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Paper: 06; Module No: 13: E Text Paper: 06; Module No: 13: E Text (A) Personal Details: Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator: Prof. Tutun Mukherjee University of Hyderabad Paper Coordinator: Prof. T Vijay Kumar Osmania University, Hyderabad Content Writer: Dr. Alice Samson, NALSAR, Assistant Professor Hyderabad Content Reviewer: Prof. T. Vijay Kumar Osmania University Language Editor: Prof. T. Vijay Kumar Osmania University (B) Description of Module: Items Description of Module Subject Name: English Paper No & Name: Paper 06: African and Caribbean Writing in English Module No & Name: Module No.13 V. S. Naipaul: A House for Mr Biswas V. S. Naipaul: A House for Mr Biswas Pre-requisites: None Objectives: To Examine Naipaul’s Life and Work with Special reference to A House For Mr. Biswas Key Words: Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Caribbean Prose 1 Summary: The lesson, through a reading of the novel A House for Mr. Biswas, introduces the reader to the life and works of Sir V.S. Naipaul. It contextualises the novel, discusses the plot, the main characters and the main themes that are addressed in the novel. Module-I: Introduction to A House for Mr. Biswas Listed amongst the 100 best novels written in English language in the twentieth century, V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas is one of the most significant novels to have been written by a Caribbean author. The novel describes the travails of the protagonist Mohun Biswas, who seeks to own a house in Trinidad. The novel is set in the first half of the twentieth century. Even as the novel depicts the desires and insecurities of Mohun, it rather humorously depicts the lives of the various members of the gregarious Tulsi household. The novel provides a commentary on the relations between sexes in Indo-Trinidadian society, also throws light on the complexities of race and of impending exit of the colonial rule in the island. A House for Mr. Biswas, published in 1961, won V.S. Naipaul immediate international recognition. Naipaul based his novel on the life of his father Seepersad Naipaul. Seepersad Naipaul, a son of indentured Indians, was a self taught writer. At a very young age, Seepersad, an emaciated yet ambitious young man, was married into the influential Capildeo (Kapil Dev) family. The novel is set in the first half of the twentieth century and all the main characters in the book are Trinidadians of Indian origin. A House for Mr. Biswas portrays the dynamics of the Indo-Trinidadian community. It throws light on the superstitions, and the culture of the emaciated descendants of Indian origin on the island. The description of the lifestyles of the Ajodha and the Tulsi family is a record of the in detail. The action in the novel is situated in the first half of the twentieth century, a period which witnessed massive political changes across the world. It discusses the genealogy of coolie—the indentured labourer from various parts of South Asia, to Trinidad. It portrays the prejudices and the malice prevalent in the Indian community residing in Trinidad. It depicts the troubles that the community faces to keep its religious (Hindu) and caste identities intact. The novel demonstrates that the Indian community in Trinidad, despite its contestations, is cultivating ‘hybrid’, and ‘hyphenated’ identities. 2 Module-II: Life and Background of Lord Vidiadhar Suraj Prasad Lord Vidiadhar Suraj Prasad, a descendant of indentured immigrant workers from India, Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. Naipaul, today, is perhaps the most celebrated and the most widely read Caribbean prose author who writes in English. Born to Droapatie and Seepersad Naipaul who was a self taught journalist and a published creative writer; Naipaul grew in the multicultural milieu of rural Trinidad. Through his mother, Naipaul is a descendant of Capildeo’s (Kapil Dev) family, which enjoyed considerable economic and political clout in Trinidad. In 1983 in his "A prologue to an autobiography" (1983) Naipaul describes how his father's reverence for writers and for the writing life spawned his own dreams and aspirations to become a writer. Naipaul completed his schooling from the Queen’s Royal College in Port of Spain and in 1950 won a Trinidadian national scholarship to study in Oxford. In England Naipaul met Patricia (Pat) Ann Hale whom he secretly married in 1955. Patricia was his first reader and critic. Naipaul’s marriage to Patricia ended when she died in 1996. In 1996, two months after the death of his first wife Naipaul married Nadira Khannum Alvi, a British journalist of Pakistani origin. Naipaul adopted Nadira’s daughter from an earlier marriage as his daughter. Between 1954 and 1956 Naipaul worked on the Caribbean Voices, a weekly program for the BCC. Naipaul first completed work is the Miguel Street a collection of short stories. However his first novel The Mystic Masseur (1957) was his first published work. His other works of fiction include The Suffrage of Elvira (1958), Miguel Street (1959), A House for Mr Biswas (1961), Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion (1963), The Mimic Men (1967), A Flag on the Island (1967), In a Free State (1971), Guerrillas (1975), A Bend in the River (1979), The Enigma of Arrival (1987), A Way in the World (1994), Half a Life (2001) and Magic Seeds (2004). For In a Free State Naipaul won the much acclaimed Booker prize. Naipaul is also a prolific author of nonfiction. Since the 1960s Naipaul has emerged as a powerful political and cultural critic. He courted several serious controversies. He is known for his strong and often objectionable remarks on various subjects including India and Islam. However, Naipaul is celebrated for his unique literary style and the range of subjects his writings deal with. His prominent works of nonfiction include The Middle Passage (1962), An Area of Darkness (1964), India: A Wounded Civilization (1977), Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey (1981), A Turn in the South (1989), India: A Million Mutinies Now (1990), Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples (1998), and The Masque of Africa (2010). In 2001 Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature “for having united 3 perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories". Besides V.S. Naipaul there are two published writers in his family. They include his father Seepersad Naipaul, and his brother Shiva Naipaul. Module-III: Naipaul’s works and themes Naipaul wrote extensively on varied themes. His works are set in India, Africa, Caribbean islands, and England. His subjects included Indians, people of Indian, African, and Caribbean origin, the white skinned colonialists, the decolonized subjects from the third world who now constitute the diaspora. Naipaul’s fiction largely deals with the longing for a home. The lead characters are self driven, ambitious and are worthy of their education. Their quest drives them toward displacement and exile. Towards the end of the novels, their quest notwithstanding, Naipaul lead characters are defeated by the socio-political milieu. For instance A Bend in the River, which begins with the sentence “the world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it” deals with the travails of Salim, a progeny of immigrants from South Asia to Africa, who was forced to relocate from the East coast of African to its hinterlands. Salim works hard and manages to prosper through his shop when the change in the political structure and the subsequent decolonization ruins the business. Salim is forced to abandon his shop and seek refuge overseas. He is thus coerced to migrate twice in his life. A House of Mr. Biswas portrayed the protagonist longing for owning a house. The Mimic Men describes the personal and political travails of the businessman politician Ralph Singh, who returns to the Caribbean island after completing his education in England. Ralph dabbles in island’s politics and is exiled by his former friends. A deeply hurt Ralph returns to England. Willie Somerset Chandran is perhaps the most displaced amongst Naipaul’s protagonist. The lead character in the novel Half a Life and its sequel The Magic Seeds, Chandran migrates from India to London and then to Africa. The political uncertainty in the African nation forces him to shift to Berlin. Chandran is disappointed with life in Berlin and his sister arranges for him to shift to India and fight alongside the communists. Chandran does not share the enthusiasm of his comrades. However, left with no option Chandran participates in the movement. He is arrested by the Indian state. On his release he settles down in England. Naipaul is often criticized for painting a grim picture of postcolonial societies. He depicts the postcolonies as lawless, crumbling societies which are ruled by inept and corrupt megalomaniacs. 4 Naipaul is often accused of essentialising various communities. His writing is complex and his political views are often contentious and contradictory. At a literary event held in New Delhi in 2002, a few hours after he delivered an address which dealt with the anguish of the exile in Britain, Naipaul declared “Banality irritates me. My life is short. I can't listen to banality. This thing about colonialism, this thing about gender oppression, the very word oppression wearies me”. He further added "If writers talk about oppression, they don't do much writing. Fifty years have gone by. What colonialism are you talking about?" Many Indians found Naipaul’s views expressed in the Indian trilogy An Area Of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilisation, India: A Million Mutinies Now rather intolerable. In India: A Wounded Civilization Naipaul stated that the "calamitous effect of Islam on its subject peoples - it was much worse than colonialism".
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