just in time

How is White teeth connected to the election, we can see alot of racial card being played in this election, people not voting because of a candidtaes color, just like in the train station where Millat had an episode with the man selling the tickets, him calling them racial names, etc etc. some people already have some pre-existing notions about others based on their color and race. Clara, was disowned by her family for marrying a white man, another problem we have in out society, people refuse to love or try to refuse others to love due to their skin colors, etc. In the election, alot of people call obama an oreo (black on the outside, white on the inside), saying he hasnt gone through any of the problems the typical black man has gone through, living in the hood, not having a job, etc, I wonder if thats the new requirements!!

all through the election people have said 'america is not ready for a black president, now are we looking at just his color or we are going in deepre to the messge he sends. I believe the president should be elected based on what he can bring to the table not his color, black, white, brown, red, pink, disregarding all this, we should look into a candidate and not whats on the outside

White Teeth and the election

In all honesty I had a hard time relating the characters in White Teeth beyond the obvious with the electoral candidates. this very well could be that i know very little about the candidates themselves. The most I know about Cindy McCain is what I read in the article that we had to read in week one, and I know very little about McCain himself or Obama and his wife. I find white teeth to actually be very interesting, perhaps more interesting than the election itself. I'll try to make some connections...

Archie is in his second marriage and also is McCain, to Archie, Clara is a gorgeous trophy wife when he first sees her, and Cindy McCain is shown as a trophy wife herself, both women have had some troubles in their past. Cindy with her drug issue and Clara is a reformed Jehovah's Witness and her family is a little odd and didn't support her decision to not follow their religion anymore. Clara and Cindy McCain are both married to older men, and in both cases both women were pursued by the men. We shall see if there are more connections as we go, I think it's harder to connect a fictional character and presidential candidates lives, and more because they take place at two very different times.

Uuuhh

the most similarities i could think of in characters is that of clara, comparing her to mitchelle obama and cindy McCain. all are very strong women and support their husbands whenever they can. all of them are very independent and strongwilled. clara defied her parents to be with archie, this shows her strong willed nature, Cindy fought through cancer and without her husband she is able to take care of her children and stand on her own. Mitchelle is always at the war front fighting for her husbnd during the election.

Another i similarity is the future mouse project and the KEVIN group, the democrats being the KEVIN group and the republicans being Future mouse group, whil the future mouse is the Iraqi War ( this comparism is in terms of opposition, not the issue at hand), the republicans feel the need for a war, but almost all of amaerica is tired of the bllodshed amd the loss of loved ones, especially for a war that almost does not exist, I have asked alot of people, why the soldiers are in Iraq, but most dont know the answer, so ask, why are we in iraq, loosing lives thats very unnecasary, the future mouse project is even more acceptable because they are trying to find a cure for a medical condition. America needs to fight their own wars first (economic issues) before going into other countries.

Best A Wife Can Be

There’s a similarity between Clara and Cindy McCain. Both wives have an unspoken dedication to their husbands; a great need to play their matron and partner roles. Clara feels greatly indebted to Archie because she sees him as a saving grace, as more than he is. She’s aware of the oddities about Archie. He folds paper for a living, has an utterly uninteresting personality, and spends little time at home. Despite his downfalls however, she still tries to be a good wife and future matron. She tries to be as helpful as possible when the couple first moves into their Willesden home. Cindy McCain cares for her family by herself in Arizona while John McCain is off and away pursuing his career. Cindy tries to do the best to play the role of John’s wife and mother of his children despite his absence and dedication to something beside her and the family. Both women are trying to make the best of their lives with their less than perfect husbands.

~La Neu

get over it and go.

after doing some background research on obama i came to realize that not only were his parents divorced, they both managed to pass away. i think this information can be compared to the opening chapter where archie is discovered by mo's son during his suicide attempt. archie decides to try to end his life after his wife ophelia goes ape and decides she would like to divorce him. once archie is rescued he attends an "end of the world party" where he falls in love with this new chick, clara,  and ends up marrying her months later.

i feel that these two stories relate because both of these men lost loved ones and have still managed to pull out of the lows of there life. as an only child who has lost a parent as well as many "loves" since the middle school days, i would have to say i am quite the expert on what it is like to feel alone sometimes and miss someone dearly. however when you are feeling down you just need to stay preoccupied and find news sorts of loves whether is be human or skill. obama's life in politics is in my opinion directly affected by the loss of his parents as a way to stay busy and excel in life. for example, when my mother passed away i threw myself into school work and decided that was how i was going to deal with her loss. archie also finds his way out of his rut after he hits rock bottom. and everyone lets face it, there is no where further down to go other than death. thankfully mo's son saved him just like education and politics more than likely saved obama. archie fell in love again that night and bounced back from his funk.

