who could laugh near altars or entirely dismiss the teachings of St. Paul (Smith 39.) While some of Clara’s actions seem that she has completely denounced religion, she still holds her beliefs. Similar to John McCain, Clara considers herself religious but she just does not agree with everything her faith teaches.

Another comparison I noticed was when I was reading an article written by Barack Obama entitled “My Spiritual Journey.” In this article Obama discusses how he was raised without a religion and how it was not until his twenties when he began working with churches that he found his Christian faith. I found this to be similar to Ryan Topps in “White Teeth.” Ryan, also a young adult, becomes a Jehovah’s Witness when Clara’s mother begins to preach the teachings to him. Similar to Obama, it is not until he has grown that Ryan finds a faith in which he truly believes.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546579-1,00.html Obama “My Spiritual Journey”

http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter9.html McCain “McCain becomes the ‘maverick’”