The Waiter’s Wife

Situational irony is a literary device in which something occurs that is the opposite of what the characters expected. Samad decided to marry Alsana because he “simply assumed a woman so young would be […] easy. But Alsana was not […] no, she was not easy” (Paragraph 42). Samad entered the marriage thinking that Alsana would adhere to traditional gender roles; however, she acts in the opposite manner.

Another example of situational irony occurs in Samad’s job. He strikes up lengthy conversations with patrons, telling them details of his life story in the hope that they will see him as a full, complex human being and thus tip more generously, but the effect is the opposite. Shiva reminds him that the customers don’t care about his life—they just want him to smile and take their order.

Multiple allusions—references to outside texts, people, or objects—serve to add to the development of the characters. Shiva is a struggling actor who flirts with play producers who promise to cast him the “next time someone put A Passage to India on the stage” (Paragraph 4). A Passage to India is E. M. Forster’s 1924 novel set in colonized India. The novel has been criticized in contemporary times for its racist portrayal of Indians. The implication behind this allusion is that only one kind of role is available to someone who looks like Shiva—and, more broadly, that South Asian immigrants to England must always contend with the stereotypes many British people hold about them. The British play producers can make sense of Shiva only by placing him within a canonical British text.

There are other literary allusions that emphasize a character’s intellect. Samad, when questioning his identity, references Samuel Tayler Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner—using a canonical work of English poetry to understand his own transnational identity. Additionally, Clara has been secretly reading The Female Eunuch by Greer, Sex, Race, and Class by Selma James and Jong’s Fear of Flying. These are all considered to be cornerstone texts of the Feminist Movement, which emphasizes that Clara wants to pursue a modern life.

Smith sometimes uses allusions to increase the irony of a situation. When Samad asks Ardashir for a raise, Ardashir refuses, saying “If I made allowances for every relative I employ I’d be walking around like bloody Mr. Gandhi” (Paragraph 39). Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader of the quest to gain India’s independence from Britain, was known for helping the less fortunate and improving their life circumstances. By referencing Gandhi here, Smith creates a moment of verbal irony because Ardashir is actively choosing to not help Samad in his time of need.

Several asides—text or information intended for the reader but not the character—are set off in parentheses. Smith often does this to highlight the humor of the situation. This is apparent when Alsana storms out of the house after her fight with Samad: “‘Survival is what it is about!’ she concluded out loud (she spoke to her baby: she liked to give it one sensible thought a day)” (Paragraph 55). The aside undercuts what Alsana is saying: her reaction to Samad and her belief that she is going to starve (despite a freezer full of meat) is in no way sensible, highlighting the humor in Alsana’s reaction.

Additionally, asides can help a reader keep track of the storyline and how characters relate to each other. When Alsana, Clara, and Neena go to the park to eat, there’s an aside explaining “there are six people on that bench (three living, three coming)” (Paragraph 70). This aside gives the reader information—that either Alsana or Clara is having twins—and also reemphasizes the theme of Past Versus Future. The bench is literally able to hold both the present life and the coming life at the same time.

Repetition is repeated sounds or words emphasize an idea or theme. Smith uses repetition in Samad’s internal monologue about his identity: “I AM NOT A WAITER. THAT IS, I AM A WAITER, BUT NOT JUST A WAITER. I HAVE BEEN A STUDENT, A SCIENTIST, A SOLDIER” (Paragraph 25). First, Samad repeats the word “waiter” three times, drawing attention to the fact that he feels like that’s all he is seen as, and he hates how this strips him of his multifaceted identity. Additionally, he repeats the first-person singular pronoun three times in short succession. By having the one-syllable pronoun repeated in quick succession, it recreates the act of stuttering, implying that Samad is clutching at his former identity and struggling to create a new one in England.