A Study Of Willie’s Cultural Identity In Half Life And Magic Seeds

Under the multicultural background,Naipaul is difficult to define his own cultural identity,and the issue of identity has also become the theme of his life.From writing personal identity issues to thinking about the identity dilemma of the people of the world,from focusing on self-identity anxiety to caring about the identity crisis of the people of the world,from focusing on self-identity pursuit to caring about the identity construction of the people of the world,all kinds of changes have proved that Naipaul has a new understanding and thinking on the issue of cultural identity in his continuous creation,and his mentality is also more inclusive and open.Such profound changes are particularly prominent in Naipaul’s final works "Half Life" and "Devil Seed".In his novel creation,Naipaul was in the conflict between Indian and English cultures,describing the emergence of his mixed identity and his difficult journey of cultural identity.At the same time,Naipaul also wrote about the identity dilemma faced by the people of the third world and their efforts to build their own identity.In the process of pursuing his own cultural identity,and in the discussion of the identity of the world’s people,Naipaul’s view of identity has changed.He no longer sticks to the construction of a single cultural identity,but tends to the formation of a multicultural identity,a worldwide cultural identity.In the introduction part of the paper,Naipaul and his works are briefly introduced,and the research on identity in Naipaul’s novels and Half Life and The Devil Seed is summarized.Secondly,it briefly summarizes the cultural identity theory used in the paper.Finally,it explains the value and significance of the topic selection.The body part contains three chapters.The first chapter analyzes that in Naipaul’s two novels "Half Life" and "The Devil Seed",Willie always tries to achieve identity transformation through continuous migration.However,the replacement of space cannot help Willie get rid of his identity dilemma and anxiety.Whether he goes to Britain,Africa or India,he cannot change his existing identity as a marginal person.Willie’s hope of achieving identity change through cultural replacement failed.In the space of dissimilarity,the differences are becoming increasingly prominent,and identification is difficult to achieve.Willie’s anxiety about identity issues is increasing,and his cultural identity is becoming more vague and chaotic.The second chapter mainly discusses Willie’s attempt to pursue his identity through identity writing,sexual experience and professional orientation in order to alleviate his identity anxiety and get rid of his marginalized identity.Wei reshaped himself with words and tried to integrate into London’s social circle through writing to identify himself;He also seeks himself in sexual love and tries to subvert the marginalization of identity with sex;Finally,he got a job in the construction industry and hoped that a stable job would help him reposition himself.But these can only temporarily alleviate his identity anxiety,but can not completely deconstruct his marginalized identity.Therefore,Willie’s identity search ended in failure.The third chapter is Willie’s attitude to British culture from worship to review and criticism,and to realize the deconstruction of British culture.In addition,in the process of identity pursuit,his thoughts on India gradually changed from negation to identification and finally realized,Reconciliation with Indian culture.In the process of understanding and tolerating different cultures,Willie turned cultural conflict into cultural compatibility.He also had a new understanding of his multicultural background and multicultural identity,and had a new thinking on the pursuit and construction of his own cultural identity.Willie realized that using the traditional monism of identity would only make him feel antagonistic to different cultures.Only with a more open and pluralistic view of cultural identity can he reconstruct his own cultural identity in this pluralistic world.