Priyansh Ranbir and Vivaan Uth
Abstract
A Bend in the River is a pessimistic novel about Africa which presents the obvious corruptibility of mankind. Salim, the narrator is a Muslim whose family has lived in a resilient colonial coop up in Africa for hundreds of years. Being an outsider, he ultimately realizes that his meaningful life is almost at its end and he must give up everything. The characters in this novel are alien immigrant minorities uprooted from their homeland. Agony of an outsider is the theme of this novel. Naipaul here seems to have developed the understanding that the feeling of alienation, homelessness, ambivalence and meaninglessness haunt not only displaced Indian in Trinidad but also the diasporic people in all the colonial societies. The protagonist is living in a colonial hangover world from there he made an attempt to break the colonial jail which is too strong to be broken.