kipps and belsey

This reading of Kipps and Belsey did not interest me in slightest. The emotion of the characters was unapparent and very disconnected. Perhaps it was the intention of author the write in this manner but it read as very confusing. I'm going to give a few examples of what I liked and disliked about this passage.

On page 5. in one of the emails Jerome seems very disconnected when writing to his family. A certain level of misunderstanding of his families issues is also very apparent when he states " I hope you can see from everything I've written that your feud, or whatever it is, is a complete waste of time." He then moves to assert his moral views, " Most of the cruelty in the world is just misplaced energy." He doesn't try to give a suggestion as to how his family should fix there issues, but just simply states that he is above it.

The form used in the email on page 4: "(a) passing wind (b) shouting (c) analysing the 'phoney metaphysics' of prayer (d) singing loudly (e) laughing," doesn't seem very personal. It seems more of a formal way to write. Keeping in mind that Jerome is writing to his father, shows again the disconnect, and it would have made much more sense to just use a list instead of solely singling out each category that way. It seems that the author was just showing that she can use this form, but it primarily doesn't fix and it makes no sense for it to be there. Also, the smileys used on page 5. seem very out of place as well and doesn't flow into the sentence at all. If humor was trying to be conveyed it came off very fake. Making the son seem very passive-aggressive.

The Smith doesn't set up a good visual for what the family looks like! I didn't know until half way through the reading that the family was Black. Everything she describes is surface, implying the reader should try and discover their meaning of the situation. Although, she does a great job of contrasting the family in South Africa and the boys family through his nonchalant description of them.

Smith show's that there is an underlying issue between the husband and wife when he ignores a statement she asserts to him:
"Howard frowned. 'That's your contribution'
'Howard - there's an egg on the stove, I don't know who put it on, but the water's evaporated already - smells nasty. Switch it off, please.'
'That's your contribution?"
This also implies that the wife's only contribution to the house or husband to to provide him with food and living, and nothing more, with how the dialogue was structured.

Zadie Smith is trying to divulged into the psychology of the characters, by showing us the formality, in which, the characters are moving to assert their deep rooted issues, through dialogue that is formal and disconnected, and doing so poorly created a description that is unclear.