The book under the title ‘The mimic men’ is narrative book which has a simple structure to understand since it heavily employs the use of flashbacks and flash forwards. This makes it simple to understand what the protagonist in the novel has gone through (James, paragraph 2). The book is more of a confession and autobiography of the protagonist (Singh) who has just retired in one of the suburbs in London after spending many years in Isabella as a minister (Roberts, paragraph 2).
The book revolves around the world of Isabella, an island which has just received independence from its colonialists. The novel illustrates how the natives appear still entangled in their own mind sets about colonialists. The natives believe that they are much inferior compared to their colonizers and even self governance poses a problem. This part of the book forms one of the main themes of inferiority complex indicating psychological dependence and colonization. This theme greatly contributes towards the main theme of the book and its title (James, paragraph 6). In support of the title using this theme, mimicking is more like mindless copying which occurs when one party believes it is inferior thus cannot rely on itself alone. Therefore, mimic men can be taken to the unexposed and naïve common men from the island of Isabella (Roberts, paragraph 3).
Parallel to the storyline of the recently acquired independence in Isabella and the situation is a storyline of the main character in the novel, Singh. He is an exiled colonial official who has been disgraced by his exile in London. His life has been out of a chronological order thus one can claim that he has been mimicking other men in his life. This supports the main theme and title of the book (Naipaul, 4).
In the storyline, Singh sits in his boardroom in London trying to pull together any information that might help him rewrite and reconstruct his life. His life appears to be weaving about just as the country is. He recounts of the few achievements he has had in his life mostly his marriage (Naipaul, 6). His marriage to a white woman yet he was born in India supports the idea of racial division. It is also illuminated that his marriage ended on the rocks mainly because of the same issue of race. Supporting racial discrimination from the other storyline, the local race feels inferior and incompetent to hold any leadership position. This can be claimed to the main reason why the local people remained under psychological colonization ‘ Singh tries to impose order on his life, reconstruct his identity, and get rid of the crippling sense of dislocation and displacement ’ ‘ Singh is the representative of displaced and disillusioned colonial individuals, and colonization is depicted as a process that takes away their identity, culture, history, and sense of place. Thus, the novel considers the relationship between the socio-political and the psychological consequences of imperialism’
The book is divided into three parts which are connected ideologically to have a continuous narration. The themes of colonization and freedom, culture and religion, identity and family are very much evident in the whole book. For a better understanding, let us review some of the themes drawing examples from the book (Naipaul, ix). The main theme we are going to explore is colonialism and freedom.
Colonialism and freedom
Colonialism is not only having rulers to dictate some instructions and you taking and implementing the instructions but it extend to how one views him/herself. This is affirmed by the inferior self regard that the people in the island held upon themselves. This makes them slaves of their own minds since they did not have confidence in themselves. Freedom is a quite widely illustrated theme in the book. To begin with, the country is granted freedom or independence. The locals are superficially free from their colonizers though in reality they are not free. This is affirmed by their lack of self organization and governance without relying on their colonizers (White, 32).
Sigh is not under colonization but his freedom is not granted. This is supported by his being in exile. This means that he is free to be only in one place but total independence is not granted. Having studied abroad, Singh can intermarried with other races thus was free to do as he wished. This is also supported by his friends who studied abroad and later married abroad (White, 33) ‘Ralph Singh, the narrator of "The Mimic Men", is a forty-year-old colonial minister who lives in exile in London’ ‘Singh is the representative of displaced and disillusioned colonial individuals, and colonization is depicted as a process that takes away their identity, culture, history, and sense of place. Thus, the novel considers
the relationship between the socio-political and the psychological consequences of imperialism ’ (pg 98)
As an implication of this theme, almost every protagonist in the two storylines appears to lack a sense of identity at the beginning of the novel. For example, as Singh sits in his boardroom in London, he tries to pull together the few pieces of information available to him to enable him reconstruct his life’s storyline. His lack of a clear life line indicates lack of self understanding an aspect that he tries all through the book to reconstruct (Wimal, 38). This is a direct impact of colonization and neocolonialism. The islanders appear to lack a sense understanding as well. This makes them think inferior of themselves and prefer colonialism to freedom. This is exemplified by the confusion and political inadequacy of the local people (Wimal, 42) ‘In his room in a hotel in a London suburb Singh reevaluates his life in the hope of achieving order, as the place in which he is born is associated with chaos. As he says: “to be born on an island like Isabella, an obscure New World transplantation, second-hand and barbarous, was to be born to disorder’( pg 114)
Another effect of colonialism and freedom is the homelessness of the protagonists in the two storylines. From Singh’s story, he has been on the move all his life. He appears not settled at any place and that is why he has nowhere to call home after being exiled from Isabella. Looking at the people, the aspects of colonialism appear to have greatly impacted on people who feel homeless and less compared to their colonial masters ‘In his room in a hotel in a London suburb Singh reevaluates his life in the hope of achieving order, as the place in which he is born is associated with chaos’ ‘ The process of losing one’s Indianness started with leaving India. That was the original sin, the fall. After that Indian traditions could only either decay into deadening ritual or become diluted, degraded and eventually lost through outside influences and intermarriage with others’ (pg 68)
Critically analyzing this theme, its contents adheres to the main title by about 90%. This is mainly because the book contents act as confessional evidence of mimicry in real life situation. Though the book might be based on pure fiction, it contains a lot of realism and contemporary issues which are affecting the current society (Said, 22).
Illustration of the supportive themes is also greatly exemplified. This makes the whole text abiding to the title and main theme of the book. Some of the themes though are not fully explored in the book. They includes: theme of race, culture and religion. This is because race appears to be merged with culture though these are two different aspects of a society (Said, 24).
Looking at the general organization of the book, it may be good to claim that the book is generally up to date and relevant even in the contemporary society. This is due to the psychological colonization which is evident even in young adults who do not rely on their brains alone thus they have to wait for some instruction.
In conclusion, this book has themes which are of great importance in the society. Therefore, I would recommend the book to readers who would like to have a deeper understanding of self identity and freedom.
Works cited.
James K. book review: The mimic men retrieved from http://jim-murdoch.blogspot.com/2010/01/mimic-men.html.
Roberts, G. Summary and themes in the mimic men, retrieved from http://warlight.tripod.com/MOGHIMI.html.
Naipaul, V. S. The Mimic Men. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969 print
White, L. V. S. Naipaul: A Critical Introduction. London: Macmillan publishers, 1975 print
Simpson, L. Disorder and Escape in the Fiction of V. S. Naipaul. Hudson Review 37:4 1984 print
Wimal, D, Self and Colonial Desire: Travel Writings of V.S. Naipaul. Boston: penguin publishers, 1993 print
Feroza, J, Conversations with V.S. Naipaul, University Press of Mississippi, 1997 print
Said, E. Intellectuals in the Post-Colonial World Salmagundi, London: Oxford University Press, 1986 print
