“One Out of Many” by V.S. Naipaul Essay

Read “One Out of Many” by V. S. Naipaul ( in the Anthology. A World of Difference. pp. 261-94 ) . Discourse the ways in which the writer explores the construct of freedom in the narrative.

“One Out of Many” . a short narrative by the celebrated Trinidad-born British author V. S. Naipaul. foremost published in his anthology In a Free State in 1973. is a narrative which concerns a immature Indian adult male from Bombay who starts a new life and struggles with his ain personal individuality in the metropolis of Washington D.

C. Through narrative construction within the short narrative Naipaul seems to oppugn the significance of freedom. and what constitutes freedom on both a societal. and personal degree.

In order to to the full research the subject of freedom within the secret plan and the narration of “One Out of Many” . it is worthwhile to advert a few of its cardinal elements. and how they fit into a broad political. and societal context.

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There are a figure of of import events that happen to the chief supporter. Santosh. that help to determine his ain sense of ego individuality and therefore convey him to oppugn the freedom which he has in his ain life. The first of these events is Santosh’s out-migration to Washington D. C. with his employer. which causes Santosh to go forth his married woman and two kids behind. Even at this early point in the narrative Santosh is divided.

“Was there a occupation for me in Bombay? ” Santosh inquiries himself.

demoing a reluctance to remain on in his native metropolis without the security that has been provided for him by his career and his employer. Sometime into his stay in Washington D. C. . Santosh seems to derive a greater sense of self-identity ( which will be looked at in more deepness subsequently ) . and a sexual brush with a “hubshi” adult female at the clip of the race public violences in Washington D. C. leads him to abandon the life he has with his employer and to go a more independent citizen.

This leads our supporter on to what could be seen as one of his most of import realizations in footings of his ain sense of personal freedom within a wider context. Having met an Indian eating house proprietor named Priya. Santosh discovers that a batch of his fellow employees within the eating house are so Mexicans who wear turbans in order to give a facade of being Indian work forces. “Their talk amid the biriani and the pillaus was all of documents and green cards. ” notes Santosh. “They were ever approximately to acquire green cards or they had been cheated out of green cards or they had merely got green cards” . It is this talk of legal and illegal citizenship that leads Santosh to oppugn his ain freedom within US society. and finally do a really of import determination that will convey him a certain sum of freedom. Naipaul uses first individual narrative efficaciously in order to convey the reader closer to the chief supporter. Santosh. Through this first individual narrative the reader additions an penetration into Santosh’s naivete within his new milieus in Washington D. C. . and his initial experiences within it.

At times. hence. it could be said that it is necessary for Naipaul to portray Santosh as a instead simplistic character in order to demo merely how small Santosh knows of the USA and the cultural differences between it and his native Bombay. Naipaul manages to accomplish a much more. it could be said. “personal” experience for the reader through these agencies. with the reader besides besides being able to experience the same “fish out of water” feeling that is portrayed throughout Santosh’s travels and the “adventure” which unravels before him. Naipaul truly emphasises the subject of freedom when Santosh seems to talk straight to the reader. and this is no more apparent than when Santosh. upon gaining his life infinite is a closet. says. “I understood I was a captive. I accepted this and adjusted … I was even calm” .

He is a captive non merely of circumstance. but of his topographic point on the category ladder. Later. upon go forthing the confines of the closet and traveling on his “adventure” . he pursues what some would name the “American Dream” . and it is effectual how Naipaul seems to let the reader to oppugn themselves with respects to merely how “free” Santosh becomes. Another illustration of this effectual usage of first individual narrative is when Santosh describes his guilt and desire for penitence straight after what he sees as a black sexual brush with a “hubshi” adult female. By the way. this is a cardinal event in Santosh’s eventual chase of freedom.

Throughout the narrative Santosh seems to derive a greater sense of individuality. and a stronger perceptual experience himself. On his flight to Washington D. C. Santosh. push into an environment which is wholly foreign to any facet of his life in Bombay ( which is described exhaustively and dearly at the beginning of the narrative ) . Santosh instantly begins to observe the reactions that people have to him. He particularly notices an “airline girl” . and notes that “ [ she ] didn’t like me at all” . The miss so proceeds to disregard Santosh. and this first cultural brush with Western people who look down upon his somewhat moth-eaten visual aspect Teachs him to oppugn the manner he comes across to others. This is reflected throughout the narrative in Santosh’s assorted references of mirrors. and his ain contemplation within them.

It is subsequently on when Santosh has his first walk through the streets of Washington D. C. that he himself finds himself looking down on other people – the “hubshi” people. or African Americans. whom he has ne'er encountered in his ain life until so. Even though Santosh himself has been looked down upon by many people on his journey West. for illustration the aforementioned miss on the plane. he still percieves the “hubshi” people to be below him. an sentiment which was held really widely at the clip the short narrative is set. Meanwhile. Santosh seems to constantly fight an internal conflict between his old religious individuality. and the more mercenary. consumerist American manner of life. By composing in the first individual. the writer truly outs this point across as the reader is given a deep penetration into the interior convulsion that Santosh experiences as a consequence of his ain civilization daze. A cardinal incident in the short narrative which makes Santosh believe about the differences in these two civilizations is when a affluent adult male comes to dinner. and seems to diss his employer by depicting an incident in which he paid a retainer to cut off a statue’s caput within a temple in India.

Santosh’s dissension with this sacreligious. “illegal” act is heightened by the reader’s bing cognition of Santosh’s ain spiritualty. which is derived from a old incident in which Santosh described praying to cosmetic Eastern statues which have been erected in his employer’s flat. From a political point of position. it could be said that it is slightly important that Santosh arrives in Washington D. C. during the civil rights motion in the US. shortly before the race public violences of the 1960’s. which occur sometime into the narrative. with Santosh depicting “the metropolis on fire” . Even though Santosh is looked down upon by many people he encounters on his journey West. for illustration the air hostess on the plane at that place. he still percieves the “hubshi” people he finds in Washington D. C. as below him. This is highlighted by many of Santosh’s statements throughout the short narrative. and so when he inquiries if his penalty for holding sex with the hubshi amah may be being reincarnated as a “hubshi” himself. It could be argued that the character Santosh’s deficiency of freedom in his ain life is shown by Naipaul by the figure of things that happen to him in his life that are out of his control.

However. this seems to be altered towards the terminal of the narrative with Santosh’s concluding determination to get married the hubshi adult female who has sought him out in order to derive legal US citizenship. This piece of advice is finally suggested to Santosh by Priya. who has seen Santosh populating with anxiousness in the cognition that he is an illegal immigrant and could be deported. On a purely social degree hence. Santosh has gained a superficial signifier of freedom through his matrimony to the hubshi amah. The power that the short narrative has. as a medium. to convey many thoughts and constructs within a comparatively short narrative infinite is. it could be said. proven by the many constructs and subjects that V. S. Naipaul explores within the narrative. All of these subjects seem to associate back to the construct of freedom. In the first few paragraphs of the narrative entirely. Santosh brings up many of the thoughts that are explored throughout his alteration of puting and his battles brought on by it. He describes the “respectable people” as opposed to “riff raff” . and so. while detecting “the workings of fate” . references “the importance of his employer” . This could be seen as a metaphor for the inquiry that the whole narrative Centres around. and that is. how much freedom does the character Santosh have. and how much of his life is finally in his ain control?