CLASS 11 &12 ENGLISH LITERATURE

ANSWER KEY OF CH-10

B.WORDSWORTH
1(a)How is the theme of identity reflected in
the short story 'B.Wordsworth'?
The story “B.WORDSWORTH” by V.S.
Naipaul reflects a universal theme - the
search for identity.
B.Wordsworth’s Way of Dressing and
Speaking: B.Wordsworth being a part of
a post colonial novel Miguel Street
focusses on the issue of identity. The
protagonist of the story, B. Wordsworth
seemed to have a misplaced identity.
Being a colonised Trinidad man, he
dressed like his colonisers. He wore a
hat, a shirt and a trousers. He tried to
imitate the English not only in his way of
dressing but also in the way he spoke. He
spoke impeccable English but it didn’t
sound natural. He seemed to have
rejected his native dialect. B.Wordsworth
then failed to identity himself either with
his native people or with the colonisers.

His Name: His name B.Wordsworth and

his claim that White Wordsworth was his
brother seems to be a failed effort on his
part to identify himself with famous
romantic poet William Wordsworth. He
aspired to associate himself with William
Wordsworth by the fact that he could
watch a small flower like the morning
glory and cry. He aimed to write the
“greatest poem in the world” which
would sing to all humanity but in reality
nobody had ever brought a single copy of
his poetry.
B.Wordsworth’s Death: It was during his
last moments that B.Wordsworth
revealed that his attempts to identify
himself as a great poet were all a lie. The
story about the boy poet and the girl
poet, all the talk about poetry wasn’t true
at all. He pretended to be working on
“the greatest poem in the world” but did
not produce any result. On his death bed
he set himself free from all the illusions
and died. “It was just as though
B.Wordsworth had never existed.”
b) Do you think that the story of the boy poet
and the girl poet which B. Wordsworth told
the narrator, was his own story? Give reasons
to support your answer.
Yes, I think that the story of the boy poet and
the girl poet which B. Wordsworth told the
narrator, was his own story. We understand
this when the boy says that as B.Wordsworth
was narrating it ,he seemed to be growing old.
‘B.Wordsworth' is set in Trinidad in
contemporary times. The natives live with the
whites who once ruled them. There is much
difference between the ways of life of the
natives and the whites. The blacks are
suspicious of the ways of their white
neighbours. In fact both distrust each other
and yet both have to depend upon each other
for various needs. The natives are mostly not
as refined as the whites. Anybody who speaks
English is a suspect in the eyes of the natives.
B.Wordsworth is black but his manners are
refined. No wonder the boy’ s mother
instantly dislikes him and avoids him. The boy
says:
His English was so good, it didn't sound
natural, and I
could see my mother was worried.
Throughout the story the writer has built up a
contrast between the modern world which is
developed and refined and the traditional
which is fast developing.
The development in urban areas in Trinidad is
obliquely referred to as a threat to the old
world of peace and contentment. The story
contrasts two modes of life-harsh and realistic
as represented by the boy's mother and the
changes brought about in the name of values
such development and the sincerity,
sentimental way of life represented by the
poet and the boy.
When the boy and the poet became good
friends, the boy asked him why he had kept
his yard bushy.The poet then told him a story.
It was of a boy and a girl. They met each other
and fell in love. They loved each other so
much that they got married. They were both
poets. They loved words. The girl loved grass
and flowers and trees. They lived happily in
the single room. The girl got pregnant. One
day she told the poet, ”We are going to have
another poet in the family.” But unluckily she
died with the foetus in her womb. Her
husband became very sad, and did not touch
anything in the girl’s garden. The garden
became bushy and wild.

Yes, I think it was the poet’s own story. The

signs on his face, well-read by the boy, point
out to the fact that the boy in the story is he
himself. The untimely death of his wife seems
to have shattered him mentally . The boy's
observation is important. “I looked at B.
Wordsworth, and he told me this lovely story,
he seemed to grow older, I understood his
story.”
 Significantly ,before he denies the truth about
the story and about his poetry, he asks the boy
to vow that he will never come back to see
him. We feel that he denies his claims in order
to stay the boy from his pernicious influence
lest he should suffer like him.

(C) How does the short story B.Wordsworth

explore the theme of escapism?

Escapism can be defined as a habitual

diversion of the mind to purely imaginative
activity or entertainment to forget about the
harsh realities of life. B.Wordsworth is a
failure as a poet, but he embraces escapism by
excessively praising his own poetry. He is
disillusioned and prefers to live in the world of
imagination. He admires the great poet
William Wordsworth but he never goes ahead
with the writing of his most ambitious poem.
He knows that in reality nobody has ever
bought a single copy of his poetry still he
claims that the poem he wants to sell is the
’greatest poem about mothers.’
B. Wordsworth is an escapist. He has not
achieved anything in reality. His dreams are all
in his head. His actions do not complement his
dreams and aspirations. He wishes to write a
poem that would speak to all humanity but he
never succeeds. B. Wordsworth is conscious of
his escapism. Towards the ending of the stay
he shatters the boy’s illusion of a romantic
world. This he does because he wants the boy
not to be an escapist like him. He wants the
boy not to be an escapist like him. He wants
the boy to discover reality and be a part of the
real world.