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Race is certainly a large element of Smith’s, On Beauty. But rather that distinguish between the so-called races I think Smith is using this text to illustrate that there are many ways of being, regardless of race, that have more to do with class standing. The perception of what race is has changed over time, and today we know that using race as a signifier of other elements of personhood is inutile. I think Smith is playing with this idea. Levi is discovering himself, and in the process he questions his black icons, and the way in which he thinks about blackness, his own and others. Kiki plays with her identity a number of times. She uses her girth and her way of speaking to project a certain image. Does this image that she projects line up with the individual within? It is her way of adapting to changing environments. This process of personal evolution and adaptation is offset by the change in society between Forsters England and modern New England. I would argue that when it comes to blackness not much has changed in essence. Forster romanticizes Africa, while Smith romanticizes blackness, though Forster was somewhat unaware of what he was doing and Smith is well aware and toying with our ideas of identity formation and perception.

We discussed that one way in which On Beauty is different from Howards End is that On Beauty does not leave any thing to the next generation. There is no illegitimate child of a Bast to inherit the University. I do think though that there is something to be said for the mixed race individual that is inheriting the racially divisive society of her or his parents. While the Bast baby, the mixture of the classes, is inheriting all riches of England, Kiki’s children, the mixture of nations and ‘races’ is inheriting the university, the analytics, and hopefully a bit of the beauty of their parents.

As for its generativity, I find On Beauty to be even more generative for me than Howards end. When I leave the text I can still see the characters walking around and talking. They are alive for me, and in my mind I can generate more stories about them.

Danielle