B. Wordsworth is the story of an unusual friendship between two dissimilar characters. Discuss with close reference to the story.(1000 words)
Answers
Answer:
B Wordsworth is taken from Naipaul’s collection of short stories titled Miguel Street. This story is narrated in first person through a boy-child’s perspective. The story highlights the plight of a ‘poet’ whom the child encounters. The two share a very easy-going relationship and the child seems to instinctively understand and empathize with the ‘poet’. Narrated in a humorous and fun manner, the story revolves around the themes of solitude, alienation, admiration, love for nature and the role of the artist in the society. This story is brought to life through the colloquial language, the rich Caribbean setting and its exploration of the complex intricacies of human relationship and artistic expression.
The story is told by an unnamed child narrator who lives in Miguel Street. His house is daily frequented by three beggars : a dhoti-clad Indian at ten, a woman smoking pipe at twelve and a blind man led by a boy at two. The strangest caller is a smartly dressed person who comes at about four o’clock one afternoon wishing to watch the narrator’s bees. Thus we are introduced to the man of the story: B Wordsworth.
The narrator’s mother is quite suspicious of the man and gives him the cold shoulder. She instructs the narrator to watch the man while he watches the bees and the two end up watching the bees together, squatting under a palm tree for about an hour. The little boy is intrigued by the man’s appearance and seeks to know him better. The man’s introduction about himself verses on hyperbole: B Wordsworth
Answer:
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.