A House for Mr Biswas

by

V. S. Naipaul

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The Chase’s most prominent stick-fighter, who buys everything at Mr Biswas’s shop on credit (but never pays) and leads a band of extortionists. After Mr Biswas hires Seebaran to help with his accounts, Mungroo sues Mr Biswas for “damaging his credit,” and his lawyer wins him one hundred dollars in a suspicious settlement with Seebaran.
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Mungroo Character Timeline in A House for Mr Biswas

The timeline below shows where the character Mungroo appears in A House for Mr Biswas. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 4: The Chase
Social Status and Hierarchy Theme Icon
Education, Work, and Language Theme Icon
Colonialism, Oppression, and Escape Theme Icon
...lawyer named Seebaran, who saved “the man before you.” Despite his wealth, a man named Mungroo managed to live entirely off credit, which Mr Biswas was embarrassed to have given him. (full context)
Independence vs. Belonging Theme Icon
Social Status and Hierarchy Theme Icon
Colonialism, Oppression, and Escape Theme Icon
Mungroo was a champion stick-fighter who organized the village’s young men in “a fighting band” in... (full context)
Social Status and Hierarchy Theme Icon
Mungroo was actually a roadmender but did not like to work, preferring to extort money out... (full context)
Social Status and Hierarchy Theme Icon
Colonialism, Oppression, and Escape Theme Icon
Mungroo called Mr Biswas outside, where he stood leading a crowd of villagers with papers. Confident... (full context)
Social Status and Hierarchy Theme Icon
Colonialism, Oppression, and Escape Theme Icon
...week to go over the people who had and would pay. But he explained that Mungroo had retaliated and presented a letter calling Mr Biswas to court “for damaging his credit!”... (full context)
Social Status and Hierarchy Theme Icon
Gender and Family Theme Icon
Colonialism, Oppression, and Escape Theme Icon
In fact, Seebaran and Mungroo’s lawyer already decided on a hundred dollars for damages and a hundred for legal fees.... (full context)
Education, Work, and Language Theme Icon
Gender and Family Theme Icon
Colonialism, Oppression, and Escape Theme Icon
...“a bad site” and explained that his debtors would never pay him. Seth remembered the Mungroo case and proposed that their only option was to “insure-and-burn,” which would give Mr Biswas... (full context)
Social Status and Hierarchy Theme Icon
Colonialism, Oppression, and Escape Theme Icon
...“this insuranburning,” leading everyone to laugh. Seth proposes that Mr Biswas tell the police that Mungroo threatened to kill him, which means they would blame him for any fire. He could... (full context)