Comparative Study of Bogart and Popo in V. S. Naipaul’s Miguel Street

Abstract

V.S. Naipaul has depicted a panoramic gallery in Miguel Street and almost every story of his present work introduces a new character. All of these characters are representative of the Miguel Street in which Naipaul has spent his childhood. He has depicted many characters in Miguel Street but present paper attempts to analyze and assess two pococurante characters Bogart and Popo in V.S. Naipaul’s Miguel Street to compare how these both characters have some similarities and contrast also in their attitudes, temperaments and dealings. Their life decelerates at times and then both of them play a game of hide and seek like children as they periodically disappear somewhere without telling others their whereabouts. They both live in the same street named Miguel Street among many other eccentric, odd, bizarre and funny characters hailing from different cultural roots. Both Bogart and Popo live a hibernated life and have sign boards to show off that they are busy in their respective profession but in fact, neither Bogart stitches the clothes nor Popo does any work in his workshop. They just kill their time in a new cultural environment. Through this paper it has been tried to highlight how Naipaul has portrayed his characters in the environment where they strive for their own identity and space in the third world. Naipaul’s two characters from Miguel Street have been analysed in this paper.