Anita and Me: Plot Summary (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Plot Summary

One of the most helpful things you can do in preparation for the exam is to “know” the plot of Anita and Me thoroughly. Once you know the text well, you should be comfortable and familiar with key events so that you can then track the way themes are presented in the story. Having an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the text will help you to understand how key ideas are developed throughout the novel.

Overview

Anita and Me is a Bildungsroman, a coming-of-age novel, written by comedian and writer Meera Syal in 1996. The story is semi-autobiographical and is narrated by the nine-year-old protagonist Meena Kumar. Meena lives with her Indian parents in a fictional town called Tollington, a small industrial village in the West Midlands, England. The story relates Meena’s life in a working-class community as the daughter of immigrants, and in this way, Syal raises questions about societal attitudes and conditions in 1970s England in relation to poverty and racism. 

Meena’s parents, separated from their families in India, create a close-knit community of South Asian immigrants in Tollington. Syal draws attention to cultural attitudes towards family life; Meena’s family is surrounded by the love and support of neighbours and friends who are considered “aunts” and “uncles”. 

Meena’s friendships, however, expose her to very different values to the ones taught at home.  Her experiences with friends’ abusive and neglectful families, and her friends’ attitudes towards immigrants in the disadvantaged English community, leave Meena caught between two cultures. 

The novel draws attention to the bonds of heritage and friendship that shape an individual’s identity. At the beginning of the novel, Meena is presented as rebellious and unwilling to conform to Indian traditions and her role as an obedient and quiet Indian daughter. While Meena is set on defying her parents, she becomes friends with 13-year-old Anita Rutter, and is abruptly exposed to problems in the wider world beyond the safety of her Indian community. Meena’s friendships force her to deal with discrimiination, as well as verbal and physical abuse. These troubled relationships lead, ultimately, to conflict and betrayal, and Meena realises she must turn her back on her friends. 

Chapter-by-Chapter Plot Summary

Chapter 1

• At the beginning of the novel, Meena is caught telling a lie to her father 

• Meena’s story begins as she is taken to the local shop by her father to confess that she has stolen money from her mother

• As she goes she recalls how she got in trouble in the first place:

  • She wanted to prove she was rebellious and not a typically traditional Indian girl to her English friends

• Meena also introduces readers to her Indian family and heritage:

  • She notices how different her mother looks in comparison to other English women in their town

  • She also explains her confusion about her identity

  • Meena’s rebellious behaviour, she relates, is a result of difficulties fitting into the role expected of her

• Finally, at the shop door, Meena admits to her father she stole money to buy sweets

Chapter 2

• Meena sits and eats the sweets she bought and feels guilty about her behaviour

• While she eats she recalls various events from her past:

  • These memories cement her resentment of her parents and also voice her confusion regarding their attitudes and problems

• Meena explains how she is surrounded by well-intentioned and loving family friends who attempt to encourage her towards her Indian identity

• These thoughts are disrupted by memories of the discriminatory attitudes she has witnessed from the people in the town

Chapter 3

• Meena meets an older girl called Anita Rutter who is the leader of a group of girls

• Although Meena admires Anita’s confidence, she also understands that Anita seeks to control those around her, such as their other friends Sherrie and Fat Sally

• Anita goads Meena to be unkind towards a resident, Mr Christmas:

  • Meena finds herself caught between impressing Anita and the possibility of getting into more trouble with her parents

• Meena meets Anita’s mother Deirdre and her sister, Tracey:

  • Still, she is excited to be friends with an older girl and to adopt English customs

  • At the door, though, Meena is turned away without explanation

  • She realises how different their family is to her own

• On the way home Meena meets a 16-year-old boy called Sam Lowbridge, the town rebel and bully, who is kind to her despite their age difference and his criminal activities 

• At home, Meena and her mother discuss family life and their neighbour, Mrs Worrall:

  • Although Meena is comforted by her mother’s words, she feels her mother is wrong about English people

  • She refuses her mother’s Indian cooking and asks for fish fingers

Chapter 4

• Meena and her father discuss the history of India: 

• Her father describes Partition during which Muslim and Hindu communities experienced upheaval and conflict:

  • He relates how he was paid to deliver a package to a house that he later found out was a bomb designed to kill a Muslim merchant

• Meena finds out that her father works in a job that does not inspire him and that he finds it difficult to deal with death

• To help Meena feel better, Meena’s mother makes her a meal of fish fingers

• Later, Meena notices a crowd at the neighbour’s house:

  • Mrs Christmas is taken to hospital and it seems Anita and her mother were involved in some way

• Meena begins to reflect on the differences between her parent’s close and private relationship and the English people around town:

  • Meena notes that the others seem to spend time getting drunk and discussing marital problems

  • While she admires her parents she is excited by the more liberated English culture

Chapter 5

• Meena learns about religious values as she discusses Diwali with her parents:

  • She notes her mother celebrates Christmas so that she can fit in

• Later, Meena sees Tracey and their new dog:

  • Meena’s parents laugh and mock Deirdre when they learn she has called the dog a racial slur

• When Meena is driving with her mother to a Hindu celebration she hears someone call them a racially-offensive name

• Meena reflects on her experiences of racism and how they make her feel powerless and angry, yet this helps her understand her parents better

• During Diwali, Meena steals her mother’s diamond necklace and goes to meet her friends at the fair

• While she is there she is embarrassed by the boys who choose to pair with all the girls except her

