A House for Mr. Biswas: Analysis of Major Characters
"A House for Mr. Biswas" is a novel centered around the life of Mohun Biswas, a journalist marked by an unfortunate birth and a series of misfortunes. Major characters in the narrative include Mohun's wife, Shama Tulsi Biswas, who oscillates between loyalty and her family's influences, and his father, Raghu, whose obsession with money leads to tragedy. Mohun's mother, Bipti, embodies vulnerability and despair following her husband's death, while Shama's mother, Mai Tulsi, represents the controlling nature of the Tulsi family, often clashing with Mohun’s aspirations for independence. Other characters like Govind, Shama’s brother-in-law, highlight the oppressive family dynamics that affect Mohun's life. The couple's children, Savi and Anand, also navigate their identities amid the complexities of their family's legacy and societal expectations. The narrative explores themes of family loyalty, personal ambition, and the struggle for autonomy within a tightly knit familial structure, offering insights into the challenges faced by individuals attempting to assert their identities against overwhelming familial pressures.
A House for Mr. Biswas: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: V. S. Naipaul
First published: 1961
Genre: Novel
Locale: Trinidad
Plot: Comic realism
Time: The first half of the twentieth century
Mohun Biswas, a journalist. When he is born backward, equipped with a sixth finger, he is marked for bad luck. A small, thin boy, he is dreamy and naïve. After growing up in poverty, he has a succession of jobs. During a stint as a sign painter, he is tricked into marrying a member of the possessive Tulsi family. During the rest of his life, he tries to wean his wife from her family and to live in his own home without the Tulsis. When he is forty-two years old, he realizes both dreams, but four years later, he dies of heart disease.
Shama Tulsi Biswas, Mohun's wife. When he meets her, she is sixteen years old, pretty, and slim, with fine features and a nice smile. Unfortunately, after she marries Mohun, she remains a Tulsi and does not fall completely into the role of wife. When he lives with the Tulsis, she treats him with disrespect; when she lives elsewhere with him, she seizes every excuse to return home, often for months. When he takes her and their family to the house he has bought, she finally learns to love and respect him.
Raghu Biswas, Mohun's father. A man obsessed with saving money, he hides his horde so well that his family can never find it. Thinking that Mohun has fallen into a pond, he dives for him and drowns, leaving his wife penniless, with four children to support.
Bipti Biswas, Mohun's mother. A shy woman, she becomes broken and helpless after the death of her husband leaves her in poverty.
Tara, Bipti's older sister. She shows her wealth by adorning herself lavishly with gold and silver jewelry. A decent but domineering woman, she takes responsibility for her widowed sister, taking in her oldest niece and supporting, as well as managing, the rest of the family. It is she who pulls Mohun out of school for his unsuccessful apprenticeship to a pundit.
Mai Tulsi, Shama's mother. A dignified, thin-lipped woman who speaks very proper English, she has trained her large family to reflect her opinions on every matter and to obey her commands without thinking. She is Mohun's antagonist in the battle for his wife and his children.
Govind, the husband of one of Shama's sisters. Unlike Mohun, he endures the dominion of the Tulsis, joins them in mocking Mohun, and beats him, driving him out of the household. When Govind finally beats his own disobedient wife, he acquires her respect, as well as that of the rest of the family.
Savi Biswas, the oldest child of Mohun and Shama. Born at the Tulsi home, she is named by the Tulsis and reared largely by them. When she sings publicly, however, she discovers that the Tulsis can be spitefully jealous of anyone who surpasses the cousins. After Mohun's death, Savi returns from school abroad to support her mother. Ironically, she finds a job paying more than Mohun ever made.
Anand Biswas, Mohun and Shama's son, three years younger than Savi. Despite the fact that he spends much of his childhood with the Tulsis, he identifies with his father, adopting Mohun's contemptuous attitude toward the Tulsi family. Sensing his father's loneliness, at one point Anand chooses to stay with him. Rebellious laborers burn them out, and Anand never recovers from the terror of that experience and from his resulting anger at his father. When Mohun is dying, Anand promises to come home, but he does not come.