Herbert Wells and Hanif Kureishi's Depiction of the Suburban Life in Ann Veronica and The Buddha of Suburbia - Essay Example

Literature post the 1900’s – A Compare and Contrast Essay Order No. 1162690 Introduction Herbert George Wells (1866 -1946) also known as the ‘Father of Science Fiction’ was a prolific author of his times. Besides his work in Science fiction, he did a lot of literary works in other genres such as novels based on contemporary times and politics, and history, in addition to social commentary and text books. H. G. Wells, as he is commonly known, had been born in an impoverished family, on 26th September, 1866 in Bromley, England. His mother Sarah Neil was a maid and worked in houses of the upper middle class, while his father was a shopkeeper, in addition to pursuing professional cricket. He did not enjoy a happy childhood due to the separation of his parents and he also had to drop out of school because they could not meet the expenses for his education. However, he loved reading and began reading anything he could get his hands on, and it is this aspect that made him one of the most brilliant writers of his time. Hanif Kureishi was born in Bromley, England in 1954, and as an author, his genre of writing was both fiction and non- fiction, short stories and drama. He was not only a novelist but also a playwright, screenwriter and film – maker as well. He began with writing plays and for his plays ‘Outskirts’ and ‘Borderline’ which were major successes, he won the George Devine Award in the year 1981. Following its success, he became a writer at the Royal Court Theatre, London. (British Council, 2011) Among the many screenplays he wrote such as ‘Rosie get Laid’ (1987) and ‘London Kills Me (1991), the screenplay of the movie ‘My Beautiful Launderette’ was Oscar nominated in 1984. Kureishi’s first novel was ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’ (1990) that won him the Whitbread Award for best first novel and in 1993 it was produced for BBC as a four piece drama. (British Council, 2011) In this essay, an attempt is being made to compare and contrast two salient works of both the authors in relation to life in the suburbs and in the city and try to understand their perspectives and the way they have presented them. “Ann Veronica” (1909) was one of H. G. Well’s most controversial novels because it depicted the intense struggle of the protagonist Veronica to gain freedom and an equal footing with men in various aspects such as Education, Sexuality, and Politics. (Liem Satya Limanta, 2002, pgs. 8 – 16) However, the centrifugal point of controversy for many of the critics of his time was the fact that it violated “the Victorian norms of decency and morality. According to a critic Miller, “fiction influenced life, and novels which depicted rebellion and female sexuality threatened social stability.” (Miller, 1994, p. 165) H.G Wells makes use of two key terms in his novel “Ann Veronica” and these two terms were femininity and feminism. He alludes the term femininity to depict the physical aspect of women, which according to the author should not be aggressive, but should be soft and gentle in nature when compared to men. However, feminism he uses to depict the ‘New Women’ in stark contrast to the stereotypes of Victorian society. In the author’s opinion, the New Woman is independent, frank, outspoken, is open to creativity and is bold enough to try out new things. The New Woman was one who greatly desired to move away from domestic enslavement and moral and physical degradation, by refusing to accept marriage and motherhood. They had no intentions of sacrificing their own emotions and intellectuality and craved for equality with men. The protagonist, Ann Veronica, in H.G. Wells’ novel depicts both femininity and feminism, that is carefully interspersed throughout the novel. The novel is divided into two sections and the first section deals with Veronica’s feminism and the latter deals with her femininity. In the novel “Ann Veronica”, we find that the protagonist is extremely bored with her sheltered life and deeply wishes to break away from the traditional Victorian lifestyle. She becomes rebellious towards her father’s ideas and opinions and is repugnant towards marriage and motherhood. In comparing both the novels, the chief protagonists in both stories display a rebellious nature and deeply yearn for the freedom and independence of city life, because they do not relish being constrained in the suburbs. Ann’s desire for equality and freedom is so intense that at one time, she even proclaims herself to be a man. The trait of feminism is clearly brought out by H. G. Wells in the following sentence when Ann states - “I will not be slave to the thought of any man, slave to the customs of any time. Confound this slavery of sex! I am a man!” (p. 161). However, when she falls in love with Capes, her outlook on life changes and she is no longer rebellious but accepts her position and once again pursues her feminine drives of love, emotion and marriage. “The Buddha of Suburbia” (1990) is