Emotional Turmoil in Martha Martha Essay Sample

In the story “Martha, Martha” Zadie smith tells the story of a woman in a business and has trouble with this other lady named Pam. She’s very racist and thinks she’s better than everyone else the book takes place in Boston Massachusetts but is concerned with life in the aftermath of 9/11 in America. When meeting both characters looking for something an apartment. Yet for one of them, this means more than just looking for a home in “Martha, Martha” Zadie smith uses literary devices to show how Martha and Pam cope with emotional turmoil. in “Martha, Martha” Zadie smith uses literary devices to show how Martha and Pam cope with emotional turmoil.

The emotional Thing Pam is going through is that she got a divorce and she's going through a hard time. When Martha was talking to pam about her divorce Pam was going through an emotional time thinking of the image she had. “When people remarked that Pam had become ‘so hard’ recently or suggested that she’d turned into a doodlenut since her divorce, they often meant these boots and nothing more than these boots.” Also when pam was just sitting there in the car she sounded like she was too scared to talk about her feelings. ‘’My gosh, you are a nosy parker. I’ll guess I’ll have to tell you my dress size next.’’  

The problem Martha faces is that she left her partner and her son which was a big issue. Neither the picture nor their mutual beauty was in any way married by the fact that both of them had sellotaped their noses to their foreheads to give the impression of pigs’ snouts. “She was crying even before she had unfolded it, but flattening it out now against her knee made it almost impossible for her to breathe.”Martha turned over the photograph and read what was written there. ‘’She came close up to the mirror and gave thanks to God for her secretive skin that told nobody anything; no flush, no puffiness.’’

Martha and Pam sort of have the same issues going on with them about their families. The reason why I picked this is that the two emotional issues are not similar. In that pam had to leave her family and Martha left them her family. So they both lost something that they loved in their lives and they are both going through a hard time. Martha is true to herself and Pam on the other hand is someone who is metal and negative. At the same time, Martha and pam have an emotional thing going on with them.