Elegy Of The Rootless

As one of the leading post-colonial writers, Vidiadhav Surajpprasad Naipaul occupies a very important position in the world literature field, with his complex background making his works unique. Based on the Post-colonial theory, this thesis intends to get a glimpse into the difficulty in the writer's cultural identification and the establishing of the position as an international writer through analyzing his novel: A House for Mr Biswas.This thesis includes three parts: introductory part, main body and conclusion. The introductory part relates briefly about Naipaul's life experiences, urgent study on his works at home and abroad, the purpose of this thesis, and the approaches to be employed and some problems to be tackled in this essay. Chapter One offers a brief review of Naipaul's writing career, then make a brief introduction of Post-colonialism and finally to reveal the post-colonial element in Naipaul's works. A brief of introduction of the novel: A House for Mr Biswas is made in Chapter Two and then it is to be revealed that the India society is alienated or estranged from local society through employing the theory of Cultural Suspending. This thesis moves on to employ the theory of Space-Power to show that the hero is estranged from the whole family in the cultural island. In the third chapter, this thesis intends to disclose that the hero's double dislocation and misplacement not only as an Indian immigrant but also as a member of the Indian society and then goes to show that hero's rebellion through pursuit of his house: a symbol of his identity and dignity. At last it is to be reached that in fact the failure of the hero's pursuit of his house is the reflection of the writer's difficulty in his culture identification and then this thesis moves on to show how the writer tries to establish his spiritual home and his own identity by turning to different cultures, but to end in vain. Then a conclusion is made that Naipaul is an international Citizen without root in any country.