Ambiguous Blooms: Forest, River and Water Hyacinths in «A Bend in the River» by V.S. Naipaul

Abstract

In A Bend in the River (1979) V.S. Naipaul depicts a central African state vainly trying to free itself from colonial rule. The focaliser is Salim, a young man who moves from the east coast to the heart of the continent. The protagonist’s sense of dislocation, exacerbated by the violence and rebellions following the dictator’s attempts to modernize the country, is also increased by some natural elements. Not only are the forest and the river natural entities strongly marked by colonial exploitation, as ecocriticism contributes to pointing out, but they are also intertextual and symbolic structures.