Exile, Identity-Pursuing: The Narrative Research Of Naipaul’s Works Magic Seeds In The Post-Colonial Context

Naipaul is the great post-colonial writer and the winner of Nobel Prize for Literature in2001. He published two novels Half a Life and Magic Seeds in the same year. As the lastnovel of his writing career Magic Seeds does not receive as much praise and attention as thenovels before, even some scholars regard this novel as his worst one, because it and Half Alife keep consistent in plots and content both of which talk about Willie. Talking theframework and the writing skills, irony is the one that we don’t forget to mention, his shortand refined words distinguish Naipaul from other common fellows. In a thematic level,“seeking root” and “self-exile” are the main concepts in Naipaul’s novels. Willie graduallybegins to recognize that a man with complex background like him is impossible to seekunique identity and it must be illusory at last. The creation aim of the writer is to criticize theimperialist hypocrisy and to tell the lost of the people who live in former colonies.This paper has five chapters in total; the first chapter briefly introduces the informationabout the author and his novel Magic Seeds, the reviews from the scholars abroad and inChina. This chapter also explains two terms “exile” and “identity”. Through this introduction,readers can understand the content about this paper initially. Chapter two is theoreticalfoundation which analyzes the theory of post-colonialism. Chapter three and chapter fourrespectively talk about two times of “self-exile.” When Willie finally recognized that hewouldn’t be accepted and honored by his master country, he left there for Africa where helived with his wife for more than17years. In Africa he was treated as a London man andreceives much honorable fame. However, he lost himself gradually. During those days, Williedid nothing, then one day, he decided to go to Germany to find his sister, where he wassurprised to find that she has become a woman like noble lady, her accent and her behaviorwere all changed with the hope to become a person like her sister, he stayed in Berlin butwithout job, so he was supported by his sister. One day he was told an amazing thing, therevolution in his hometown India. She persuaded Willie to join it, to save his country and hisfellowmen from suffering like Gandhi, maybe he could become a national hero. Following hersister’s advice, Willie joined the revolution, but to his disappointment, this revolution was ledby the upper class, for the upper class, and to the upper class. Willie is a victim from a to z.The chapter five is the conclusion part, it mainly talks about that it is impossible to find anunique identity in this multi-cultural world.The aim of this paper is that it is impossible for former colonized people to find a uniqueidentity in post-colonial society through the way of “self-exile”. They exile for many places inorder to get rid of the influence made by colonized people, but the identity born with many factors will not be changed with the change of society and cultural environment. Theconclusion of this paper is: in the background of the post-colonial era, the only identity thatformer colonized people got is hybrid identity.