Emotional Turmoil In Martha, Martha By Zadie Smith

The short story “Martha, Martha”, Zadie Smith, reveals, through juxtaposition and characterization, the universal theme that when people are without the people they love they experience emotional turmoil and cope with it by burying those deep feelings.
Martha is a person who deals with emotional turmoil in the story. Her turmoil is the grief of losing her family. She grieves in private, “She was crying even before she had unfolded it, but flattening it out now against her knee made it almost impossible for her to breathe. In the picture a grinning, long-lashed boy, about eighteen months old, with a head like a polished ackee nut, sat on the lap of a handsome black man,”(82). This reveals Martha's internal struggle. She is dealing with the loss of her family. This is the reason Martha wants a new life. It is to escape the death of her family. Martha is almost in denial about her familial loss. The way Martha hides her

Pam has dealt with divorce, “For the first time in months Pam resisted the urge to inspect the curtains, the lawn, the little things he'd changed for somebody else,”(50). Pam has lost her husband for another woman. This reveals her turmoil. She has lost her loved ones and is now dealing with the divorce. She has been avoiding the things she has lost. Furthermore, Pam buryings her emotions greatly. She doesn't care about the way she looks and basically just wears whatever. “Pam was a recognized doodlenut when it came to clothes, buying the same things over and over, black and loose, like a fat Zen monk. She didn't mind. Her moustache was moist and visible” (7). This is Pam burying her emotions. Due to her loss of family she is now ignoring basic needs such as grooming. Pam is not caring for herself and by doing that she is not making things better for herself burying her into sadness and sorrow. Pam does not deal with her turmoil effectively, similarly to Martha juxtaposing the two