Similar to what Liam was saying in his post, I believe another reason from the distant reporting and style of narrative is to convey a message about the main character. While the book walks the line between meditation and narrative, it is the quality and lens with which the main character sees the world the dictates the mood of the novel, mixed of course with the subject.
Of course the story deals with the results of decolonization, and the struggle of an emerging society that is a developing, third world. Naipaul approaches this subject in a realistic, dark, yet unwavering way. He is committed from the beginning-when describing the African bush and its jungley likeness-to portraying an accurate picture of the land that was after Europeans left it in shambles; the many separate, hostile tribes and borders, run down towns etc. He even mentions the anxiety with which the slaves went forward that is in a way echoed by the current generation that are trying to figure it out.
The narrator isn't the brightest character, but has some complex ideas to pass on in order to describe the state of affairs in Africa. We see a dictator too, in the story, and it all points to a convoluted idea, which represents the actual feeling towards identity-the struggle-in Africa.
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