Anita and Me: Characters (AQA GCSE English Literature)

It is vital that you understand that characters are often used symbolically to express ideas. Syal uses all of her characters to symbolise the various ideas that she chose to explore in Anita and Me, and the differences between characters reflect debates about friendship, family and cultural divides. Therefore, it is very useful not only to learn about each character individually, but how they compare and contrast to other characters in the novel. 

Below you will find character profiles of:

Main characters

• Meena Kumar
• Anita Rutter
• Sam Lowbridge
• Daljit Kumar (“Mama”)
• Shyam Kumar (“Papa”)

Other characters

• Namina 
• Tracey
• Sherrie
• Sally
• Auntie Shaila

• Meena is the nine-year-old protagonist of the story and readers hear events from her perspective:
  • Some of the story is based on Meera Syal’s own childhood growing up in England
• Meena’s character represents individuals with dual culture:
  • Her Indian heritage clashes with life in an English town in the 1970s
• Throughout the novel, Meena struggles to understand her personal and cultural identity:
  • She argues with her mother about eating the same food as the English children
  • She is proud of her Black Country accent
  • She is embarrassed of the way her parents look in comparison to the English parents
• Meena’s rebellion against family traditions and expectations is the cause of much conflict in the plot and in her life
• In this way, Syal conveys ideas about peer pressure, especially regarding identity and friendship:
  • Meena begins to get into more and more trouble as a result of her displaced identity
  • She defies her parents by lying, stealing and accusing others unfairly 
• However, Meena is a likeable character and represents tolerance and open-mindedness:
  • Instead of being friends with the Indian children, Meena makes friends with the troubled English children in her community
  • She shows empathy towards others in the town, especially those more vulnerable
• Her character conveys the power of humility:
  • Through her monologue she acknowledges her guilt and shows a clear understanding of her weaknesses
• Syal presents her as a sympathetic character: 
  • Meena’s character conveys themes of bravery and resilience
  • Despite poor treatment, Meena holds no grudges and does not seek vengeance
  • Meena begins to gain confidence and stand up to discrimination 

• Anita is the 16-year-old daughter of Deirdre and Roberto Rutter, local residents of Tollington
• Anita strikes up an unlikely friendship with the younger Meena at the start of the novel:
  • Syal implies Anita makes friends with those smaller or more vulnerable than her
  • This is noted by Meena, who comments on Anita’s desire for power
• Anita’s manipulative nature makes her the antagonist of the story, despite the fact she is Meena’s friend:
  • She pressures Meena to behave in way she does not feel comfortable with
  • She tests her loyalty to the friendship by asking her to steal, trespass and give Anita her pocket money
• Anita represents a typical bully:
  • She is cruel to her younger sister, Tracey, whom readers learn is already abused and weakened
  • She attempts to harm a dying dog
  • She forms a gang in order to dominate others in the town
• Anita is responsible for Meena’s misguided education about sex:
  • In this way, Syal illustrates the influence of harmful friendships on personal development
• However Syal, through Meena’s narration, considers the impact of Anita’s environment on her behaviour:
  • She cries when her mother abandons her and gets her uniform size wrong
  • She has to stay at Meena’s house where she is judged harshly for her poor manners
  • Her mother neglects her and ignores her
  • Anita shows her vulnerability about her home life to Meena:
• Through Anita, Syal raises questions about the impact of poverty and poor parenting on young children:
  • Although Anita is cruel and confident on the outside, the story portrays her as a victim through Meena’s intelligent reflections
• Anita’s alliance with Sam Lowbridge is the ultimate betrayal for Meena:
  • It is her racist attack on a town resident and her sexual relationship with Sam that leads Meena to break bonds 
• Syal’s disadvantaged character, Anita, comments on dangerous and continuing problems in such communities:
  • At the end of the novel, Anita does not reply to Meena’s letter
  • Meena’s family, as Anita’s main source of support, leave the town
  • This leaves Anita’s future bleak and unresolved

• Sam Lowbridge is a 16-year-old local boy who is the second antagonist of the story
• Readers are told he has a criminal record and torments the town with his gang:
  • In this way, he represents the town’s rebel and most intimidating bully
• Nevertheless, he shows kindness to Meena and they become friendly
• Syal seems to imply that Sam recognises and is drawn to Meena’s good nature
• Sam’s racist comments prove confusing to Meena but, when challenged, Sam is surprised and confused by her reaction:
  • Syal shows Sam’s discriminatory views are the product of ignorance rather than a genuine hatred for other cultures
• Sam, as a representation of a disadvantaged and neglected child, seems to worsen in terms of his behaviour
• By the end he has beat up an innocent Indian man and is in a warped sexual relationship with Anita:
  • Sam’s circumstances imply a hopeless future for neglected children

