Boxill, Anthony

English

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The Concept of Spring in V. S. NaipauVs Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion A N T H O N Y B O X I L L H E N Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion ap-peared i n 1963 cr i t ics and reviewers began to T T speculate that i t was an attempt by Na ipau l to l iberate himself f rom the t it le of West Indian Novel ist wh i ch he had found constr ict ing. Here was a novel set so precisely i n London, i n a wor ld far removed f rom the West Indies of the earl ier novels, dealing so confidently w i th Eng l i sh middle class problems, wr i t ten by a man whose c r i t i -c ism of the West Indies was so outspoken that i t seemed to be an indicat ion of Naipaul 's intention to transform himself f rom a West Indian into an Eng l i sh novelist. Th is attitude to Mr. Stone has been proved inadequate by Naipaul 's most recent work. In any case, careful readers of Na ipaul ' s comments would have realized that his em-barrassment at being called a West Indian novelist had less to do w i th his desire to deny his native land than w i th his desire to be recognized as a serious wr i t e r whose obser-vations can apply to human beings anywhere. Most of his novels have been set i n the West Indies, the region Na ipau l knows best, but their implications are to the human con-dit ion. Na ipau l has said recently that noth ing makes h i m more furious than to be told that his work reveals a great deal about life i n the West Indies. 1 B y the same token, he would object as strongly to the statement that Mr. Stone explained much about life at a certain level i n Eng l i sh society. The fact is that Na ipau l does not w ish any reader's preconceptions about the nat ional i ty of an author to prejudice or l im i t his response to the work he is reading. A l l "West Ind i an " authors have suffered f rom this 22 A N T H O N Y B O X I L L prejudice. The reviewer i n Time Magazine, for example, th inks that although A House for Mr. Biswas fails i t is "bu i l t of excellent exotic mater ia ls . " 2 [emphasis mine] Though Mr. Stone may be an attempt to escape sensa-t ional appetites for race, colour and exot ic ism, it has l i tt le to do w i th a wil l ingness to assume a new and l im i t ing national label. To be read for his observations on class rather than race would be as irksome to its author. It is clear to anyone fami l iar w i th Naipaul 's work before and after Mr. Stone that this novel was wr i t ten to al low h i m to explore f rom a different angle certain observations he had made about human beings. There is no doubt, of course, that Naipaul 's v iew of mank ind has been strongly conditioned by his West Indian background. The character of M r . Stone, therefore, contains something of Ganesh and of M r . Biswas. Ganesh, M r . B iswas and M r . Stone are a l l potential ly creative individuals whose environments make it dif f icult for them to express their creat iv i ty. B u t whereas Ganesh and M r . Biswas struggle against a background without standards or order, M r . Stone is stifled by the rigidness of the order of his community. A l l three men desire escape; Ganesh and Biswas f rom chaos, M r . Stone f rom the weight of his ossified order. A s one reads this novel one is occasionally struck by a certain s imi la r i t y between M r . Stone and M r . Duffy, the character i n James Joyce's " A Pa in fu l Case, " who allows his passion for order, routine and an uncomplicated life to ru in not only his own life but someone else's as well . M r . Stone too lives by routine and finds comfort in the simp-l i c i t y of his life. But , unl ike Duffy, Stone is aware f rom the beginning that the narrow boundaries that he and so-ciety have constructed around themselves exclude an abun-dance of life. Th i s awareness is at f i rst unconscious, but Na ipau l ex-presses it through M r . Stone's preoccupations w i th the tree outside his window and w i th his neighbour's cat. A t f i rst M R . S T O N E A N D T H E K N I G H T S C O M P A N I O N 23 M r . Stone merely uses the seasonal changes in the tree to mark the passage of t ime : There was a tree in the school grounds at the back of his house by wh ich he noted the passing of time, the wax ing and wan ing of the seasons, a tree wh ich dai ly when shaving he studied, unt i l he had known its every branch. The contemplation of this l i v ing object reassured h i m of the sol idity of things. He had grown to regard it as part of his own life, a marke r of his past, for it moved through time w i th h im. The new leaves of spring, the hard green of summer, the naked black branches of winter, none of these spoke of the runn ing out of his l i fe. They were only a reminder of the even f lowing of time, of his mount ing experience his lengthening past. 3 B u t as t ime passes and M r . Stone's life progresses he comes to feel excluded f rom the tree's r h y t h m and cycles. He comes to dist inguish the dul l monotonous routine of his life f rom the inexorable r h y t h m of the tree. The things he had come to equate w i th the regular i ty of nature — the sameness of the Tomlinson's Chr is tmas decorations year after year; the regular i ty w i th wh i ch his assistant, Miss Menzies, rotated the clothes she wore to office; his house-keeper's weekly visits to the cinema on Thursdays — were s igni f icant ly different i n that they marked the passage of t ime without br ing ing about any k ind of renewal. It is part of the cycle of nature that the tree outside his window w i l l die i n winter and be reborn in spring. H i s own death w i l l b r ing no renewal : Yet, communing w i th his tree, he could not help contrast-ing