V.S. Naipaul

V. S. Naipaul Presentation Reflection One of my contributions to our V. S. Naipaul presentation was the explanation of Naipauls past and how it impacted the writing he would later produce. This is significant, as the themes of alienation, loss and colonialism found in One Out of Many stem from his primeval life in Trinidad, his relationships and his travels abroad. Naipaul felt estranged in his native Trinidad, as he abandoned the Hindu beliefs of his ancestors for agnosticism.Additionally, Naipaul found himself frustrated with the economic, political and complaisant characteristics of his homeland. This led him to seek an escape via scholarship to Oxford in 1950. After completing his degree, he took to traveling around the world to gather writing material. Naipauls extensive travels have given his work a theme of colonialism, as the wide range of affects the British Empire had on its colonies are lots displayed. His lack of a consistent home base is why he frequently writes fro m an outsiders perspective.This can be seen very clearly in One Out of Many, as Santosh is cast into a cabaret that drastically contrasts the one he had at home in Bombay. This office staff is reminiscent of Naipauls departure from Trinidad to England, as there is no suspect that the society he left differed substantially from the one he arrived in. Santosh experiences hurt and humiliation frequently throughout the story and it is not unlikely that these instances were shake up by similar harassment Naipaul endured on his travels.In addition to explaining Naipauls basic background information, I also explored his personal relationships. Our sources revealed that Naipaul has made several(prenominal) controversial statements in the past about a range of topics including womanly writers, the religion of Islam and the Hubshi or people of African descent. Our sources also indicated that Naipaul has been involved in abusive affairs with women and tends to feel that he is superior t o the ones he has married.These views manifested in One Out of Many, as Santosh makes comments that are somewhat racist and sexist. He does not even provide the name of the woman he is romantically involved with, only referring to her as the hubshi woman or maid. Lacking this biographical information, readers would be left to guess what inspired Naipauls works and would be deprived of a deeper understanding of One Out of Many. Readers would also be left with a much more negative image of Naipaul, rather of recognizing the cultural differences he is characterized by.