Chapters
American filmmaker and philanthropist, George Lucas once said, "Storytelling is about two things; it's about character and plot."
A solid plot which vividly details the key events of a story makes the whole reading experience more immersive and enjoyable, even if you're currently a GCSE student who has a list of readings. In this article, we will discuss the summary and overall plot of Anita and Me by Meera Syal, a short novel under the GCSE English Literature syllabus.
Overview of The Novel
Anita and Me is a novel that centres around Meena Kumar, a nine-year-old British-born Indian and her family in the fictional English town, Tollington.
Often finding herself caught between two countries and cultures, Meena sets out to search for a sense of belonging and acceptance in a white-dominant community.
She begins to befriend an older English girl, Anita Rutter and tries to imitate Anita's behaviour by intentionally becoming more rebellious and "daring". However, she comes to realise that she can never be like the rest of the English girls around her, after directly encountering racism and realising the bad influences Anita has on her behaviours.
After going through several incidents, Meena develops a new understanding of her family and slowly embraces her dual culture. After passing her eleven-plus exams, Meena bids goodbye to Anita and Tollington as her family moves to a new place.
Plot Structure- Exposition and Rising Action
The story begins with Meera's narration and introduction of her life in Tollington. She was caught stealing by her father from Mr Ormerod’s shop, the neighbourhood's shopkeeper.
Meera's detailed observation of Tollington unknowingly highlights how different her family is from the rest of the families, in terms of cultural expectations, and relationship dynamics.
Unwilling to conform to the notion of being a polite and ladylike Indian girl by her family and Indian acquaintances, Meera tries to break free by befriending an older rebellious English girl named Anita Rutter.
Meera was attracted to Anita's carefree attitude and daring actions.
When I said that we talked, what I mean is that Anita talked and I listened with the appropriate appreciative noises. But I never had to force my admiration, it flowed from every pore because Anita made me laugh like no one else; she gave voice to all the wicked things I had often thought but kept zipped up inside my good girl’s winter coat.
Together with other girls like Fat Sally and Sherrie, Meera became one of Anita's Rutter followers. She also befriended sixteen-year-old Sam Lowbridge, a troubled teenage boy who showed kindness to her.
As the story progresses, Meera can't help but feel disappointed by some of the open racist remarks and behaviours towards her and her family that are shown by Anita and the people in her community including Sam.
Sam interrupted, a sly grin curling the corners of his mouth: ‘Yow don’t do nothing but talk, “Uncle”. And give everything away to some darkies we’ve never met. We don’t give a toss for anybody else. This is our patch. Not some wogs’ handout.’
Though she struggles with this uneasiness, the presence of Nanima, Meena's maternal grandmother offers her comfort. Besides taking care of her baby brother, Sunil, Nanima helps Meera to learn more about India while staying grounded with her family in the UK.
Plot Structure- Climax and Falling Action
Later, Meera discovered that Anita and her boyfriend, Sam Lowbridge were involved in the brutal attack of an Indian man in Tollington as reported in the local newspaper — marking the final straw of their friendship.
The victim, a Mr Rajesh Bhatra from Tettenhall was found in a ditch on the side of the Wulfrun Road. He was suffering from head injuries and broken ribs and had been robbed of his suitcase and wallet.
Feeling disgusted and angry after overhearing Anita's confession of that incident at Sherrie's farm, Meera tried to ride a horse to leave but fell and broke one of her legs instead.
Meera's injury proved to be a silver lining. She had lots of time to herself and reflected on her friendship with Anita. She also befriended a new friend named Robert during her hospitalisation and was heartbroken when he eventually passed away.
After the accident, she decided to dedicate her time to preparing for her eleven-plus exams and spent more time with her family at home.
I was in my own cosy world, my days divided up between solitary bike rides, my eleven-plus studies and quiet evenings in front of the television when I read stories to Sunil or pottered about the kitchen with mama, chopping and tasting when I could.
The final closure of Meera's friendship with Anita came when Tracey, Anita's younger sister sought Meera's help a day before her eleven-plus exams.
Thinking that Anita could be in danger, Meera rushed out together with Tracey only to find out that Anita and Sam were engaging in a sexual act. Thinking that Sam was hurting Anita, Tracey tried to attack both of them but was unsuccessful.
Sam confessed to Meera about his true feelings and kissed her. Tracey tries to attack Sam again but this time, she accidentally falls in the pond, almost losing her life.
Plot Structure- Resolution
Though Meera feels very overwhelmed about the whole incident, she decides not to seek revenge by telling the truth when she is questioned by the police officers — it was a simple accident.
Meera calmly sits for her exams the next day. She passed her exams and soon accepted that her family would be moving to a new place.
Before departing, she sent out a final letter to Anita and did not receive any reply, signifying that her friendship with Anita officially come to an end.
Major Conflicts Discussed In The Novel
After reviewing the overall summary and plot of the novel, let's look at some of the major conflicts faced by the main character at different stages of the story.
You could be asked to provide relevant elaboration and examples based on the novel in your GCSE English Literature paper.
| Types of conflicts | Elaboration |
|---|---|
| Identity and belongingness conflict | As a British born Indian, Meera always feels that she is not "white" enough in a predominatly white community in Tollington. Whether it's in her school or among her peers, she has the desire to feel accepted. |
| Generation conflict | Meera often finds herself trying to rebel against her parents' cultural expectations to be a polite and well behaved Indian girl. She sometimes find her parents too different and strict from other English parents though she appreciates them. |
| Racial conflict | As the only non-white family living in the neighbourhood, this conflict is experienced by Meera and her family. Having been called racial slurs and knowing how Anita and Sam attacked an Indian man, Meera soon realised that racism is no laughing matter. |
| Friendship conflict | The story centres around the friendship between Meera and Anita. While Meera sees Anita as her bestfriend initially, she soon realised that the feeling is not reciprocal and decides to distance herself from her. |
We hope this article will offer you a thorough understanding of the flow of Anita and Me by Meera Syal.
It will certainly help you to identify the relationship between the characters and their character growth by the end of the story.
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