Analyse A House for Mr. Biswas as a diasporic allegory.

While reading this chapter you would notice Shama’s insistence on the house-blessing ceremony which turned to out to be a Tulsi dominated event. This along with the ‘mounting’ of the sticks indicates the diasporic Indian’s penchant for elaborate rituals. Stick fighting has been one of the most popular martial arts in certain parts of rural India. In the absence of recreational facilities; it became a pastime and an assertion of identity among the emigrants, absorbing some of the local myths and acquiring an added aura of romance, awe and mystery.

A postcolonial reconstruction of A House for Mr. Biswas reveals this unhappiness. Despite the statement made in the title, Mr. Biswas did not find a house in keeping with his expectations. He accepted the shortcomings of the house on Sikkim Street in his last days, to the extent that at times it gave the illusion of being the ideal house in the soothing shade of the laburnum tree. But you know that it is the quest that engaged the seeker, not the particular object that he sought.