B.

Wordsworth Summary
The Storyline / Plot Summary
‘B. Wordsworth’ is a short story written by V.S.
Naipaul in 1959. The narrator tells the story of his
relationship with a poet named B. Wordsworth
when he (narrator) was a little boy.
The story starts with the description of beggars
visiting houses trying to earn some money or alms
in the kind houses of Miguel street. A tidily
dressed man knocks on a house where our little
narrator lives with his mother. When the narrator
asks the reason, the man replies that he wants to
see the bees in their compound.
The narrator runs upstairs and tells his mother
that a man wants to see the bees. His mother
comes and asks the man in an unfriendly manner
about what he actually wants. The man again
says that he wants to see the bees. The man’s
English is so good that the mother suspects him
but nevertheless she agrees to let him in the yard.

The boy (narrator) and the man watch the bees

together. The man says that he likes watching the
bees and asks the kid if he likes it as well. The kid
replies that he never has the time to. The man
shakes his head sadly and says that’s what he
does; he watches. The boy, quizzical about the
peculiar man, asks various questions. The man
introduces himself as Black Wordsworth. He then
says that he can watch a flower like the morning
glory and cry.

The kid asks what he cries for. B. Wordsworth replies “when

you’re a poet you can cry for everything”. After this
Wordsworth asks the child if he likes his mother. The kid says
only when she’s not beating him. Wordsworth pulls out a
printed paper from his pocket. He tells the kid that on this paper
the greatest poem about mothers is written and he’d sell it to him
for 4 cents if he likes. The kid rushes up to his mother to ask if
she’d buy it but his mother declines. The kid goes back to the
man and tells him that his mother doesn’t have four cents.

Wordsworth isn’t bothered by this. The kid asks why he goes

around like this and whether he is able to earn enough this way.
Wordsworth says that this way he meets new people. He also
expects to meet new poets. But not a single copy has been sold
till now. After Wordsworth leaves the kid wishes that they meet
again.

After one week, while the boy is returning from school, they run
into each other. Wordsworth admits that he too was hoping to
see him again. He tells the kid that he has the best mango trees
in his yard and wants to invite him to eat them. He lives in
Alberto Street in a one-room hut. After the kid has had enough
mangoes, he returns home. His mother goes berserk upon seeing
his shirt stained with yellow juice.

His mother beats him badly that day. In anger the kid leaves
home screaming he’ll never come back. He goes to
Wordsworth’s place. Seeing the boy’s bleeding nose,
Wordsworth consoles him and suggests that if he stops crying,
they will go for a walk. They go for a walk down to Savannah
and walks to the race-course. They lie on the green grass.
Wordsworth asks the kid to look up at the stars and think how
far they are from them. The kid does so. Never in his life had he
felt so great yet nothing. After this, some light flashes on their
faces; a policeman comes up to them, asking what they are
doing. Wordsworth replies that he has been asking the same
question to himself for 40 years.

Wordsworth makes the kid promise that he’d never tell anyone
about him or the mango trees. The boy keeps his promise.

One day the boy goes to meet B. Wordsworth and sees him
lying on his sofa, severely ill. Death is written clear on his face.
Heartbroken, the boy goes up to him. Wordsworth sits up,
placing the boy on his knees, and says that he is going to tell a
joke. Then B. Wordsworth says that everything he has ever told
the boy about himself was a lie. He also makes the kid promise
that he’ll never come back again. Then the kid leaves.
After one year, while the boy was crossing the same street, there was no sign of Wordsworth’s
one-room hut or his trees. It was as if Wordsworth had never existed.
B. Wordsworth: A Commentary on the
Story
‘B. Wordsworth’ written by V. S. Naipaul is all about the
beautiful bond between Wordsworth and the kid. It’s a
coming-of-age story written in first person from the
young boy’s perspective depicting his growth from young
age to adulthood.

Lots of dialogues are used to make the readers

understand Wordsworth’s witty attitude. But, as
the dialogues are small, those give us only a
glimpse of Wordsworth’s character, making him
an unsolved mystery until the end. Wordsworth is
a vagabond and the kid is considerate, whereas
the mother is the opposite of those two.

The story is set in Trinidad. There isn’t much

description of the place though.
The main themes are friendship, love for nature,
despair, illusion, identity and escapism. At the end
of the story, it’s safe to conclude that Wordsworth
had been living inside an illusionary bubble which
was created by him in hope to build an image of
himself which is drastically different from the real
him. But in his last moments he seemed to have
accepted the reality by revealing that he wasn’t
famous.
The vocabulary and narration are intriguing. From the
beginning it raises questions about the main character,
Wordsworth; about the stories he tells the kid, his past
and his true identity. Slowly the answers become clear.

Wordsworth’s character, though a bit peculiar, is quite

relatable. There’s a constant internal struggle in him. He
seems to be fighting with his old true self to become
something he wishes to be. This identity crisis has
become rather common in today’s world.

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