The Mimic Men By V. S. Naipaul Summary, Themes & Character Sketch

Table of Contents

Introduction

‘The Mimic Men’ is a novel by V. S. Naipaul, first published by Andre Deutsch, A British published, in the UK in 1967. It centres on Ranjit “Ralph” Singh, a politician of both West and West Indian origin. The novel presents the condition of a newly independent country in the Caribbean, the island of Isabella and projects before us the Condition of the people in the postcolonial era. The little of the novel signifies the condition of colonized men who imitate and reflect colonizers’ lifestyles and views.

About Author

Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul commonly known as V. S. Naipaul is one of the most prominent authors, novelists, essayists, editors and writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. He wrote over 30 books in the fiction and non-fiction genres, in his fifty years of Journey as a writer.

Among his world-famous works Included – ‘In a free state’, ‘A House for Mr. Biswas’, ‘A Bend in the River’, ‘The Enigma of Arrival’ and ‘The Mimic Men’. He won lots of Literary prizes during his whole literary career, such as – he won the ‘Booker Prize’ in 1971 for his novel ‘In a Free State’. He won the Jerusalem Prize in 1963 and 1989 he was awarded the Trinity Cross, Trinidad and Tabagos highest national honour. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.

Character Sketch Of Ralph Singh

Ralph Singh is the protagonist and narrator of the novel ‘The Mimic Men’, written by V. S. Naipaul. Naipaul speaks his mind and life through Ralph’s character throughout the novel. Ralph faces the issue of identity crisis which Naipaul also faced at certain points of time in his life. His life in Trinidad was the same as Ralph’s in Isabella.

Ralph has confused memories of his childhood and Western culture has affected him internally as well as externally. He has completely adopted the English way of lifestyle. Naipaul defies his roots, culture and traditions which were followed by his ancestors and is constantly tormented by the Dilemma of identity crisis. Ralph follows Leini as she tries to groom him as a perfect Englishman. He starts thinking in the same way how Leini made him think,

“We become what we see of
ourselves in the eyes of others.”

Ralph is a good example of a person who is torn apart by his inner and outer self. A sense of non-belongingness prevails throughout the novel which makes him restless and leads to a non-ending conflict. The whole order of events in Ralph’s life is a replica of Naipaul’s life. Ralph met his wife Sandra while studying in London Like Naipaul who met Patricia during his college days in London. Both of them got married to English girls to be a part of that society where they did not belong. There is a quest to find their true identities.

Ralph a New Name

Singh remembers very little about his childhood as he has bleak memories of his school, classmates and textbooks that were taught there. All of these were greatly influenced by the western culture. The earliest memory that he has of his school is about giving an apple to his teacher which again illustrates his fondness for Western culture as he carried an orange thinking of it as an apple.

“My first memory of school is of
Taking an apple of the teacher.
This puzzles me. We had no apples
on Isabella. It must have been
an orange, yet my memory insists on
the apple. The editing is clearly at fault,
but the editing version is all I have.”

It was in this pursuit of imitating Western Culture that Singh gave himself a new name ‘Ralph’ to relate to that culture to which he did not belong. He pretended to be someone else and thought himself to be extraordinary with his new name. He believed that a western name ‘Ralph’ would earn him status in his school life Deschampsneufs (Ralph’s classmate) was appreciated by his teacher and classmates.

Marriage With Sandra

Ralph’s arrival in London was with the dream of finding an identity. However, he had moments of confusion and crisis of being lost during his stay in the city of his dream:

“Those of us who came to it
lost some of our Solidity: we
were trapped into fixed, flat pictures.”

It was during this time of disappointment that his endeavour to find an identity ended up with the marriage to an English woman, Sandra. Ralph transforms himself into a new individual after the wedding with Sandra by his side. He believes he can now stand tall in Isabella, with a British lady as his wife. In Sandra, he finds solace and feels more confident.

“I had such confidence in her rapaciousness, such confidence in her as someone who could come to no harm – a superstitious reliance on her, which was part of the strength I drew from her.”

Thus, Ralph was haunted by his search for his true identity throughout his life.