Distant Couples

While reading/perusing/skimming through the first four chapters, I struggled to make a connection between any of the characters and one of the 2008 election candidates. The trouble may be a simple result of not knowing too much, on a personal level, about the candidates, and being presented with virtually nothing but personal information for the characters of "White Teeth." The only real indulgence of research I've done as to the personal lives of the candidates comes from the Cindy McCain article posted several weeks ago. It was then that I was able to formulate a connection.

While reading chapter two, the initial relationship of Clara and Ryan struck me as being similar to that of John and Ciny McCain. Ryan is described as an unattractive, unpopular individual. John McCain currently shares this unfortunate description. Although Ryan's appearance is essentially opposite to John McCain, they both are physically unremarkable. Ryan is also described as having a "tedious personality," and it's no exaggeration to say that McCain is also pretty long-winded, and like Ryan, not so popular. Put against Obama, McCain falls short in just about every popularity vote taken thus far.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20080706-9999-1n6electors.html
http://people-press.org/report/425/mccain-obama-negatives
http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Vote2008/story?id=5177916
http://www.surveyusa.com/index.php/2008/03/06/electoral-math-as-of-030608-obama-280-mccain-258/
Still, McCain's wife stands by him, despite having been virtually abandoned by him on more than one occasion. Left at home, she has been forced to fend and live for herself, as well as develop her own skills and public lifestyle. This was the bit that allowed me to make the final connection:
"Clara's inexplicable dedication to Ryan Topps knew no bounds."
Ryan is also described as caring more about his work than anything anything else, save perhaps himself. This description sounds awfully like John McCain, and yet Cindy McCain, like Clara, has stuck by her husband despite overwhelming circumstances.

White Teeth & Presidental Comparison

One of the first comparisons that came to mind when I read our discussion topics was that of Archie and Cindy McCain. Cindy McCain did not try to commit suicide like Archie, but I still feel as though their situations are similar. Both were trying to escape situations that they were dealing with…Archie by committing suicide and Cindy by take prescription pills. Archie felt as if he had nothing to live for anymore after his divorce from his wife. Cindy was distraught from rumors spread about her husband and suffering from serious back pain from surgery. Both needed an escape. After Archie was accidentally saved from his own suicide he felt a new enthusiasm for life, he was finally happy again. Like Archie, Cindy eventually found happiness in, for once, following her husband on his campaigning trail. However, both Archie and Cindy’s newfound happiness was short lived. Archie remarried shortly after his attempted suicide and returned to a monotonous lifestyle…working and hanging out with his friend, Samad. Likewise, Cindy retreated from the public eye after her husband dropped out of a running because of rumors being spread about her drug addiction and about their child.

A second comparison that struck me was between Archie and John McCain. Both had similar marital relationships. I not sure if it says specifically how many years Archie was married to his first wife, but I would assume it was quite a few years considering he was 47 years old when the two divorced. The same goes for John McCain. Although I do not know specifically how long he and his first wife were married I’d assume it was a decent amount of time considering he was 41 and a father of three when he and his wife divorced. After both were divorced they seemed to have hurried into a second marriage. Because I have not finished White Teeth, I have yet to say whether the marriage of Archie and Clara is going to end in happiness. And, even though it seems that the John and Cindy McCain are in love and have a good marriage, reading the article “In Search of Cindy McCain” has me wondering otherwise. After reading that article it seemed to me that marriage was more of an understanding than two people in love bonded by marriage. So after reading the first four chapters of White Teeth I feel that both John McCain and Archie’s marriages are very similar.

Clara and Mrs. McCain

After reading the first four chapters of "White Teeth", the similarity between Clara and Mrs. McCain became more obvious. Both married quickly after meeting their husbands; but aside from marrying older men, both their husbands didn't have much time to spend with them. After Archie and Clara got married, Archie spend a lot of time with his longtime friend, Samad, and so Clara started to wonder why he was never home and why did he spend so much time with Samad. Mrs. McCain also didn't have her husband with her much. John McCain was always working at Washington DC and serving his country, which seemed much like his old time friend.
Another similarity the two had was the presence of drugs in their lives. Clara started using drugs because of a guy that she was with, Ryan. She discovered a life better than giving out Jehovah's Witnesses' pamphlets and trying to save the sinful ones. For the first time, Clara felt free. Free from her mother, from her religion, and from herself. Mrs. McCain used drugs to relieve herself from a life without her husband. She might have felt free from using the drugs, which lead to her addiction. As we know of Mrs. McCain, she stood by her husband no matter what, even now, and Clara does the same for Archie.