A House for Mr. Biswas

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1961

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapters 1-2

Part 1, Chapters 3-4

Part 1, Chapters 5-6

Part 2, Chapters 1-3

Part 2, Chapter 4-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 1, Chapters 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: "The Tulsis"

Like Mr. Biswas's family, the Tulsis are "pious, conservative, landowning" (53) Indian Hindus who emigrated to Trinidad. Soon, Mr. Biswas grows very close to them. Pundit Tulsi is considered to be the founder of the family. He was a religious figure whose reputation grew when he was killed in a car accident at a time when the automobile was still a novel invention. Pundit Tulsi was from a respected family in India, so his decision to move to Trinidad was never fully understood. On the island, however, he quickly rose to become one of the most respected and pious men in his community. The Tulsi family is now large, and many members live together in Hanuman House, named for the statue of the Hindu monkey-god which is perched on the roof. The house is attached to the store where most of the family members work.

After the death of Pundit Tulsi, Mrs. Tulsi took over his role as the head of the family. She shares this responsibility with Seth, the husband of her sister. Seth hires Mr. Biswas to write a sign for the family store. At the store, Mr. Biswas decides that the "most attractive" (54) shop assistant is a girl named Shama. At 16 years old, she is nearly the same age as Mr. Biswas. He is attracted to her and passes her a note, in which he has written "I love you and I want to talk to you" (55). Before Shama can read the note, however, she plays a racist joke on one of the Afro-Trinidadian customers. The joke causes controversy, and the note is intercepted by Mrs. Tulsi. Shama is Mrs. Tulsi's daughter. She and Seth are eager to marry Shama to Mr. Biswas, keen to ensure that Shama marries a Brahmin. As they invite Mr. Biswas into the house, however, Mr. Biswas has lost all interest in marrying Shama. Nevertheless, he does not know how to say no to them as he feels "overpowered and frightened" (59). They make formal arrangements for the wedding, including plans to give Mr. Biswas a part of the family business. Mr. Biswas goes to live with the Tulsi family before the marriage. He is not happy, and it never occurs "to him that he might withdraw" (62). When he does try and leave the house, he returns home and his mother's "tears of joy" (63) shame him into returning. This time, he packs everything he owns.

Shama's family includes her spoiled brothers, Owad and Shekhar, who he calls "the little gods" (67). Shama's sister is named Chinta, who is married to Govind. Mr. Biswas does not like Chinta nor Govind, even though he is searching for "alliances" (68) against the Tulsis. Also present is Hari, a spiritual man and the in-house pundit. Hari is "a sick man" (74) but respected. During these unhappy months, Mr. Biswas begins to push back against the caste system. He becomes interested in the Aryans, a group which believed that the caste system should be abolished. They were liberal Hindus who preached a more progressive version of the religion, which he views as a "message of hope" (76). Reading their teachings, Mr. Biswas begins to recognize the hypocrisy of the supposedly devout Tulsi family. Rather than truly believe in Hinduism, the Tulsis use the religion as a justification for whatever they want to do. He tries to wage an ideological war against the family he sees as his oppressors and, despite very few victories, he is convinced that he is "winning" (80).

His growing unease with their religious beliefs reaches a crucial point where he swills water in his mouth and spits it from a window. The water lands on Owad. As everyone becomes angry, he throws food from the window which hits Govind, who fights Mr. Biswas and beats him badly. Seth returns home the next morning and complains about the damage Mr. Biswas is doing to the "nice united family" (90). He decides that Mr. Biswas and Shama should have a place of their own. By the time they move, Shama is pregnant with their first child.

Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: "The Chase"

A "long, straggling settlement" (91) of mud huts near the sugarcane estate is commonly referred to as the Chase. The Tulsi family owns a small food shop in the Chase and they assign Mr. Biswas to run the business, bought by Seth based on a false rumor that the patch of land may be requisitioned by the government for the construction of a road. Mr. Biswas and Shama move into the small living quarters attached to the "closed, stuffy shop" (92). The cramped nature of the living space is, at first, disappointing. At one point, Shama sobs "like a child" (93). Much to Mr. Biswas's displeasure, they organize a celebration to bless their new home and Mrs. Tulsi and many members of the Tulsi family are invited, as is Hari. Shama hopes that the blessing will help her remain connected with the family she has left behind. In the meantime, she learns to nag, and Mr. Biswas is impressed that she is "so competent in such an alien skill" (95).

Mr. Biswas prepares for the celebratory blessing. During this time, several Tulsis visit him and his store. He sees a group of Tulsi children stealing candy and smashing bottles of soda in the shop. When he complains, one of the members of the Tulsi family named Sumati is angry. She is "suddenly enraged" (98) and beats her son where everyone can see, hoping that the public nature of his punishment will prevent him from ever doing the same again. Shama is pregnant and Mr. Biswas spends his hours in the shop thinking up potential boys' names. Rather than give birth in her new home, Shama returns to Hanuman House. When her daughter is born at the "correct time" (103), she names the girl Savi. Mr. Biswas is bitter because he was not consulted about his child's name. After three weeks staying with her family, Shama returns to the house in the Chase with Savi in her arms.

