Character relationships

Fatou and Andrew

A notable aspect of Zadie Smith’s The Embassy of Cambodia is the relationship between the main character, Fatou, and Andrew. When it comes to her relationship with Andrew, Fatou shows that she is not attracted to him and only sees him as a friend: 

Fatou tried, not for the first time, to imagine what he might be like as a husband, but could only see herself as the wife, and Andrew as a teen-age son of hers […] Surely it was wrong to find his baby fat and struggling mustache so off-putting.

Fatou often mentions that she finds Andrew’s physical appearance repulsive. However, Fatou believes that Andrew is a nice man and that she should be attracted to him, so she invites him to go to the pool with her and holds his hand when they are walking toget...