White Teeth Appearances Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

Fifteen years later and Joyce would still challenge anyone to show her a happier marriage than hers. Three more children had followed Joshua: Benjamin (fourteen), Jack (twelve), and Oscar (six), bouncy, curly-haired boys, all articulate and amusing. The Inner Life of Houseplants (1984) and a college chair for Marcus had seen them through the eighties' boom and bust, financing an extra bathroom, a conservatory, and life's pleasures: old cheese, good wine, winters in Florence. (12.7)

How do the Chalfens want to appear, and imagine they do appear, to the outside world? Do they actually appear that way? To whom?