[2][3] In 1998, the Modern Library ranked A House for Mr Biswas number 72 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

His father, believing his son to be in the water, drowns in an attempt to save him, thus in part fulfilling the pundit's prophecy.

Ajodha then puts him in the care of his alcoholic and abusive brother Bhandat, an arrangement which also ends badly.

While on the job, Mr Biswas attempts to romance a client's daughter but his advances are misinterpreted as a wedding proposal.

Mr Biswas becomes very unhappy with his wife Shama (based on Droapatie Naipaul) and her overbearing family.

Mr Biswas' desperate struggle to acquire a house of his own can be linked to an individual's need to develop an authentic identity.

Following his marriage to Shama, the joint family of the Tulsis expected him to merge his personal identity with theirs, which he finds difficult and makes him feel trapped.

They later humiliate him and he is forced to work at the estate at Green Vale, where he grows resentful of even his own children.

Ultimately, this sense of alienation motivates him to search for a house, symbolising an effort to find and create his own identity.

Naipaul lists out detailed inventories, much like "the catalogue of ships in the Iliad or the many descriptions of rooms by Dickens".

[10] The novel is generally regarded as Naipaul's most significant work and is credited with launching him into international fame and renown.