Theme of Wandering Identity in VS Naipaul’s Half a Life

Abstract

VS Naipaul’s protagonist, Mr. Willie in Half a Life, undergoes the pain of having wandering identity and being displaced from his native land. He wanders for cultural root in an unfamiliar environment. Naipaul, through his great sensibility, has manifested his own pursuit for 'home' and 'root' through his protagonist. The protagonist symbolizes the agony of rootless and displaced people who are destined to lead a wandering life on this earth. Unquestionably, the loss of identity and a search for root happens to be the features of Naipaul's works. However, Willie finds his own way to make his life meaningful through hybrid identity. Finally, Willie strives and aspires to recreate a new sense of cultural root through a profound reception and working through his own position as a permanent exile and rootless subject.