Rootless Duckweed

With the development of their economy, postcolonial societies begin to draw people's attention, and so does literary works about them. In the field of modern postcolonial literature, V. S. Naipaul is one of the most famous writers in the world. Most of his travel writings and fictions concern about Africa, India and Trinidad. His writing mainly focuses on the diagnosis of national culture and the play between national, ethic and individual identities. A House For Mr. Biswas( 1961), his early masterpiece, gives the reader a survey of the life in postcolonial Trinidad. Just like his other works, the theme of this novel is also the pursuit of independence and identity. With the social life in Trinidad as background and Naipaul's father as model, the novel describes the struggle and sufferings of an ordinary man. In the novel, Naipaul explores the responses of different people to tradition and western culture, and presents Mr. Biswas's pursuit of a physical and spiritual home. The purpose of the thesis is to show that identity crisis exists widely in the modern migrating world, and that the people in postcolonial societies are greatly influenced by orientalism and western culture, and that Mr. Biswas's pursuit of a house of his own is the way he chooses to pursue his own independence and identity.The thesis consists of five parts. After a short sketch of V. S. Naipaul's life and his major literary achievements, part one gives a brief introduction to the novel, and briefs the critical responses to the novel in China and abroad.Part two traces the development of postcolonialism by introducing Edward Said and his Orientalism. The key problem of the postcolonial societies is that the people are still burdened by the economical imperialism of the West after their political independence. If they really want to be completely independent, they have to develop their own economy, overthrow the western cultural langue, and develop their own ethnic language.Part three centers on the study of the influence of orientalism upon the people in Trinidad. This part is subdivided into three sections. Section one concentrates on the oldgeneration and the Hanuman House where they live. They are seldom influenced by orientalism. Section two focuses on the middle-aged generation who accepts orientalism advertised by the West. Although they are still influenced by tradition somewhat, they want to get away from it in their own way. This section mainly analyzes the hero of the novel, Mr. Biswas's pursuit of his own identity and a sense of belonging through his longing for a house of his own. Section three concentrates on the younger generation. Although they know little about their Indian tradition, they try to get rid of it thoroughly and long for going abroad, going toEngland, which in their eyes is a promised land. In a word, the young are most influenced by Orientalism.Part four connects Mr. Biswas's life experience with the author, Naipaul. This part mainly concerns Naipual's travel, his attitude towards tradition, western civilization and his past. His writing career is also a process of searching for a spiritual home and his individual identity.The fifth part comes to a conclusion that orientalism has a great influence upon people in postcolonial societies;Mr. Biswas's pursuit of a house of his own symbolizes his effort to define himself and his pursuit of independence and identity;just like Biswas, Naipaul is also confronted with the problem of cultural identity crisis. How to get an independent identity is a common issue in the ever-changing world.