Identity Crisis And Otherness In A House For Mr. Biswas And Miguel Street

This study explored identity crisis and otherness in Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas and Miguel Street using Spivak’s theory.Spivakmaintained that the situation of the characters produces otherness and alienates them from their real self and identities which leads to their identity crisis. In A House for Mr. Biswas, it was found out that Mr. Biswas showed identity problem as he was not grown up with his father and he was viewed as “other” due to being born with six fingers and being born in the wrong way. Mr. Biswas’s situation in the Tulsis household and in the society was investigated from Spivak’s viewpoint and recountedhis experiences to gain a house and his struggle for independence and self-fulfillment to maintain his role as a recognizable member of the society. While this novel was mostly centered on Mr. Biswas’s attempt in life, Miguel Street, dealt with different characters who are inhabitants of Miguel

According to Ashcroft, Griffith, and Tiffin “Othering describes the various ways in which colonial discourse produces its subjects. In Spivak’s explanation, othering is a dialectical process because the colonizing other is established at the same time as its colonized others are produced as subjects” (156). According to Leino et al Otherness occurs or is enacted when the policies, practices, and/or culture of a dominant group habitually exclude, demoralize, debate or disfigure other groups in order to ensure the dominant group’s cohesiveness and identity” (100). Gingrich points out the influence of Spivak and suggests that Spivak’s influence on anthropological writing appears to have beenstronger than that of Bhaha.Spivak often points out the highly problematic nature of terms like “Third World,” “Orient” and “Indian”. For her, as for Said, these terms are essentialist categories whose meanings hinge on binary oppositions that are of dubious usefulness because of their history and arbitrary