A Bend in the River

by V. S. Naipaul

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Analysis

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In creating a setting that closely resembles Zaire but declining to name a specific African nation, V. S. Naipaul creates a modern dystopia that encapsulates the problems of the early years of postcolonial independence. His vision includes few bright moments, and the characters' hopes are usually dashed. Allowing little room for idealism as a future positive force, he rarely departs from a cynical worldview.

In this very young republic, the Big Man (apparently modeled on Mobuto) uses his power to modernize the country's antiquated infrastructure, left in shambles by the fleeing colonial overlords. Even more, he abuses it to gain more power and wealth, surrounding himself with sycophants and crushing the opposition.

As the legacy of the recently ended colonial rule is inescapable, and the fervent young nationalists have few positive role models, their frustration boils over into hate.

The wish had been to get rid of the old, to wipe out the memory of the intruder. It was unnerving, the depth of that African rage, the wish to destroy regardless of the consequences.

Sadly, Naipaul implies, this hatred and rage almost invariably turn inward. The ineffectiveness of mimicry deteriorates into self-loathing and anomie.

Salim, whose journey inland deliberately echoes that of Marlow in Heart of Darkness, messily embodies these inevitable contradictions. As an Indian African, he identifies neither with the French nor the indigenous Africans. At home in neither the nation where he grew up nor the other nations foreign to him, he struggles to locate himself. Indar's advanced education poorly prepares him for the practical realities of governance.

While Naipaul's bleakness is discouraging to say the least, his characterization of women and of gender relations is deeply problematic. Salim's affair with Yvette seems based in his desire to possess a white European trophy, and she remains a blurry stereotype. Determined to dominate the ex-colonizer, he physically attacks her.

While the work offers a window into a moment in African history, Naipaul provides a jaded commentary that may leave the reader looking for contrasting, optimistic visions.

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