A Bend in the River

novel by Naipaul

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

A Bend in the River, novel by V.S. Naipaul, published in 1979. Reminiscent of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, A Bend in the River chronicles both an internal journey and a physical trek into the heart of Africa as it explores the themes of personal exile and political and individual corruption. It expresses Naipaul’s skepticism about the ability of newly decolonized nations to forge independent and politically viable identities.

The narrator, Salim, a Muslim Indian merchant, opens a store in a sleepy small town at a bend in the river (ostensibly the Congo River). The town’s inhabitants include a Belgian priest, a witch and her son Ferdinand, and a white intellectual named Raymond and his elegant wife, Yvette. The president of the new country is a demagogue called the Big Man who hires Raymond as his speechwriter. The Big Man spouts endless clichés about liberation and democracy even as he crushes all political opposition. The radicalized community believes his grandiose rhetoric. Salim loses control of his store to the commercially inexperienced Citizen Theotime, who hires Salim to manage it. Gradually the town’s veneer of civilization cracks, and chaos and corruption reign.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.