Anita And Me Analysis Essay

Literary theory is a style of literature analysis that involves interpreting and critiquing a piece of literature through a certain perspective. It is beneficial because it allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the text, and to formulate an opinion based on the different perspectives and views. Additionally, literary theory allows for the exact understanding of the author’s intended meaning of the text, and the underlying ideas around it. I will be reading and critiquing an extract from chapter 3 of the semi-autobiography ‘Anita and Me’. It is the debut novel of Meera Syal about the life of a 12-year old Indian girl in the UK in the late 1960s. I will be using post-colonial theory, which is concerned about the affect colonisation had on people and/or a country and feminist theory, which is focused on gender equality or inequality, as well as the way females are portrayed.

To begin with, I will be using postcolonial theory. In the extract, Meena, the protagonist, compares Anita, her English friend,'s kitchen to her mother's. Meena states "My mother would be standing in a haze of spicy steam,". This stands out because it is demonstrating that although Britain colonised India, they still use their spices in their cooking. This is a strong argument because it is an example of Indians not losing a considerable part of their culture and changing their food due to British influence. Another quote that shows Meena's family keeping their culture is "sitting cross-legged on the floor". This links to an Indian tradition, to eat sitting on the floor, which remained unchanged by the British Raj. Meena's mother seems to bring Indian culture to her family. A quote encapsulating this is "This food (...) came seasoned with memory and longing, this was the nearest they'd get, for many years, to home."  This displays her mother using food to connect them to India although they lost some of their culture to colonisation and immigration. Contrary to this argument, I believe that Meena is being heavily influenced by British culture and lacks love of Indian culture. "I had resisted all my mother's attempts to teach me the rudiments of Indian cuisine," highlights Meena not wanting to learn how to cook Indian food, a key foundation in Indian culture. It is clear that Meena is persistent in trying to be more like her English friends. Meena's fear of marginalisation is a key motif in the novel. In chapter 5, she describes Diwali, a Hindu celebration, as 'their version of Christmas'. Her relating her religious celebration to a British one shows her lack of embracement of her culture and wanting to be like the English people. In chapter 1, Meena recalls when she kicked a boy in the face who said that 'the area was Black country because there are so many darkies'. This is interesting because Meena still has a connection to her culture but it seems lost. However, throughout the novel, she gains love for her culture and isn't influenced by the British people in the area anymore. This is a relatively strong argument as it is a metaphor. Meena is India, who is under British influence in the form of her friends rather than military, and she fights this influence and realises that she should embrace her culture.

This extract is also interesting through the feminist theory perspective. I have speculated that Meena has an issue with being made to conform to the gender stereotypes. When Anita’s mother asks Meena to “come give us a hand” in the kitchen, Meena hesitates because she isn’t interested in cooking and cleaning, which is a stereotype for girls. Meena’s mother had also told her that “You are going to have to learn to cook if you want to get married.”. I believe this makes Meena angry in two ways, one that she is expected to learn to cook and two, that she is expected to get married when that isn’t necessarily what she wants. Throughout the novel, Meena subverts to gender stereotypes to the dislike of her mother. Meena, in chapter 2, states that she is being repeatedly critisised for acting like a boy and how dirty she looks after being outside by her mother and the ‘Aunties and Uncles’, her parents’ Indian friends. This is a strong argument because there is clear evidence that Meena doesn’t want to be a ‘stereotypical girl’ and is unfairly critised for this. Another point I have formulated is that Meena’s mother conforms to female gender stereotypes. When she comes home from teaching, “she was in that kitchen”. This infers that Meena’s mother is, as well as working which isn’t that common for women in the 1960s, she was the homemaker. Meena’s mother is said to be making “the fresh, homemade meal that my (Meena’s) father expected”. The noun ‘expected’ displays that Meena’s father didn’t appreciate the meal or helped out himself, it was just a given norm that his wife would serve him a ‘fresh, homemade meal’ although they both have working jobs. He is also said to “wolf it down in ten minutes flat”; the demonised noun ‘wolf’ comparing him to a savage animal. Meena’s father is also displayed as quite distant. Meena says this with the quote “after a day at the office about which he never talked”. This shows his lack of communication with his family and that Meena’s mother is the loving, caring mother that a woman is expected to be whilst the father is just the breadwinner. This is a strong argument because it shows that Meena’s mother is expected to cook, clean and care for Meena whilst the father’s only responsibility is to work and make money, nothing else.

To conclude my essay, looking at an extract through two different literary theories is useful because it allows the reader to deeply understand the text through different perspectives, understand what the author intended each word and phrase to mean and form a opinions and views based on this.