Summary of The Mimic Men

The novel ‘The Mimic Men’ story is divided into three parts. The First part begins with Single, already, already disgraced in exile, sitting in his room at a London boarding house. At forty, he reflects upon the events of this career, contemplating ‘The Shipwreck which all my life I had sought to avoid Chronologically, Singh’s remembrances are untidy, beginning as they do with his years as a young man in London. Before his public, Singh deliberately takes on the role of an affluent colonial dandy inwardly, he is anxious and aimless.

Following many frivolous affairs Ralph meets and marries Sandra, a woman disappointed owing to her humble origins and her failure to win a university scholarship. Singh returns to Isabella with Sandra, using his inheritance to build Kripalville, a posh suburb. Success and riches do not prevent the resurrection of old anxieties about life on an Obscure island composed of the sons of slaves. Both Ralph and Sandra sense the shapelessness of Isabellan society and experience ‘A feeling of having been flung off the world.’

The Second part of the novel describes Ralph Singh’s childhood and exposes the source of the aimlessness that torments his family. At home, Ralph lives under the Shadow of a disaffected father, whose career as a school teacher leaves him unfulfilled. His father also recognizes that as an Asian, he is detached from his country of origin, Condemned, in a sense to being shipwrecked on a tiny Caribbean island.

Eventually, Singh’s father seeks the island. Eventually, Singh’s father seeks out the island’s lowly disenchanted black workers and leads them away from the miseries of the city to the pristine reaches of the Isabellan forests. His messianic message makes him famous, even in England. The movement, however, soon fades, the blacks filter back to the city, while their Asian deliverer, yellow-robed, remains in the forest as a Hindu holy man.

It is at school that Singh meets Ethelbert Browne, a black student on scholarship. Their strained and nervous friendship is important to the story, for later, Browne will draw Singh into the unpredictable world of Isabellan politics.

At the beginning of Part 3, Singh, divorced and unhappy, joins Browne, together they are the new men who challenge the government. Editing a paper called ‘The Socialist’, Browne organised a Political movement of the dispossessed which ultimately swept the election. Browne is elevated to the status of folk leader, with suggestions of a cult of personality, and Singh is given an important position in government. After four years, however, Singh dramatically fell from power when his negotiations to nationalize the sugarcane industry failed. At forty years of age, Ralph is forced into exile to live out his days in private reflection.

Themes Of “The Mimic Men”

Mimicry and Identity

This central theme explores the psychological and cultural effects of colonialism on postcolonial societies. The title itself refers to how many in these societies, like the protagonist Ralph Singh, feel pressure or even a compulsion to imitate the colonizers’ manners, values and lifestyles. This mimicry, however, leads to a sense of alienation and inauthenticity causing a crisis of identity and belonging.

Postcolonialism and Disillusionment

The novel portrays the challenges faced by the newly independent notions like Isabella, where Ralph was a politician. Issues like corruption, political instability and economic mismanagement highlight, the difficulties of transitioning from colonial rule to self-governance. Naipaul portrays this with a critical eye, raising questions about the viability of the Western model of democracy in non-Western contexts.

Love and Betrayal

Ralph’s relationships with women, particularly his wife Roberta and his mistress Sandra are riddled with complexities and emotional betrayals. These relationships reflect the broader themes of postcolonial dislocation and the difficulty of forging genuine connections in a society grappling with its identity.

Failure and Self-Deception

Throughout the novel, Ralph grapples with a sense of personal and political failure. His political career ends in disappointment and his relationships are marked by instability and dissatisfaction.

Memory and The Search for Meaning

As Ralph writes his memoirs in exile, he reflects on his past and tries to make sense of his life. This introspective journey highlights the importance of memory in shaping identity and the yearning for meaning in a chaotic and uncertain world.

About The Title

As the novel’s title, ‘The Mimic Men’ suggests, the colonial society has nothing original. According to Ralph, people in the colonized world have to follow in the footsteps of the colonialists. For Ralph, the protagonist of the novel, the basic issue is a lack of identity, which is reflected by his views and lifestyle. He thinks it is the easiest way to find an identity. So, there is a deliberate attempt by him to assimilate into the English lifestyle and mannerisms.

Thus, the title “The Mimic Men” is apt and appropriate.

Conclusion

Thus, the novel “The Mimic Men” unlike V. S. Naipaul‘s previous novels, ends on an optimistic note. After having been through so many failures, the narrator-protagonist still has hope enough to say, “I have cleared the deck, as it tore, and prepared myself for fest action. It will be the action of a Freeman”.

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