Naipaul's A Bend in the River is a predecessor of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. They share similarities in both style and characterization. Many experts have supported this accusation as the Swedish Academy remarks, "Naipaul is Conrad's heir as the annalist of the destinies of empires in moral sense: what they do to human beings. His authority as a narrator is grounded in his memory of what others have forgotten, the history of the vanquished....In a vigilant style, which has been deservedly admired, he transforms rage into precision and allow events to speak with their own inherent irony" (2001 Nobel Prize announcement). They write about the same major theme: the change in civilization. They describe the theme by using the same setting where there is water present nearby. They also support the major themes by using minor themes of identity, imperialism, and isolation. However, this novel differs itself from...