Struggle In The Interstice Of Exile-The Quest Of Identity In A House For Mr. Biswas

A House for Mr. Biswas is the masterpiece in the early period of Naipaul’s writing career. It is honored as the "West Indian Epic" for its authentic and vivid depiction of the identity pursuit of Indians in Trinidad. Based on the previous research, the thesis aims to explore the identity issue in the ex-colonies from the perspective of the postcolonial theory of Homi Bhabha. It analyzes the identity pursuit of the colonized represented by Mr. Biswas in the interstice created by the overlap of multiple cultures. Born in Trinidad, Biswas is an Indian who receives the British colonial education. He despises his mother country and is eager to identify with the suzerain to fulfill his identity searching. However, the sheer and fixed identity is impossible in the post colonial era due to the displacement and the in-between status. Biswas together with his fellows finally attains a temporal and hybrid identity in Trinidad where there is a Third Space of different cultures.This paper consists of five chapters starting with a brief introduction to V. S. Naipaul and his novel A House for Mr. Biswas. Besides, a concise summary of previous research on this novel is also provided in this section. Then the next chapter chronicles the displacement of Indians because of exile. Such displacement takes place in two dimensions. First, both the characters in the novel and the entire work itself are temporally displaced. The characters are displaced as adults when they are young while the whole novel is displaced in a post colonial era when it should still be under the colonial domination. Second, Indians are forced to experience diaspora, leaving India for Trinidad. What waits for them in the new country is double marginalization by the rich and the local Creoles. They fail to immerge into the local community. Consequently they have no other choice but to wander in-between cultures and lose their original identity. The third chapter concentrates on the in-between status of the colonized among different cultures. The attitude of Biswas and his companies towards Indian, British and Trinidadian cultures is ambivalent. They despise Indian culture but cannot escape from it. Due to the colonial education, Trinidadians especially the young generation is implanted with culture of the West. They mimic it but fail to be identical. So the mimicry turns to mockery during which the authority and superiority of Britain is diminished. Although they live in Trinidad, they are indifferent to it, resulting in their alienation there. So they are not sheer Indians or British or Trinidadians. It is the in-between status that deprives them from a sheer identity. In the following chapter it is illustrated that it is evitable to form a temporal and hybrid identity for the Indians in Trinidad. According to Homi Bhabha, identity is to identify based on distinguishing from the other. Biswas drifts from one house to another all his life and changes job frequently. The relentless changing of houses and jobs deny the stable presence of the other so the identity cannot be anchored but to be temporary. After a long period of communication, Indians in Trinidad hybridize with either the Trinidadian culture or the Western one to form a hybrid identity, drawing an end to their journey pursuing for identity. At last, the fifth chapter summarizes the whole paper and points out that a temporary and hybrid identity is inexorable for people in colonies or ex-colonies because of the displacement and interstitial status.