its serenity w i th his disturbance. It would shed its leaves in t ime; but this would lead to a renewal which would b r ing greater strength. Responsibi l i ty had come too late to h im. H e had broken the pattern of his life, and this break could at best be only healed. It would not lead to renewal. So the tree no longer comforted. It reproached, (p. 45) The break in the pattern of his life to wh ich he refers is, i ronica l ly enough, his marr iage. Since M r . Stone is over s ix ty and Margaret , the woman he marries, over fifty, there is no possibi l i ty of physical renewal by reproduction. In fact, the marr iage is a s ingular ly passionless one. We are told that on their wedding night they settle down, "each 24 A N T H O N Y B O X I L L silent i n his own cot " (p. 36). N o young Stones w i l l be born of this marriage, but clearly M r . Stone never hoped for that. He does have some reason, however, to expect that Margaret w i l l provide h i m some social and intellec-tual st imulat ion. He is attracted to her because she has the strength and or ig ina l i ty to say social ly outrageous things: "The only f lower I care about . . . is the caul i -f lower" (p. 13). Here is a social rebel who might help M r . Stone express his unconscious host i l i ty to social sacred cows. Margaret at the beginning of this novel is remark-ably l ike Sandra of The Mimic Men i n her gift of the phrase. A s Ra lph S ingh does eventually w i th Sandra, M r . Stone discovers that Margaret is not what he has expected. Instead of helping h i m break out of the pr ison of social routine, she moulds herself about h i m completely and be-comes an extension of himself (see p. 57). No t only does she encourage h i m to keep up the empty routine of his former life, she reinforces it as wel l by encouraging h i m to undertake other social ly acceptable formalit ies; he be-comes the Master to his housekeeper, is cajoled into tak ing up gardening as a hobby, and is the host of many bor ing dinner parties. These parties at wh i ch wine is sipped l ike l iqueur are pathetic imitat ions of the li fe style of the higher classes, meaningless and dul l to M r . Stone and his acquain-tances, but to be endured. Marr iage does not br ing about the renewal for wh i ch M r . Stone unconsciously yearns. It separates h i m even further f rom his tree. Ironical ly, i t brings h i m closer to the black cat. I ronical ly because the black cat is another sym-bol of nature's ab i l i ty to renew itself, of nature's v i r i l i t y and energy. A s one th inks back on the novel one realizes that M r . Stone's or ig ina l ant ipathy to the cat, wh ich at f irst seemed l ike an ord inary idiosyncracy, is i n fact the result of his envy of and embarrassment at the cat's v igour and v i r i l i t y . It is signif icant that the war w i th the cat fades into the background when M r . Stone is himself most creative. M R . S T O N E A N D T H E K N I G H T S C O M P A N I O N 25 The cat reappears when M r . Stone is beginning to ques-t ion the results of his own creat iv i ty and its abi l i ty to renew his l i fe : " H i s communion w i th the cat, stretching every morn ing in the warming sunshine, made h i m more attentive to the marks of the approaching sp r ing " (p. 133). M r . Stone can only observe the cat and its oneness w i th nature. "Par t i c ipa t i on was denied h i m " (p. 134). The cat's rhy thms are those of nature: " the cat woke, stretched itself i n a slow, luxurious, assured action, and rose. It was as i f the wor ld was awakening f rom w in t e r " (p. 132). B y observing the cat M r . Stone comes to realize that his society has cut itself off f rom the wide wor ld of nature by choosing for itself a comfortable, narrow l i tt le life. It is not nature that has cut M r . Stone off, but his own doubt that spr ing w i l l come. M r . Stone identifies most strongly w i th the cat when he learns that i t is to be destroyed because "The chi ldren l iked h i m when he was a k i t ten. B u t they don't care for h i m now" (p. 141). Is this not what is happening to h i m as he approaches old age, as it has happened to many pensioners before h im? Is he not a l lowing Margaret to get r i d of Miss Mi l l ing ton since she is becoming decrepit? B u t M r . Stone and Miss Mi l l ing ton have both ceased to be natura l animals and become social ones. The cat i n its numerous offspring leaves its own springt ime behind it. A f t e r the black cat has been destroyed M r . Stone sees a pregnant cat whose unborn kittens he senses are the progeny of his cat. Death is meaningless for the cat who is destroyed at the height of its vigour. A young black cat, probably its offspring, moves i n almost immediately to take its place. Death is going to be f ina l for M r . Stone and for many l ike h im . Towards the end of the novel, M r . Stone whi le gardening wonders rather pathetical ly about nature's cycle and man's relat ionship to it . "Doesn't it make you think, though?" he said. " Jus t the other day the tree was so bare. A n d that dah l ia bush. L i k e dead grass a l l winter. I mean, don't you th ink it 's just the same w i th us? That we too w i l l have our sp r ing? " (p. 146) 26 A N T H O N Y B O X I L L To this his wife replies, " I th ink it 's a lotta rubb i sh " (p. 147), recapturing for a moment her earl ier assertive-ness. M r . Stone acknowledges that she is r ight and realis-tic. N o doubt she is, because she and her husband and many others l ike them have ceased to believe in spr ing and the value of renewal. Stone's yearning for spr ing is pathetic because i t expresses doubt rather than convict ion and Mar -garet senses and understands this since she has no convic-t ion herself. M r . Stone, then, comes to the conclusion that " the order of the universe, to wh i ch he had sought to a l l y himself, was not his order " (p. 158). In a way he is r ight . B u t how passionately had he searched to a l ly himsel f w i th nature's order? Marr iage , his f irst attempt, proved a fa i l -ure. H i s second and most important attempt was his plan for the Kn igh ts Companion. Wh i l e he is creat ing his plan M r . Stone is most i n tune w i th Nature 's rhy thm for he experiences the v igour of renewal. W o r k becomes a joy for the f irst t ime, and proves invigorat ing. Th is genuine creat iv i ty is absolutely commendable. M r . Stone, however, soon discovers that the creator must inevitably face the d i lemma of presenting his creation to others. N o plan, no work of art can fu l f i l l itself i f i t is kept secret by its conceiver. Unfortunate ly for M r . Stone his plan proves a success. The pure dream he has of introducing renewal and springtime into the lives of old men by keeping them active and useful after their ret ire-ment is contaminated as the plan is used as a good public relations g immick by his company. A n d M r . Stone himself is not so devoid of vani ty that he does not re l ish the social g lory wh ich success brings. It is only afterwards that he comes to understand that social success has nothing to do w i th the act of creation itself, that social success can help alienate the art ist f rom the cycle of creation and renewal. It is a young man named Whymper who makes M r . Stone's plan work. Whymper is no creator or art ist . He is instead a public relations officer, an administrator, a sales-M R . S T O N E A N D T H E K N I G H T S C O M P A N I O N 27 man. He makes nothing himself but enjoys l i ck ing other people's creations into shape. Stone's plan, wh i ch basically is to t r y to make contact w i th the order of the universe, is frustrated by Whymper , its executor, who wishes to use it for purely commercia l and personal ends. The old men who had been predominant in Stone's m ind become secondary to the efficient runn ing of the plan. The relat ionship between M r . Stone and Whymper is analogous i n a way to that between the old black cat and the young black cat. In each case, a younger generation takes over f rom an older one. B u t whereas the young cat is just as attuned to the universe as the old one, Whymper is even further removed f rom the natura l cycle than M r . Stone, and more f i rm ly committed to the social one. Whymper never even considers the concept of spr ing and renewal. It is not surpr is ing then that eventually Whymper is given a l l the credit for the Kn igh ts Companion plan. Society has t radi t ional ly given greater respect to salesmen and bureaucrats than to artists, to destroyers than to creators. The destruction of the cat has no disastrous consequen-ces because of the natura l v igour of the cat and the provis-ion i t has made to renew itself. However, the destruction of Stone's plan means winter for Stone w i th no promise of spring. Society has succeeded in ex i l ing Stone f rom the universe of nature. The name that Na ipau l has chosen for his central character is signif icant i n this respect, since a stone is a natura l object which, however, remains un-changed by seasonal cycles. M r . Stone comes to regret that he ever attempted to share his creation w i th anyone. " N o t h i n g that was pure ought to be exposed" (p. 149). Exposure merely leaves the pure open to corrupt ion and destruction. Th is surely is a sensation that many an art ist must have experienced as he listened to the response of others to his work. It is not, however, a f ina l answer for the true artist. To see c lear ly that mank ind has chosen to assert himself by attempting 28 A N T H O N Y B O X I L L to destroy rather than to identify w i th the r h y t h m of nature is not to justi fy destruction on an indiv idual level. " H e stripped the c i ty of a l l that was enduring and saw that a l l that was not flesh was of no importance to m a n " (p. 158). The creative indiv idual must go on cul t ivat ing his garden, as M r . Stone does, expecting help f rom neither the universe nor society. It is to M r . Stone's credit that, shattered though he is by his discovery, he refuses to jo in the destroyers and settles down instead to a l i t t le work as the book ends. He may never create another plan but he w i l l not mock Nature by admir ing man's destructiveness. In his earl ier books Na ipau l had wr i t ten about the prob-lems of t r y ing to be creative i n a society wh i ch was wi thout order. Mr. Stone makes i t quite clear that creat iv i ty is as di f f icult in a society wh i ch is too h igh ly ordered, in wh ich natura l responses have been replaced by stereotyped social ones. In his next novel, The Mimic Men, Na ipau l presents us w i th a s i tuat ion in wh i ch his protagonist detaches h im-self f rom both a chaotic and a h igh ly ordered society i n order to free himself to create an honest work of art. N O T E S 1 " Po r t ra i t of an ar t is t : What makes the Na ipau l R u n , " V id i a Na i -paul speaking to Raou l Pant in , Caribbean Contact, I, 6 (May 1973), 18. -Review of A House for Mr. Biswas, Time, 22 June 1962, p. 74. 3Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion (London: Deutsch, 1963), p. 20. A l l page references are to this edition, and are indi-cated in the text. 

The Concept of Spring in V. S. Naipaul's Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion

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The Concept of Spring in V. S. Naipaul's Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion

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