The Waiter’s Wife

The title of the short story immediately introduces one of the main themes: The Search for Identity. The title strips Samad of his name and the complex, layered identity that name represents to him. He is identified only by his profession, though in his job he is desperate for people to see all the other facets of his identity, even fantasizing about wearing a sign that says, in all capital letters, “I AM NOT […] JUST A WAITER. I HAVE BEEN A STUDENT, A SCIENTIST, A SOLDIER […]” The sign continues for several lines, giving his wife’s name and detailing their hopes for the future. Despite this wish for visibility, the title reflects the way most people see Samad and Alsana: The waiter and the waiter’s wife.

The title is not actually focused on Samad; it’s focused on Alsana, who is similarly stripped of an identity and, what’s more, objectified as a possession of the waiter (Samad). This apparent subordination of the wife to her husband introduces the theme of Gender Roles and Expectations. To her slightly younger niece, Neena, Alsana appears to be a traditional, submissive wife, and Neena needles her for knowing so little about her husband’s past and his life outside the home. Privately, though, Alsana asserts her own needs and desires with considerable force of will, as seen in the scene where she tears off all her clothes in the middle of the kitchen, asking Samad whether the fabric is edible. Samad remarks to himself that she “[is] not as meek as he had assumed when they married” (Paragraph 42). As much as she is publicly his wife, she is constantly reminding him that he is also her husband. Her views on marriage and domestic life are in flux throughout the story, and she moves between tradition and modernity in sometimes surprising ways. To Neena, she insists on the superiority of arranged marriages, even arguing that the less one knows about one’s husband, the happier the marriage will be. On the other hand, when Samad reminds her that there would be plenty of food if she were willing to cook, as his mother did, she becomes enraged, insisting that cooking is a form of women’s work that should be left in the past, equivalent to “squat[ting] in the street over a bucket and wash[ing] clothes” (Paragraph 52). 

The short story is deceptively funny, often slyly poking fun at the characters’ conflicting prejudices. Smith primarily achieves this through the use of asides or text set off in parentheses, when Alsana leaves the shoe repair store, it is revealed in an aside that “(It was an oddity about Alsana. She was small but her feet were enormous, as if she had more growing to do)” (Paragraph 69). This quip emphasizes both Alsana’s youth and her tendency to speak with performative, maternal authority about matters she doesn’t yet fully understand. She has a lot of growing up to do, something she is willing to admit only briefly at the end of the story, after her conflict with Neena reaches an emotional breaking point. Alsana’s immaturity also emphasizes two of the story’s themes—Past Versus Future and Modernity Versus Tradition—by showing how she struggles with finding her place in a constantly changing landscape.

Smith uses imagery to increase the humor or absurdity of various situations. When Samad goes to speak with Ardashir about a raise, he finds him sitting in his office “like a benign locust, his slender insectile body swamped in a black leather chair, leaning over the desk, all smiles, a parasite disguised as a philanthropist” (Paragraph 34). The image is absurd, highlighting the predatory nature of Ardashir. It is also filled with contradictions: he’s a “benign locust,” he is slender but engulfed by a massive chair, and he pretends to help his employees while actually preying on them (Paragraph 35). The common expression “all smiles” implies that his friendliness is superficial, masking his true intentions. It’s hard to take Ardashir seriously, so when Samad’s request is rejected, the reader feels even more empathy for Samad’s unjust situation.

Imagery also functions as a method of characterization in Alsana and Samad’s big fight. Alsana punctuates her argument with extremely demonstrative physical gestures, for example breaking dishes to underscore the urgency of the couple’s financial problems: “Two plates smashed to the floor. She patted her stomach to indicate her unborn child and pointed to the pieces, ‘Hungry?’” (Paragraph 50). Moments later, she punches Samad forcefully in the stomach, which doesn’t seem to surprise him, suggesting that it’s happened before. The violence of these gestures lends credence to something Neena says later, as the three women converse in the park: When so much in a marriage cannot be talked about, those buried feelings are bound to erupt in unpredictable and chaotic ways.

Smith uses diction—primarily the phonetic spelling of characters’ words—to help ground the reader in the scene. While Archie is working in the restaurant, he is forced to listen “to the appalling pronunciation of the British, Spanish, American, French, Australian” customers (Paragraph 6) as they attempt to pronounce the dishes: “Go Bye Ello Sag, Please” (Paragraph 7). It is not immediately clear to the reader what dish is being referenced, causing a feeling of unfamiliarity. This is the feeling that Samad and Alsana feel most days as they navigate Britain as immigrants. Clara also speaks with unique diction, such as when she discusses naming her daughter: “I tink I like Irie. It patois. Means everyting OK” (Paragraph 81). Clara’s grammar, spelling, and pronunciation here are those of the Jamaican community she grew up in, and Smith renders her dialogue in this way to show that Clara is authentically herself and does not feel like she must forget or mask her past to feel comfortable in Britain.

The short story is written in the third-person omniscient point of view, but the narrator often interjects or provides additional information pertaining to the characters. The sarcastic tone used in these interjections emphasizes the contradictions within each character. Alsana wants to be seen as traditional but have the power of a modern woman. Samad wants to be seen for his full multifaceted identity, but also wants to live in the past with his friend Archie. By highlighting, in comic form, the social and internal tensions these characters must navigate, the text dramatizes the complex reality of postcolonial London.