• Her anger is directed at Anita, who plays a part in isolating her

• As well as this, Sam’s racist comments shock Meena and she leaves the fair 

• At home, Meena ruins the family celebrations by singing a rude pop song Anita taught her

• Punished and alone in her room, she hears her mother expressing concern with one of their close friends over her behaviour

• Humiliated, Meena escapes the house and returns to the fair, desperate to fit in with the other children  

• There, she happens to see Anita’s mother Deirdre kissing the same boy Anita was kissing earlier

• She leaves with Anita and they end up at a big house, notorious among the children for its frightening residents

• Anita breaks through a hole in the fence and dares Meena to follow

• Eager to prove she is not scared, Meena does so

• Not long after, however, they are chased off the property by a dog and Meena loses her mother’s necklace

• At home, Meena learns that her mother is about to go to hospital to deliver her baby brother, Sunil

Chapter 6

• While her mother is in the hospital, Anita and Meena form a gang

• Meena finds out Anita’s mother Deirdre is also in hospital as a result of suspected domestic abuse

• Although Meena admires Anita and does everything she can to fit in, the way Anita treats others begins to concern Meena:

  • They humiliate her and force her to perform sexual acts

  • She sees Anita and some younger girls being unkind to Anita’s sister, Tracey:

  • Meena also notices bruises on Tracey’s thighs and questions her safety

• Meena gets into trouble with the local shopkeeper and begins to feel guilty about her behaviour when she is with Anita

• At the same time, her father tries to encourage her towards friendship with the other more traditional Indian children and this confuses her further

Chapter 7

• Meena learns more about her parents’ experiences as immigrants in England and begins to understand the challenges they have faced

• At a fete, she hears Sam shouting vulgar comments to Mr Pembridge

• Anita forces Meena to pay for a fortune-teller:

  • The fortune-teller offers Meena advice about her friendship with Anita

  • This, and Sam’s behaviour, upset Meena and she returns home confused

• At home, she is told that Nanima, her grandmother, is coming to help her mother with the new baby

Chapter 8

• When Meena’s grandmother moves into the house to help with the new baby, Meena learns more about life in India:

  • She is told about the hardships her grandparents faced in response to the British military at the time of colonisation

  • She learns that her parents moved in order to offer Meena a good education

• Namina becomes popular in the town and Meena tells stories about her in order to impress the other children

• She sees Anita fighting with her mother and begins to realise Anita is more vulnerable than she tries to appear

Chapter 9

• Meena goes to Sherrie’s farm with the other girls

• An argument breaks out between Sally and Anita:

  • Anita says Sally is too rich, and Sally calls Anita and her mother “slags”

• Again Meena notices Anita’s vulnerability and admires her resilience

• Tracey’s dog is run over by one of the local boys and Meena is shocked to see Anita’s violent reaction as she tries to throw a rock at the dying dog

Chapter 10

• Anita tells Meena that her mother Deirdre has abandoned her to live with another man

• At this, Meena’s mother sets up a communal system to take care of Anita

• When Anita stays at Meena’s house she displays poor manners and Meena notices that her grandmother dislikes Anita

• She asks her mother if Anita can stay another night but her mother says that first Meena must be invited to Anita’s house in return

Chapter 11

• Meena’s father gets a promotion and they discuss returning to India: 

  • At this, Meena reflects on the fortune-teller’s predictions

  • She grows concerned about moving away and wonders where home really is

• Meena sees Sam and his gang threatening some people in the town and calling them racist names and this saddens her:

  • She realises she cannot discuss this with Anita and feels a sense of isolation 

• Her father reads a story in the newspaper about an Indian man injured in a racist attack

• Meena spends time at Sherrie’s farm but her friendship with Anita begins to break down:

  • She overhears Anita telling Sherrie it was she and Sam (who are now a couple) who beat up the Indian man

• Horrified, Meena jumps on Sherrie’s horse to get away, falls and breaks her leg

Chapter 12

• While in hospital, Meena decides to distance herself from her friends and focus on her family and her studies

• Here, she also meets a boy called Robert with whom she grows very close

• At the same time, Nanima returns to India

• After Meena leaves the hospital, Robert’s parents write to her, telling her that Robert passed away, which devastates Meena

• Despite Meena’s heartbreak, she focuses on her exams

Chapter 13

• Meena decides to turn her back on Anita and work hard on her studies

• One night, just before Meena’s exam, Anita’s sister, Tracey, throws stones at the window

• She begs Meena to follow her and help Anita, who is in danger

• Meena follows Tracey to the big house and sees Anita and Sam having sex

• When Sam insults Anita and kicks her, Tracey is certain Sam has killed her sister and runs at him

• A bitter conflict ensues:

  • Anita shouts at her sister and Sam tries to find her in the gardens of the big house

• Sam corners Meena and asks her why she is so angry with him, telling her how much he likes her:

  • Meena explains that his racist attitude to others applies equally to her

• Sam kisses her but Anita sees and throws a stone at Sam

• Tracey runs at Sam and misses, falling into a pond

• Meena decides to ask for help in the house and discovers that, in fact, instead of strange and frightening residents, a small woman and a wealthy Indian man live there

• Tracey is taken to hospital and the police question Meena

• She tells the officers it was an accident:

  • She reflects that both Sam and Anita are victims of their environment, and that her love for Namina and Robert is more powerful than a need for revenge

  • Meena comments that the officers must be disappointed at not being able to arrest Sam or Anita

• Meena passes her 11+ exams and she comes home to see a For Sale sign outside the house

• Her father explains that they are moving to a more diverse area