Willie sees that those people are the same with him. He describes that the man from West Indies are happy in London that has cosmopolitan company. On
the other hand, the Malaysian man does not want to talk to anyone in training center. In addition, Pakistan man focuses on his faith. Willie thinks that Pakistan
man want to spread his religion in the training center. In other words, the people from various countries in the world just concern about themselves. They do not
care anyone around them. It can be seen from the following quotation: He was thinking of people like himself, as it seemed to him: the big black
or mixed man from the West Indies, who had worked his way up and was immensely pleased to be in this cosmopolitan company; the very neat
Malaysian Chinese, clearly a man of business, in a fawn-coloured suit, and white shirt and tie, who sat in the lounge with his delicate legs
elegantly crossed and seemed self contained, ready to go through the whole course without talking to anyone; the man from the Indian
subcontinent in his absurd white shoes, who turned out to be from Pakistan and a religious fanatic, ready to spread the Arab faith in this
training centre devoted to anot
her kind of learning and glory…Naipaul, 2004: 221.
However, multicultural society in the United Kingdom reveals the domination of the imperial cultures. The people from various countries over the
world come to the ―center‖ because they believe that they can find the freedom
there. The Western countries always claim that freedom is only found in the West. Here, we can s
ee that people from entire the world come to the ―mother country‖ act as justification of the Western dominion cultures. The African, Indian, Asian
and American are as ―margin‖ and the United Kingdom is as a ―center‖.
B. Postcolonial Identity Negotiation Revealed through Willie’s Diasporic
Movements
The following analysis elaborates postcolonial identity negotiation of Willie by employing postcolonial perspective. Most of people believe that
postcolonialism has two meanings. First, postcolonialism can be defined as certain era. Second, postcolonialism also can be interpreted as theory. Although
postcolonialism has two meanings, many people convince that it more relates to the theory.
By allowing the foreign cultures diffuse with one‘s own culture, the single identity is impossible to achieve as we can see in the earlier section. This
problem is also experienced by Willie when he makes diasporic movements in three different geographical locations; Africa, India and England. Being a
diaspora in three different geographical locations, Willie‘s perspective can show what happened on his identity when he views the idea of home, postcolonial
resistance, domestic conflict, globalization and multicultural society because his identity or his position may be reflected through his perspective toward certain
circumstance. Thus, to answer the second question in the problem formulation, the writer analyzes
Willie‘s diasporic movements in three different geographical locations Africa, India and London as how they reveal postcolonial identity
negotiation.
1. Willie’s Perspective in Africa
In Naipaul‘s Magic Seeds the writer finds that postcolonial identity negotiation occurs in Willie‘s diasporic movements in three different geographical
locations. The writer observes that Willie has a particular ways in negotiating his postcolonial identity in Africa, India and England. The particular ways can be
seen from his opinions toward certain condition in three different geographical locations which those views represent his position or identity. The writer observes
that Willie‘s postcolonial identity negotiation is began from Africa since he interrogates the idea of home and the postcolonial resistance until London where
he finds many people from various countries.
a. Willie’s Perspective on the Idea of Home
His perspectives on the idea of home become strong indication for the writer to decide that Willie is searching his identity. Here, the idea of home is not
only related to the refuge place but it is much more related to one‘s identity.
Home discloses someone to where she or he comes from and where she or he belongs to. Bill Ashcroft in Post-Colonial Transformation remarks that:
In the case of diasporic peopl es, ‗place‘ might not refer to a location at
all, since the formative link between identity and an actual location might have been irredeemably severed. But all constructions and disruptions of
place hinge on the question: ‗Where do I belong? 2001: 125.
The question of the idea of home always appears in Willie‘s mind wherever he goes including when he lives in Africa. The struggle to find his true identity
comes to Willie when he is aware that he stays in his wife‘s house. The writer
sees that this awareness becomes turning point for Willie to question everything around him that related to his identity:
Willie sa ys that ―I was in Africa…I was living in her big house and on
her land, twenty times more land than anyone here has. I had no job. I was just her husband. For many yea
rs I thought of myself as lucky‖ Naipaul, 2004: 112.
Here Willie is depicted clearly by the author. Willie‘s perspective toward his wife‘s superiority is examined vividly that Anna dominates everything in African
land. In this point, the writer sees that Willie‘s expression justifies the unequal
position between Anna and Willie. The complex relations between Anna and Willie contain ―a politics of identity, a politics of position, a law of origin‖ Said,
1996: 226. In other words that the position of Anna is in strong side which it justifies her identity as a colonizer. On the other hand, Willie‘s position is in weak
side by which it confirms that he is a colonized person. This relation have been discussed by well known critic, S
aid. He says that ―the feature of Oriental- European relations was that Europe was always in a position of strength, not to
say domination‖ Said, 1979: 40. The imbalance and inequality relation in Anna‘s house makes Willie
uncomfortable and later he decides to leave Anna. Besides, Willie has to leave his wife because all he was doing was living his
wife‘s life Naipaul, 2004: 113. He is desperate living in someone else‘s life: ―I was tired of living her life…Her
house, her land, her friends, nothing that was my own ‖ Naipaul, 2004: 113.
Implicitly, the superiority of Anna dominates Willie‘s life where he cannot refuse and control it. The consciousness of Willie toward the condition of his life in
Africa reveals that he is searching his true life, true self and true identity.
