Why is the leader of the country sometimes referred to as “the President” and sometimes as “the Big Man?” How is he perceived differently by the locals, the expatriates such as Salim and Mahesh, and by outsiders such as Indar?

Some scholars have claimed that the novel takes place in Zaire, though Naipaul never identifies the specific country in which the novel is set. Why might the author have made the choice not to explicitly identify the setting of the novel? What effect do the political events of the novel have, given that they cannot be identified in real-life history?

Consider the role of women in the novel. How are Yvette, Shoba, and Zabeth each portrayed? How are they similar or different? What can you infer from the way the male characters treat them about the culture in which they live and/or the decade in which the book was published?