Mr. Biswas is approached by Moti, a man who does "not belong to the village" (109) but who wants to discuss a business proposal. He offers to speak to a person named Seebaran who can help to recover the money owed to the store by certain debtors in exchange for a small fee. Mr. Biswas mentions that a man named Mungroo has run up a large debt at the store which has been unpaid for some time. Mungroo is "the leader of the village stick fighters" (111); he is a tough and respected man. Seebaran is unable to make Mungroo pay his bills. Instead, Mungroo launches legal action against Mr. Biswas for ruining his reputation and "damaging his credit" (116). Moti tells Mr. Biswas that he should settle the case, as he is unlikely to win. He pays the legal fees using whatever money he can collect from the other outstanding debtors. Mr. Biswas is left with a significant debt, so he borrows money from an old friend named Misir, a writer and a "usurer" (116).

Mr. Biswas spends six years running the store in the Chase, "squashed by [his] own boredom and futility" (117). During this time, he becomes increasingly alienated from his young family. He tries to find meaning in novels, painting, philosophy, and increasingly odd hobbies, such as growing his nails. They begin to visit Hanuman House "more often" (120), especially when Shama gives birth to a son. She names the boy Anand. Shama, Savi, and Anand are more familiar with the Tulsi family than they are with Mr. Biswas. In the short time that they do spend together, however, Shama becomes pregnant again. She argues with Mr. Biswas, who becomes so angry with her that he hits her. They are both "astonished" (123) by the outburst of violence. The domestic abuse incident drives Shama away for longer than ever before. She is gone for the entire term of the pregnancy, so Mr. Biswas is eventually told that he has another daughter named Myna. Eventually, however, Mr. Biswas and Shama reconcile their differences. Seth approaches Mr. Biswas after noticing that the store is making less money. He suggests that Mr. Biswas burn the store down and claim money on the insurance policy. He names this approach "insure-and-burn" (129). Mr. Biswas listens to this advice. Though the narrative never explicitly says as much, the shop does burn down, Mr. Biswas does make an insurance claim, and frames Mungroo for the arson.

Part 1, Chapters 3-4 Analysis

The marriage between Mr. Biswas and Shama is an illustration of Mr. Biswas's lack of agency. The marriage is arranged by chance; he is not chosen for his wealth, his talents, his personality, or for any factor that he can change. The match between Mr. Biswas and Shama is approved by the older generation because of a caste system that he does not quite understand. Mr. Biswas is a Brahmin, a cultural holdover from his family's history in India that was imported to Trinidad during the wave of migration which established the Indian community on the island. Mr. Biswas was not born in India, nor has he ever been to his ancestral homeland. He is barely a Hindu, and he lacks any real geographic or religious bond to the caste system. However, his status as a Brahmin is something which is baked into every cell of his body. The status is something which is imposed on him by a culture he does not understand and from which he feels alienated, yet which still dictates the course of his life. The caste system in India is a complicated, centuries-long social institution. For the Trinidadian-Indians, it is another vestigial element of culture which loses meaning as each new generation is further removed from the origin country and the original religious basis for the practice. Mr. Biswas marries Shama because a passing romantic interest is seen as a beneficial match by people who view him more for his caste status than his individual identity. For a young man who does not relate to or understand the caste system, this interpretation of marriage is a confusing and even more alienating experience which is nevertheless powerful enough to shape the rest of his life. Due to the circumstances of his birth, due to a system he does not understand, Mr. Biswas is bound to the Tulsi family forever.

The battle between the Tulsi family and Mr. Biswas is fought on many fronts. The caste system is Mr. Biswas's reminder of how he is occasionally trapped by his cultural heritage, which influences his view of religion. The Tulsi family is more religious than Mr. Biswas. To him, Hinduism is something of a cultural practice which is devoid of any real meaning. He is not quite an atheist, but nor is he a practicing Hindu. When he encounters the Tulsi family, however, he seeks to define himself in opposition to them. If they are religious, then he will become irreligious. While he cannot quite bring himself to fully abandon religion and culture, he seeks out different interpretations of the religion which will allow him to position himself as ideologically opposed to the Tulsi family. His flirtation with the Aryans is a part of this fight. He becomes a contrarian, arguing with Govind and Hari to distance himself from the family. Religion is a battlefield for Mr. Biswas, another front on which he can fight his ongoing war against the Tulsi family. Like many of Mr. Biswas's wars, however, he does not benefit. He causes trouble and strife, insulting people who believe in the religion and manufacturing problems for his wife and children. To assert his independence, he compromises the happiness of his family, so he eventually abandons the fight. He is continuously defeated by the Tulsis in this manner as they remind him how much power and control they have over his life.

Mr. Biswas is a complicated figure and not always sympathetic. Occasionally, his animosity toward his wife spills over into physical abuse. In several instances throughout the novel, he hits or kicks Shama when he lacks the ability to express his anger vocally. Furthermore, he regularly beats his children, as do many of the other people in the house and the community. Mr. Biswas is usually shocked by his own outbursts of violence against his wife (if not against his children) and the momentary pause to reflect on what he has done distinguishes him from the other domestic abusers in the novel, even though it does not excuse his behavior. The outbursts of violence are unspoken expressions of Mr. Biswas's frustration with his circumstances and evidence that he blames Shama (and, more pertinently, her family) for his own failures. When Mr. Biswas hits his wife, he is attacking the frustration that she symbolizes in his mind. His actions are neither excusable nor sympathetic, but they take place amid the backdrop of a heightened level of ambient violence in which few others are willing to reflect on the consequences of their violence to any degree.