that India is a simple world where everything has been constituted. It can be seen from following quotation:
Willie thought, ‗Twenty years ago I wouldn‘t have seen what I am seeing now…I have come from a world of waste and appearances. I saw quite
clearly some time ago that it was a simple world, where people had been simplified. I must not go back on that vision. I must understand that now
I am among people of more complicated beliefs and social ideas, and at the same time in a world stripped of all style and artifice Naipaul, 2004:
30.
Willie sees that Indian people are from various backgrounds. He has to adapt with those people who come from multiple backgrounds. The globalization has
developed rapidly in India. Although most people continue to live as citizens of a single nation, they are culturally, materially, and psychologically engaged with
the lives of people in other countries as never before. The new definitions of the transportation, building and all the rules are the product of globalization. Those
transformations must be adjusted in order to avoid negativ e impact to one‘s life:
And soon India, with all its new definitions of things taxi, hotel, railway station, waiting room, lavatory, restaurant, and all its new disciplines
squatting in the lavatory, eating only cooked food, avoiding water and soft fruit, engulfed him Naipaul, 2004: 31.
Moreover, Willie also describes how the road in India is very crowded. The scooters and taxis struggle to get a space with horsedrawn. This is the most vivid
example of the negative effect of the globalization. There are many cars that make the road crowded. In addition, the taxis and scooter will produce the air pollution
and global warming. On the other hand, the large number of taxis and scooter as product of globalization will replace the traditional transportation. Implicitly, the
globalization enlarges the inequalities in the social life which it impacts on the poverty rate in the developing countries. The poor will become poorer and the rich
man will become richer. Thus, it can be ensured that the victims are always from the lower class. They are always suppressed by the emergence of global economy:
Pedal rickshaws and scooter rickshaws and taxis competed for space with horsedrawn or mule-drawn carriages that tilted dangerously downwards
at the back, seemingly about to throw out their heavy load of women and children Naipaul, 2004: 34.
The local communities for instance, the village people cannot survive in the global competition because global economy is much more related to the huge
capital. The capitalists easily control the global market which they determine standard of certain product for instance; paddy, tobacco and so on. The products
that have a good quality will be sold in the supermarket and the rest are for the peasants. Thus, if the peasants want to taste the good product, they have to go to
the town which they spend a lot of money. ―In the towns he also began to eat
better food. Strangely, the food in the countryside —where the food was grown—
was bad; in the town every day could be a feast day‖ Naipaul, 2004: 76.
Moreover, the globalization erases the third world countries way of life. Most of the people in the developing countries imitate the Western way of life
which the nutrition is the most important thing than the quantity of the food: In the villages, when times were good, the peasant heaped his plate or
leaf with grain, and was content to add only flavourings of various sorts; in the towns even poor people ate smaller quantities of grain, and more
vegetables and lentils. Because he was eating better Willie became less liable to small illnesses and the depressions they could bring on Naipaul,
2004: 76.
The developments in India are from outside. Willie believes that those transformations are artificial
. There is no authenticity. ―Willie knew that it had no meaning, that it had all been copied from some foreign hotel, and was to be taken
only as a gesture of goodwill, a wish to please, an aspect of being modern‖ Naipaul, 2004: 34. Indian people adopt the western cultures to be modern.
3. Willie’s Perspectives in England
In this section, the writer divides the heading into two subheadings. First is Willie‘s perspective on the idea of home. Second is Willie‘s perspective on
multicultural society.
a. Willie’s Perspectives on the Idea of Home
After released from prison in India, Willie goes to London. Willie does not have a home in London. The meaning of home here refers to physical refuge
which gives comfort and security to the inhabitants. The questions of home always emerge in every place where he stops over. Willie sees that London
already changed in all sectors. The transformations in London absolutely impact on Willie‘s life including his point of view. Here, we can see the contribution of
particular setting in shaping characters‘ personalities. Murphy elaborates comprehensively that setting of the novel is the background against which the
characters live up their lives usually setting concerns with place and time in which the characters live. These can give a great effect on their personalities, actions,
and way of thinking Murphy, 1972: 41. Willie is really confused with the condition in England. In his letter to
Sarojini, he states that Willie sees himself as a guest in London. British are very nice people. The house is very nice:
Things are changing here for me. I don’t know how much longer I can keep on living as a guest of these nice people in this lovely house in this
lovely area. When I arrived I was in a daze Naipaul, 2004: 271.
Apparently, Willie has different perspective to London. Willie really understands that he is a guest in London. This expression symbolizes the consciousness of
Willie toward his status in the former colonized of India. Although Willie acknowledges that he is stranger, he has own perspective to the significant
transformation in London which he admires the social circumstances in that country. However, Willie‘s detail description to the stabilities of London
indirectly justifies that Western countries are the safest place in the globe where the ex-colonized people can get the security.
Then, he also describes how London looks like. He states that London is better than thirty years ago. It can be seen from his letter to Sarojini
. ―Now I know London better and this St. John’s Wood house has spoilt me for living anywhere
else Naipaul, 2004: 271. In other words, Willie wants to sa y that St. John‘s
Wood house provides comfortable condition to Willie. St. John‘s Wood house is
one of the symbols of the stability of London which it makes Willie cannot move to other place. By considering the preceding quotations, the writer sees that Willie
already capture the idea of home. Moreover, Willie is hardly to accept his life which he regrets his birth in
Africa land. He says that ―I was born at the wrong time. If I was born now, in the
same place, the world would have a different look. Too late for me, unfort unately‖
Naipaul, 2004: 272. The repentance of Willie is stimulated by the surrounding circumstances. Actually, Willie was born in Africa when the Western countries
grab the Africans‘ land. Implicitly, the emergence of the Western countries in the Africa continent
produces the repentance to the Africans‘ next generation. Willie prefers to choose to be born when Africa liberates from the Western countries.
Apparently, Willie does not understand or does not remember that although he was born when Africa free from the Western countries domination, he is still
suppressed by the Western people. The colonizers have applied the master plan to constitute the histories, cultures and identities of their colonies over the world and
replace those sacred things with the Western histories, cultures and identities. Thus, the readers can see that
Willie‘s position in London is a stranger. Inevitably, Willie‘s perspective on the idea of home cannot be separated from his
observation on the social circumstances in London. Willie will not feel at home if the setting do not give him security, happiness and all things that he wants. Willie
cannot feel at home in London is because he feels as a stranger. Thus, happiness and security are not enough for Willie to feel in London.
b. Willie’s Perspectives on Multicultural Society
In the novel, Willie also describes the multicultural society in London. Willie witnesses many people from India, Pakistan and Japan enjoy their life in
London. He thinks that the world has been united. There is great difference when Willie lived in London thirty years ago. It can be seen from following quotation:
The streets of the centre were very crowded, so crowded that sometimes it was not easy to walk. There were black people everywhere, and
Japanese, and people who looked like Arabs. He thought, ‗There has
been a great churning in the world. This is not the London I lived in thirty years ago Naipaul, 2004: 188.
