V S Naipaul's 'A House for Mr. Biswas': Theme of Alienation/ Rootlessness/ Major themes/ Character of Mr. Biswas

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Theme of Alienation/ Rootlessness/ Major themes/ Character of Mr. Biswas


For sure, A House for Mr. Biswas is a psychological study of an alienated man, Mr. Biswas, in his search for identity, in his efforts to find out a house for himself with the surroundings. One may opine that the basic problem of this alienated man lies in a kind of intense desire to have his mental world uninterrupted and also in his desire that others will be conscious of it.

It is said by Naipaul that Mr. Biswas had no money or position. That he was of ill temper is evident from his throwing of food out of the windows on to a passerby’s head, referring to Mrs. Tulsi as old “she fox”, kicking his pregnant wife on the belly etc. The most significant account of his progression lies in his attempt at the pledge made earlier to his mother living shabbily in a room of her sister Tara’s hut. With his journalistic skill he got his final achievement – the Sikkim Street home. The hope is dashed in the absence of a commitment of support from the future generation. The all-knowing narrator represents the society. This novel is also known as Naipaul’s crypto-biography. The final judgement is to be found in the emotional involvement of his wife and children who felt a vacuum in the home after his socially unspectacular demise.












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