A House for Mr Biswas | Themes

A House for Mr Biswas Themes

Anti-Colonialism

An underlying theme in A House for Mr. Biswas, and in Naipaul's early work in general, is anti-colonialism. Trinidad, and by extension all third world countries, are not depicted as merely shabby imitations of British or American culture. Instead, they have a varied, vibrant, colorful culture of their own, which is at least as interesting as that of the wealthier nations.

While Mr. Biswas is studying writing from a correspondence school, and his son Anand is studying English composition for his exams, they are repeatedly instructed to compose essays that relate to upper class British life. These topics have nothing to do with life in Trinidad. Anand, for example, is asked to compose an essay on taking picnic hampers to the beach in an open car in summer, when he has never been to the beach. Mr. Biswas is asked to write an article on the British holiday Guy Fawkes...
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