Kureishi’s semi – autobiographical debut novel that came in for a lot of criticism from different quarters. The novel encompasses many stereotypical and traditional representations of Suburbia and Kureishi had chosen this because the first modern suburbs had developed in the 18th century in London and many British writers made use of Suburbia as either their subject or settings and mostly depicted it with negative connotations. This onslaught of Suburbia gradually became rooted in the public consciousness and came to be identified “with the working class, and more commonly, the lower middle class.” (Nathaniel O’ Reilly, 2009) Kureishi’s novel “The Buddha of Suburbia” is set in the Bromley suburbs, which is approximately about ten miles from the London Bridge, where he was born. The story is a British fictional representation that portrays life in the suburbs as against life in the city. He too gives a negative representation of suburbs by portraying the aspects of suburban boredom and consumerism and states that one should escape from it and instead go and live in the city because it is a more culturally authentic site. However, Kureishi’s novel is divided into two sections which include “In the Suburbs” and “In the City”. (Nathaniel O’ Reilly, 2009) However, in many parts of the novel, Kureishi breaks away from the traditional British stereotype representation and goes on to depict Suburbia as a very dynamic and innovative cultural place where a new hybrid British identity is progressing. (Nathaniel O’ Reilly, 2009) The protagonist in Kureishi’s novel is a middle class lad Karim who lives with his family in a suburban environment. His mother is the typical suburban housewife who is neglected, bored and depressed, while his father Haroon, is a stereotypical suburban character who commutes to a very boring job each day and when he returns home he has to try and cope with a boring and depressed wife. Kureishi brings out this fact clearly in the following sentence when he states “a loneliness derived from his inability to find happiness as an Indian immigrant in an English, middle-class, postwar, suburban, materialist culture” (262) Suburbia to Karim is what reflects the boredom and restlessness he feels deep inside and he also relates the same to the roots of his hybrid culture and background. To relieve himself of this boredom he always tries to seek out trouble or some action because he yearns for excitement to infuse him with life. He strongly believes that if he wanted to solve all his problems, he has to escape from the suburbs and go to the city. He deeply perceived that the city would offer him more excitement and happiness which he could not get from the suburbs. Conclusion The Buddha of Suburbia is a rather in the face traditional depiction of Suburbia in British literary circles and Kureishi’s depiction of the life in the suburbs is complex, but not all negative. The author tries hard to strike a balance between the two, but is more inclined to life in the city than in the suburbs. The novel engages with the possibilities of suburban life as well as its limitations. (Nick Bentley, 2005, p. 216) Hanif Kureishi has a huge body of work in literature to his credit that has been translated into 36 different languages. The author has received due recognition for his service to Literature and has been awarded the C.B.E as well as the Chevalier de l’ Ordre des Arts des Letters in France. In H. G. Wells’ novel ‘Ann Veronica’, the author sheds light on the psychological transformation of the protagonist as she comes to understand the depth of her own femininity as against the feminism she was fighting for. She gradually accepts her position of her own free will and that too wholeheartedly. Both the authors have their own styles of portrayal of life in the suburbs by presenting us with sharp contrast of life in the city. Wells supposes that ‘the imagination cannot develop in suburbia; it must be imported from outside.’ (David Trotter, The English Novel in History 1895-1920, London: Routledge, 1993, p. 130) References British Council Literature on Hanif Kureishi. Web. Accessed on 25th Nov. 2014 www.literature.britishcouncil.org/hanif-kureishi David Trotter, The English Novel in History 1895-1920, London: Routledge, 1993, p. 130) H.G Wells (Internet) 2012, from: http://www.famousauthors.org/h-g-wells, retrieved on November 25th 2014. Liem Satya Limanta, 2002, The Feminism and Femininity of Ann Veronica in H. G. Wells’ Ann Veronica. Volume 4, No. 1. pgs. 8 – 16) Miller, J. E. (1994). Rebel women: feminism, modernism, and the Edwardian novel. London: Virago Press. Nathaniel O’ Reilly, Embracing Suburbia: Breaking Tradition and Accepting the Self in Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia. Literary London: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Representation of London, Volume 7 Number 2 (September 2009). Online at http://www.literarylondon.org/london-journal/september2009/oreilly.html Accessed on 25/11/2014   Nick Bentley, British Fiction of the 1990s, Oxon: Routledge, 2005, p. 216 Read More