Naipaul and the Barbarians (Protagonist Willie Chandran in V.S. Naipul Novels 'Half a Life', And 'the Magic Seeds') (Critical Essay‪)‬

At the end of a long journey, it is the wastefulness of his life that impresses Willie Chandran, the protagonist of two late novels by V. S. Naipaul. Not only has he squandered his own talent, he has turned his back on the contributions of his family and culture. Like his revolutionary colleague in India, Bhoj Narayan, Willie is the ungrateful product of a family that has struggled for generations to work itself out of poverty. In squandering his opportunities for an education and foregoing a productive career in favor of a life of fantasy, Willie thwarts not only his own hopes but those of his parents and grandparents. As Naipaul writes, speaking directly of Bhoj but perhaps of Willie as well: "All that work and ambition had now been wasted; all that further possibility had been thrown away."(1) Surely, Naipaul's crucial insight in Half a Life and Magic Seeds is that Willie's proud quest for self-liberation leads only to a self-absorbed, barbaric condition that is the opposite of genuine civilization. Despite what Willie and many of his contemporaries believe, culture is not merely chosen from the postmodern menu or "constructed" by individuals within the fleeting culture of their times: it is truly an inheritance, one that limits and restricts but also enriches, and lacking which, a fruitful life is unimaginable.