Martha, Martha

Culture refers to the cumulative deposition of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,

attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, concepts of time, roles, spatial relationships,
universe concepts, and material objects acquired by a group of people in the world. The path
of generations through individual and collective pursuit. Culture is knowledge systems
involving a relatively large group of people. "Cultural encounter" simplest definition is of the
convergence of different cultures as a result of war, migration, job search, tourism or other
reasons that push people from different cultures to deal with each other. The idea in the
short story "Martha, Martha" by Zadie Smith is to bring together two different cultures by
searching for an apartment for Martha to live in. https://books.google.jo/books?
id=j3AaAQAAIAAJ&q=cultural+encounter+in+literature&dq=cultural+encounter+in+literatur
e&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil87HdvrrhAhXI-6QKHS8qB_sQ6AEITzAH

Born in London in 1975, novelist Zadie Smith, an English father and mother of Jamaican,
studied English in Cambridge and graduated in 1997. Her first famous novel, White Teeth
(2000), is a vibrant portrait of contemporary multicultural London, Ethnically. The book won
a number of awards. Her stories deal with many problems such as race and "cultural
encounters". The author expresses "cultural encounters" by the third narrator, giving
intense insights on the characters, and although the story bears the name Martha in the
title, the narrator focuses more on Pam. We know a lot about her compared to Martha, she
represents the "American girl", where she likes rumors, and want to learn more about
Martha in just one day! The writer also uses words that refer to different cultures, such as
China, the Middle East and others. In the scenario, she puts these cultures apart. For
example, in China, a person is executed to steal a handbag while Arab American homes are
full of Arabic. It also indicates the different ways of dealing between the upper class and the
lower class. https://is.muni.cz/th/tlx82/diploma_thesis.pdf

Pam shows her knowledge of the concept of "cultural encounters". Pam is a real estate
agent, from the Midwest, loves loose clothes and does not care much about her appearance,
and she likes rumors. Pam's actions illustrate her understanding of cultural differences. She
wants to meet Martha, who thinks she can rent an apartment for $ 1,000. In the beginning,
she meet someone "large, dark, and bearded" and know from her accent that he is from the
Middle East "wearing a hat". She then meets Martha, who does not know if she really
apologizes because "her skin is black, do not be shy." She also notices Martha's clothing and
"fake pearls", which indicates her poverty and differences in ranks. They start looking for an
apartment that suits Martha, and through their research, it is clear that Martha is fascinated
by Professor Herrin, who describes him with the best information, and even Joseph - though
dark skin - but describes it as "handsome". But this does not apply to black men, they are
that "Egyptian or Iranian or something. They were so sheepish about it. They were so
embarrassed. I do not think they've ever seen snow before!" Nor does she know how
Martha really thinks, or who she is, or from where she is, or how she sees a natural
conversation. Until the end of the story, she did not really understand Martha, because she
only spend with her one day.

Martha, on the other hand, in her twenties, shrimpish, wears a red jacket and fake pearls,
with a poor gray suit. She is ignorant, where she think that $ 1000 can rent her an
apartment, which of course is not enough. What really distinguishes Martha is her sensitivity
to the atmosphere, as she cannot sit away from the window, and she likes to play with snow
due to the high hot climate in Nigeria. This may explain her ignorance of the customs in a
different culture, as she opens the window while the atmosphere is very snowy and cold.
After a conversation with Pam about university students, one could find out that she was
aware of the concept of "cultural encounters", as she posed a sentence in question form,"
There aren’t any black students". Martha tried to borrow words as she spoke "It's quite
vulgar?" But, again, she does not seem to understand the concept, because when she talks
to Pam, Martha always interrupts her, and she does not pay attention to her talk, her mind is
being displaced, "Yeah? Sorry, what?" Even when Amelia asked her if she would rent the
house, Martha replied in a "blunt" way as she pricked her teeth and said "I do not know yet,
do I?" But once again, it turns out that she knows the meaning of the concept. When she
comes out of the bathroom, she hears the laughs of Pam, Amelia and Joseph, and thinks
they are talking about her, and believes that the worst is Joseph, because he thinks marrying
a white woman will make him superior, "those ones that marry white always feel even more
superior."

The way people deal with each other is different from race or skin color. The author has
used this concept well, to emphasize the concept of "cultural encounters". It is obvious that
Pam in more than one position has a reference to "skin color", at first, indicating the color of
Martha's skin as black and that feelings cannot be drawn on him "Her face, very black, could
not blush". When Martha asks about the presence of blacks, Pam is horrified and replies,
"Oh, there's plenty, plenty of people of color," Martha's question may be misplaced, but the
answer from Pam emphasizes that racial segregation in education does not exist. Once
again, Pam connects black in the Middle East, where when she sees the men who were in
her office, she says to Amelia, "Egyptian or Iranian or something ... they were so sheepish
about it." It seems that the concept of "skin color" is associated with everything that does
not concern the English, such as Indians and Chinese. On the other hand, Martha is different
from her. She is originally a "colored skin," but she does not look at the white people on the
racial side, or with certain areas. On the contrary, she thanks the Lord because her skin is
black, "thanks to God for her secretive skin that told nobody anything; no flush, no
puffiness." Martha, as she is contrary to the principle of "cultural encounters", believes dark-
skinned people think they will be more superior if they marry a white woman, which means
she thinks whites are more superior. https://books.google.jo/books?
id=VOckQn8KX6QC&dq=smith+zadie+and+martha+Pam+
+analysis+pdf&source=gbs_navlinks_s

In conclusion, the story of "Martha, Martha" begins with the search for a flat for Martha
with the help of Pam, and brings with them some events in this regard, but in the end - at
first - it seems that Pam cannot understand Martha, which we discover escapes a sad story
after When she sees the family of Joseph, Martha does not bow to change. She prefers to
stay in a one-room apartment and a garden to live in a house that can bring back her
memories. "Cultural encounters" are evident in the story, but these "encounters" did not
change Martha or her identity; they are merely encounters.