BELONGING AND NOT BELONGING: Understanding India in novels by Paul Scott, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and V S Naipaul by JANET MARIANA PUGH Submitted for the Degree of PhD University of London Queen Mary and Westfield College July 1993 2 ABSTRACT This thesis is essentially about the "how" and "why" of the Indian experience as documented in novels by Paul Scott, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and V S Naipaul. The study points to the difficulty of arriving at any conclusive definition of the country and its people. I show that differences in attitudes, responses or behaviour are both overt and subtle, and depend upon whether the writer or the character identifies with the situation or community with which he or she interacts. It is the individual's sense of belonging or not belonging to his or her own group - be this along racial, cultural or gender lines - that accounts for the differing perspectives evident in these novels. The points- of-view of the outsider and the insider can therefore be seen as mutual comments upon the other. Since the struggle between belonging and not belonging becomes acute when the old meets the new, focus is centred on communities experiencing change. These include the British in India, West-Indian Indians and westernised Indians. Despite their differences, all three communities share similar reasons for either an acceptance or rejection of the 'Other'. The thesis argues that the need for emotional stability compels allegiance to the traditional group, while the desire for individuality encourages surrender to the new. The former nurtures a sense of belonging while, it is argued, that the latter is perceived as the hallmark of those who do not belong. Tensions arise when both these needs demand to be met. What I show to be ironic in this struggle between belonging and not belonging is that those things which individuals overtly reject are often unexpressed parts of their personal pysche. The barrier between "them" and "us" is therefore very fragile. 3 Table of Contents Page Title Page .........................................................1 Abstract ...........................................................2 Ta1le of Contents ..................................................3 List of Abbreviations ..............................................4 Acknowledgements ..................................................4A Introduction.......................................................5 BritishPre-Conceptions of India..................................18 Introducing the Outsider ..........................................25 To See or Not To See ..............................................31 TheBibigharAffair ...............................................51 Fear and Fascination..............................................60 The Need for Defences .............................................71 WhentheOldmeetstheNew........................................82 ACraze for Foreign...............................................93 Lnperfectlmitations .............................................107 Hope andDisillusionment .........................................126 Stranded .........................................................141 Perceptions of Poverty...........................................160 The Joint Family.................................................193 The Mother - Architect, Destroyer or Victim of Tradition.........202 THe Need to Belong...............................................237 The Weaker Sex...................................................251 Conclusion.......................................................280 Bibliography.....................................................286 4 List of Abbreviations Novels by Paul Scott: CSF or The Corrida S The Corrida of San Fellu MW S Mark of the Warrior AS S The Alien Sky Quartet S The Raj Quartet JC or The Jewel = The Jewel in the Crown TS S The Towers of Silence DS S The Day of the Scorpion S A Division of the Spoils SO Staying On Novels by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala El or Esmond = Esniond in India BP = A Backward Place RH = The Householder Gurudeva = The Adventures of Gurudeva by Seerpersad Naipaul Works by V S Naipaul SE = The Sufffrage of Elvira MysM The Mystic Masseur Mr Biswas A House for Mr Biswas AD S An Area of Darkness FC C Finding the Centre 4A Acknowledgements Initially I wish to thank Mr S Mukherji, the Students' Welfare Officer in India House, for his cheerful assistance in clearing what seemed to be insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles. Amazement underlies the thanks due to my supervisor, Mrs Elizabeth Maslen, for not giving up hope that this thesis would eventually be completed. Among the friends and relatives who, over the years have given their affection and support, I wish to mention the Kautzes in Hawaii, the Saunders in Cambridge, Rachel and Catharine here in London, Joshua and Taflyn in Shillong. Without their belief in me, the struggle to keep going would have been much harder. I am also grateful to Professor John Thieme who, so generously gave of his time and his expertise, during the early stages of my research. In addition, I wish to express my thanks to Daniel Benson for his brief but perceptive comments, and to The Westwood Partnership for their kindness in allowing me the use of their photocopier. Finally, I wish to thank Richard, my husband, for sharing with me his understanding of belonging and not belonging, and making me see the 'sense' and relevance of my own cultural experiences. 5 INTRODUCTION The paradoxical experience of both belonging and not belonging has always been a part of tribal consciousness in North East India despite the local peoples' strong sense of kinship with the land. While the North Eastern hills are politically part of the greater Indian land mass, their peoples are culturally isolated from the Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist identities which dominate the rest of India. The widespread acceptance of Christian monotheistic doctrines which bear a closer affinity to local religious belief than the superficially apparent polytheistic nature of Hinduism, served to further widen the gulf between this part of India and the rest of the country, reinforcing the concept of "Them" and "Us". From his home in the hills the Khasi therefore both literally and metaphorically 'looks down' upon the peoples in the plains. The bravado implicit in this attitude however conceals a predicament that disturbs the complacency of isolation. It is my personal history as a Khasi that has dictated my approach to the novels included in this study. It is in the works of Paul Scott, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and V S Naipaul dealing with communities struggling to achieve equilibrium amidst cultural change that I see the reflection of a personal struggle to come to terms with a changing world, while retaining a measure of cultural identification with some part of India, as seen in the novels of R K Narayan. This study primarily explores the relationship between those who belong and those who do not, as exemplified In the novels of Paul Scott, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and V S Naipaul. It is within the framework of this relationship that we examine both the need to belong and the urge to remain distinct from the dominant group. As a sense of 6 belonging and not belonging becomes acute in situations involving cultural change, focus is centred upon communities which have experienced various degrees of displacement. The first is the western community in India including the British, who ruled India until 1947, and Europeans who are either visitors or permanent residents of the country. The second is •the westernised-Indian community whose lifestyle is the product of both traditional and western influences. The third community is that of the dispossessed Trinidadian-Hindu community in the West Indies, in whom the attenuation of inherited cultural identity has been brought about by migration and a vulnerability to western influence. The experiences of the westerner are documented in the works of Scott and Jhabvala. The predicament of the westernised-Indian is recognised by all three authors, while Naipaul deals exclusively with the Trinidadian Hindu community. In order to show how westernisation and dispossession have altered the Indian's viewpoint, references are made to the works of R K Narayan, whose novels describing the lives of the ordinary Southern Indian, trace change but still offer the rooted insider's point-of-view. The differing perspectives which emerge can be attributed to the struggle or the absence of a struggle between belonging and not belonging, not only in the characters, but also in the writers themselves. This thesis begins with a summary of British preconceptions of India - a knowledge of which is crucial to an understanding of British/western attitudes to the country. It is because of the multiplicity of western responses to India and the consequent inadequacy of presenting a single narrative viewpoint, that Scott makes use of a multi-angled narrative technique to unfold the sequence of events in The Raj Quartet. This technique also takes into account 7 the different shades of opinion amongst the Indians. Consequently, life under the Raj emerges as a multi-faceted entity where conflicts and contradictions agitate ponderous complacencies. Where the Anglo-Indian community is concerned, the various accounts reveal the presence of those who belong to the group because they uphold the official party line, as well as those who challenge the status quo. For instance, in Brigadier Reid and Robin White the Deputy Commissioner, we have examples