Professor: Kate Liu
Student: Anna Chen/ 正菁
Date: 04-26-2010

Miguel Street by V.S. Naipaul

The History of Trinidad
Trinidad was inhabited by Carib and Arawak people long before Christopher Columbus arrived, but the recorded history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Spanish. Both islands were encountered by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands. Trinidad remained in Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. In 1889 the two islands were incorporated into a single crown colony. Trinidad and Tobago obtained self-governance in 1958 and independence from the British Empire in 1962. It became a republic in 1976.

The Author
V. S. Naipaul (1932~, ) is a Trinidadian novelist and essayist of Indo-Trinidadian descent. He is widely considered to be one of the masters of modern English prose. He has been awarded numerous literary prizes including the Booker Prize (1971) and the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime's achievement in British Literature (1993). V. S. Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. In 2008, The Times ranked Naipaul seventh on their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

The Book
Miguel Street is usually treated as a “semi-autobiographical” novel by V. S. Naipaul set in wartime Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Naipaul wrote it while employed at the BBC. Miguel Street won the 1961 Somerset Maugham Award.

Narrative Structure and Style Analysis

A. The whole story is separated in 17 disconnected episodes, each one starts a new beginning and a temporary end, focusing on one major character.
B. The story is written primarily in the first person, with each character getting his or her own chapter; the narrator's