A House for Mr Biswas passage
Bipti’s father, futile with asthma, propped himself up on his string bed and said, as he always did on unhappy occasions, ‘Fate. There is nothing we can do about it.’
No one paid him any attention. Fate had brought him from India to the sugar-estate, aged him quickly and left him to die in a crumbling mud hut in the swamplands; yet he spoke of Fate often and affectionately, as though, merely by surviving, he had been particularly favoured.
This passage from ‘A house for Mr. Biswas’ discusses the topic of fate and how Mr. Biswas seemed to not believe in it. Instead Mr. Biswas wanted to write his own life story instead of having his story written for him . Bipi’s father however lives his life believing that things that happened were meant to happen, so that he doesn’t get upset when things go wrong. For me, and probably Mr. Biswas, the idea of fate makes me think that I have no control over what happens in my life, and that I have no control over the outcomes. However I would say that living a life with faith, creates more happiness and less stress.
Mr. Biswas throughout his life, felt he was being controlled by different events and that he had no way to create the life he wanted. His search for a house to build for himself was an idea for grounding himself and settling down from life’s troubles. Mr. Biswas certainly could have lived his life in completely different way by changing his perspective, but he constantly felt adrift.
Bipti, allowed life to take it’s course and cared little about the outcomes because he believed in fate, and was thankful that he didn’t suffer as much as others did. Bipti who came from India, had many opportunities to die or have a less favorable life and although his life wasn’t ideal, he accepted the life he was given, because he felt that was the life he was born to live. Bipti life compared to Mr. Biswas is much different just by how different their perceptions are.
