How does Naipaul use literary devices to develop the character of Mr. Biswas and convey the significance that owning a home has for Mr. Biswas?

A house is perhaps the most important motif in the story. Throughout his life, Mohun lives in lots of places, some grand and some merely a room with leaking roofs. His yearning to have a house of his own is a symbol of his need to make a mark in the world. He came to the world unplanned and created a lot of trouble for everyone—even before he actually did anything, merely by being born on an unlucky hour. His life is considered unnecessary and a burden on his parents. He wishes to die in a place he can call of his own, where he wouldn't have to sacrifice his privacy or existential comfort for someone else.

Mr. Biswas' intense, lifelong desire for a house of his own is more than a literal desire for a place where he can live: it's a metaphor for the deep desire many of us feel for self-determination in a modern world that often makes people feel as if their own lives are largely out of their control. The tragic irony of this story's structure, in this regard, is that the titular character—the one around which the entire narrative should presumably pivot—is apparently doomed to be defined and determined by the other people in his life, rather than himself.