A House for Mr. Biswas (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: V. S. Naipaul
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Plot: Comic realism
- Time of Work: The early to mid-twentieth century
- Setting: Trinidad
- Principal Characters: Mohun Biswas, Shama Biswas, Anand Biswas, Savi Biswas, Mrs. Tulsi, Seth, Owad
- Genres: Long fiction, Postcolonial literature
- Subjects: Children, Family or family life, Caribbean, Race, Twentieth century, Social issues, Individuality, Poverty or poor people, Ambition, Houses, mansions, or manors
- Locales: Trinidad
The Novel
A House for Mr. Biswas chronicles the unsettled life and death of Mohun Biswas, who is born into a poor Indian family in rural Trinidad. It is divided into two parts, framed by a prologue and an epilogue.
The last of three sons, Mr. Biswas, as he is referred to throughout, is born with six fingers on each hand at the astrologically inauspicious hour of midnight. This is considered by a Hindu pundit to be a sign of misfortune, and the prediction is confirmed when Mr. Biswas’s father drowns trying to rescue his son from a river. Mr. Biswas becomes...
[The entire page is 2125 words long]
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