A House for Mr. Biswas

A key theme in A House for Mr. Biswas is the protagonist's search for independence. Mr. Biswas craves independence, but he is a poor man, meaning that his struggles to establish his independence are often curbed by his lack of money. Being poor, he cannot afford to spend his time as he pleases, and he constantly worries about his next paycheck. He cannot afford his own house, for example, so he relies on the hated Tulsi family to provide him with accommodation. In doing so, he sacrifices a small piece of his independence and makes himself and his family reliant on the Tulsis. He cannot be independent because he needs his wife's family to provide his wife and children with the financial security that he cannot provide himself. This lack of independence hurts Mr. Biswas, to the extent that he feels a palpable though undiagnosed depression throughout the novel. Furthermore, he is often materially reliant on the Tulsis. Until he secures a job at the newspaper, he must work at their businesses and grow their wealth while failing to grow his own. Working for Tulsi businesses and living in Tulsi