Ideas of Progress in Naipauls A Bend in the River Essay -- Naipaul Be

Ideas of Progress in Naipauls A Bend in the River In his novel A Bend in the River, V. S. Naipaul paints a picture of Salim, an Indian man living in an isolated African town at the beginning of independence. Salim, as an Indian, has something of a unique perspective on the events of the time - in some ways, he lives between two worlds. Having experienced the civilizing influence of British colonial rule, he adds from a culture that is more advanced than that of Africa but slight so than that of the West. This hierarchy of progress is seen throughout the book, and the theme of progress is best illustrated in this passage from the opening of Part Four, just after Salims return from capital of the United Kingdom So at last I had come to the capital. It was a strange way to come to it, after such a roundabout journey. If I had come to it fresh from my upriver town it would have seemed immense, rich, a capital. But after Europe, and with London still close to me, it seemed flimsy in spite of its size, an echo of Europe, and want make-believe, at the end of all that forest. (247) ...