A House for Mr. Biswas

Introduction

A House for Mr. Biswas shows that life is a struggle whose triumphs are few and ill-timed. One of V. S. Naipaul's achievements is his ability to create characters that are irrational and eccentric, yet thoroughly believable and sympathetic. This paper focuses on the 5 main characters of the book that how fate and self determination shaped their lives throughout the story.

Discussion

Mr. Mohun Biswas

The central character, Mr. Biswas, emerges as a sympathetic figure in spite of his faults. This is partly because of the adverse circumstances of his life, which he does not accept and continually makes efforts to overcome When he is born backward, equipped with a sixth finger, he is marked for unfortunate luck. Mr. Biswas is always the “little man”; physically weak and small, he is dependent on others economically and socially (Naipaul, p.34).

After growing up in poverty, he has a succession of jobs. During a stint as a sign painter, he is tricked into marrying a member of the possessive Tulsi family. He is humiliated by them and cannot win any respect even in the family into which he marries. Mr. Biswas has tragic possibilities. Although life seems determined to destroy him, or at least to submerge him in his wife's family, he always fights back, whether by insulting them or by defying them. No matter that the defiance is useless, that his children finally keep the names which the Tulsis gave them rather than those Mr. Biswas had chosen, or that his wife inevitably finds an excuse to return to her family whenever he has taken her and the children away from them, it is the little man's determination which makes him admirable. During the rest of his life, he only had two dreams for which he tries to wean his wife from her family and to live in his own home without the Tulsis. When he is forty-two years old, he realizes both dreams, but four years later, he dies of heart disease.

Mr. Biswas has thought for himself and made his own decisions. It is unfortunate that so often they have been disastrous. However, these flaws do not demonize him; rather, they emphasize his Everyman qualities. Even in unfavorable circumstances, Mr. Biswas reads profusely and writes occasionally, growing in mind and developing psychological mechanisms to cope with the many stresses of his life (Hamner, p.93). Gradually, his attempt to become self-supporting becomes a reality. He establishes his own career as a journalist, a profession that truly satisfies his writing interests, and he buys a house. Although fate tried to fail him, but it was his self determination that makes him strong, and in the end, he fulfilled his dreams.

Shama Biswas

Shama Tulsi Biswas, Mohun's wife. When he meets her, she is sixteen years old, pretty, and slim, with fine features and a warm smile. Unfortunately, after she marries Mohun, she remains a Tulsi and does not fall completely into the role of wife. Shama herself is long-suffering and has a ...