Analysis Of One Out Of Many By V. S. Naipaul
A New Identity Culture manifests in the way someone lives his or her life; what he or she believes. In other words, someone’s identity is shaped by the culture that he or she comes from. Accordingly, uprooting someone from his or her own country- culture- and throwing him or her into another one, could lead to a state of frustration and pain resulted from the clash of values that attacks him or her entity and social status. Such impacts of the cultural encounter are revealed in the short story “One out of Many” by V.S. Naipaul.
Naipaul’s short story shows a clear notion of the cultural encounter. It is a story about an Indian who left his country and went to the United States of America; specifically to Washington. From this point, the …show more content…
This image was illustrated in Naipaul’s short story “One out of Many” through the narrator “Santosh” who throughout the story was comparing his life in Washington to the life he was living in Bombay. He started from the very beginning to inform the readers that although people in Bombay and Washington may see that he had “done well”, he “was so happy in Bombay” (Naipaul, 2008, p.261). Then he proceeded by claiming that he was satisfied with so little in India. Comparing to Washington he realized that money, clothes and social status matters a lot in order to live comfortably. Additionally, the clash in values between their and the western values , for instance , in Hindu as mentioned before one never had self-awareness ; while in America he learned to love himself and praise it as being an independent human. Also, in the case of the black people thoughts acquired from his Hinduism background, he disgraced himself for embracing the hubshi women but then he married her for his own sake.
All in all, despite the issues that resulted when two cultures encounters with one another, it could held advantages for the people. In the case of “Santosh” the advantage manifested in seeing himself as a whole individual entity. It is true that he adapted to his new life, but it was obvious that he still wish that he could have got back to Bombay. Thus, one may adapt to a new culture, but the through the journey of adaptation he will confront pain, frustration and it would be a slow
Naipaul’s short story shows a clear notion of the cultural encounter. It is a story about an Indian who left his country and went to the United States of America; specifically to Washington. From this point, the …show more content…
This image was illustrated in Naipaul’s short story “One out of Many” through the narrator “Santosh” who throughout the story was comparing his life in Washington to the life he was living in Bombay. He started from the very beginning to inform the readers that although people in Bombay and Washington may see that he had “done well”, he “was so happy in Bombay” (Naipaul, 2008, p.261). Then he proceeded by claiming that he was satisfied with so little in India. Comparing to Washington he realized that money, clothes and social status matters a lot in order to live comfortably. Additionally, the clash in values between their and the western values , for instance , in Hindu as mentioned before one never had self-awareness ; while in America he learned to love himself and praise it as being an independent human. Also, in the case of the black people thoughts acquired from his Hinduism background, he disgraced himself for embracing the hubshi women but then he married her for his own sake.
All in all, despite the issues that resulted when two cultures encounters with one another, it could held advantages for the people. In the case of “Santosh” the advantage manifested in seeing himself as a whole individual entity. It is true that he adapted to his new life, but it was obvious that he still wish that he could have got back to Bombay. Thus, one may adapt to a new culture, but the through the journey of adaptation he will confront pain, frustration and it would be a slow