Comparing and Contrasting 'The Waiter's Wife' and 'Girl'

Running Head: TAKE HOME ESSAY
TAKE HOME ESSAY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1TAKE HOME ESSAY
This essay will be comparing and contrasting two short stories belonging to two
different authors respectively. ‘The Waiter’s Wife’ by Zadie Smith will be compared and
contrasted with the story ‘Girl’ by Jamaica Kincaid in terms of characterization, narration
along with the various characteristics of these short stories.
Both the stories have a similar ring to them. Wife and girl, it is evident that they are
much more focused on women. The texts were chosen to explore if they present similar
themes and if each story draws a similar conclusion and if each piece cane be called feminist
literature. ‘The Waiter’s Wife’ is primarily about the clash of cultures that happen when a
couple emigrates from Bangladesh to London. Naturally, for Alsana and Samad the
differences become evident and they struggle to within this new society that makes them
question their values. The Bangladeshi culture is oppressive and it is evident that Alsana is a
product of that. She is riddled with dilemmas within the relationship that feels more like
lifelong imprisonment. She fears knowing him further, taking a dive into who he really is
because he fears that knowing him wholly may make her hate him even more. This was not a
marriage that had resulted because of love; it was a marriage that was arranged for them. The
immigration was even more troublesome for her as it felt like she did not belong there, the
women were way more advanced and independent, they read and lived their lives on their
own terms and it made her realized that he culture had limited her for so long. The women in
London could read advanced books on various subjects while she felt like she was nothing
except the waiter’s wife, she had nothing of her own.
Samad on the other hand was a highly educated man but he worked at a restaurant as
a waiter. The job felt like a burden for him because he knew that the amount of labor he put
into it was never correctly compensated. He refuses to believe that he is just a mere waiter,
but is constantly reminded by his boss that it is what he is in the society that he lives in
pointing to the capitalist dehumanization that is visible in England. However, he knows that