African Melting Pot

All through out the novel, A Bend In the River, VS Naipaul gives way to people being stuck between two cultures and without permanent residence. The majority of characters in the novel are found to be either of mixed race, culture, or part of a culture foreign to the region, each character playing an integral role and helping sculpt A Bend In the River. It is through characters such as Salim, Metty, Ferdinand, Shoba, and …

…language. (38) Salim is the center of the novel and all of the relations stem from him, but each of the surrounding characters contributes to the overall display of mixture of cultures. Whether it is a young African boy trying to escape the bush, a slave afraid of absolute freedom, or an Indian couple building off of each others love, Naipaul does an excellent job showing the emotions and the struggles of finding identity and culture.