• Meena’s mother, Daljit Kumar, is presented as a traditional Indian wife and mother
• She and her husband raise their children in a small town in England and often refer to their family and their past life in India
• While integrating into English life (she celebrates Christmas so that Meena can fit in) she also encourages Meena to enjoy Indian cooking and learn Punjabi:
  • However, she understands Meena’s challenges and makes her fish fingers one evening
• Syal characterises her as calm and controlled and a source of support for the town:
  • She has a close network of friends in the Asian community
  • She arranges a communal system for Anita’s care when her mother abandons her
• Daljit Kumar is a school teacher who is presented as a reliable source of information for Meena:
  • They discuss religion, discrimination, the townsfolk and parenting
• When she struggles to care for her new baby, Sunil, she seeks help from her mother, showing the importance of family bonds

• Readers are introduced to Meena’s strict father at the start of the novel:
  • He takes Meena to the local shop to confess that she has stolen money
  • He makes Meena face the consequences of a lie
• Shyam Kumar is extrovert and emotional, a foil for Meena’s mother:
  • He holds musical gatherings for friends
  • He loses his temper when Meena misbehaves
• At the same time, Syal draws attention to the sacrifices he makes for his family:
  • He longs for his family back in India
  • His work is unsatisfying
• Meena comments on her father’s stoic attitude regarding his work
• Though she knows little of it, Meena understands it is not the career he had hoped for:
  • He tells Meena about his hopes to be an actor
• Syal presents, through his characterisation as a loving and conservative father, the impact of his sense of responsibility towards his family:
  • He appears fearful of expressing deeper feelings
  • He avoids topics such as death
  • He relates some challenging and dangerous experiences from his past, especially related to political and societal events in India at the time of Partition
  • In this way, he is a valuable source of wisdom for Meena

Namina 

• Namina is Meena’s maternal grandmother
• Namina’s characterisation is one of the significant ways Syal conveys themes of family relationships:
• She is introduced immediately as caring: she comes to England to help her daughter with her new baby
• Namina’s kindness and non-judgmental attitude allows her to become a powerful influence in Meena’s life:
• Meena’s response to Namina’s tolerant and mischievous nature warms readers to her character
• Namina shows the positive impact of role models in Meena’s life, perhaps made more obvious by the way Sam and Anita lack such family support
• Namina’s strength of identity is significant for Meena and contributes largely to her growing confidence:
  • Such as when she appears to know Meena took her mother’s diamond necklace
• She appears proud of her Indian heritage, while not conforming to the quiet and reserved behaviour Meena believed was expected of an Indian girl
• Namina speaks Punjabi, but is able to communicate with animated gestures and knowing looks:
• Namina represents the wisdom of age:
• Meena believes she has magical powers as she is so intuitive 
• Namina’s immediate suspicion towards Anita seems to bother Meena

Tracey Rutter

• Tracey is Anita’s younger sister
• Her characterisation represents a shy, sensitive young girl who is bullied and abused
• Her character conveys key ideas about neglect: 
• Although Meena sees bruises on her thighs, neither her sister nor her mother seem concerned or to even notice
• It is implied the father, Roberto, is responsible
• Later, the consequence of Tracey’s abuse is illustrated by her confused response to Sam and Anita’s sexual encounter:
• She believes Anita is being attacked and runs at Sam
• This leads to a potentially lethal fall into a pond
• Tracey is the victim of bullying by her older sister, showing how the abused can become the abuser
• While Tracey is shown as quiet and unassuming, Anita takes out her anger on her and tries to control her, presenting Tracey as an innocent victim in a dangerous environment

Sherrie

• Sherrie is one of Anita’s friends who soon becomes Meena’s friend
• The friends spend a lot of time at Sherrie’s father’s farm:
• Syal draws attention to the way Anita uses this opportunity to ride horses, especially when Sherrie is given one of her own
• Meena notices how good Anita is at riding and in this way Syal shows Anita’s potential if given similar opportunities to Sherrie
• Sherrie is an obedient follower of Anita and indulges in unkind behaviour to stay in the gang:
• This makes her an unsympathetic character 
• Sherrie also moves away at the end of the novel, adding to the void in Anita’s life 

Fat Sally

• Sally is given the nickname Fat Sally and this is used by everyone:
• Syal shows how most of the children in the novel are treated unkindly by the others at one point or another 
• She is one of Anita’s friends, who also becomes friends with Meena
• Later, however, unlike Sherrie, she stands up to Anita:
• Anita mocks Sally’s family wealth and Sally responds by attacking her
• Sally’s character conveys themes about friendship and family:
• While she struggles with conflicts in her friendships, she appears to have a supportive family
• Her mother warns her to stay away from Anita

Auntie Shaila

• Auntie Shaila is a close friend of the family and a constant presence in the Kumar home and Meena’s life
• She is part of the Kumar’s network of South Asian friends who are considered to be extended family
• She is a source of comfort for Meena’s mother, Daljit Kumar
• At first, Meena finds it challenging to be supervised by so many “family members”