the purpose of this study is to investigate and explore the causes of identity crisis as one of the debilitating consequences of colonial project after the withdrawal of colonial power. in order to do justice to the full-length severity of displacement that was the fruit of indentureship, v. s. naipauls west indian epic, a house for mr biswas, has been scrutinized with the main focus being the way protagonists, mohun biswas, painful struggle for accommodation and wholeness in an unwelcoming context, which is the legacy of his deracinated ancestors, has distorted his identity. a house for mr biswas is naipauls attempt to dramatize the failure of the uprooted culture to survive in an alien environment. living in the disordered, rootless west indian society in trinidad with east indian origin who has been uprooted from his motherland, biswas desperate fight to attain his own house is symbolic of his desire to develop a unique identity to replace his lost cultural heritage. it will be argued that biswas struggle to overcome communal and colonial pressures and give meaning to his existence is representative of a whole generation who has been afflicted with deracination and, consequently, a fractured, incomplete, battered identity and selfhood.