Construction of an Origin: A Study of V. S. Naipaul’s Trilogy on India

Abstract

The cosmopolitan life in this modern era has transformed people from all walks of life to all the corners of the world. This scenario is more exposed when one happens to be a writer. V.S. Naipaul, an accomplished writer of postmodern times, is one of the best examples of cosmopolitan writers. His writing serves as a platform to express his state of being. His Trilogy on India, the place of his origin serves as a testimony to the topic taken for discussion. This paper attempts to analyse Naipaul's reinvention of his origin in his first book on India, An Area of Darkness. Though he yearns for an emotional connection with India, his Western outlook towards the place of his origin is more of darkness. This darkness in his mind fades away to rediscovery of the truth of India in the third book on India: A Million Mutinies Now. Hence it is worth to dwell into the darkness of the writer's personal revelation of the external pattern. There is a paradigm shift from darkness to rediscovery of his origin.