"B. Wordsworth" is set on the lively Miguel Street in wartime Trinidad and Tobago, a tropical, but economically depressed, country in the Caribbean. On Miguel Street, beggars are walking around the area, attempting to earn money by asking people who live on Miguel Street for their money. One of the beggars is dressed nicely and knocks on the door of the short story's narrator, the young boy who is never named in the short story. The boy lives with his spunky mother. There, the man asks the young boy to see his family's collection of bees that reside in the family's back yard. The boy asks his mother if the man who knocks on their door can see the bees. Initially, she doesn't allow the man to see the bees as she questions the man's motivations. However, she eventually relents and lets the man into her yard to see the bees.
The boy decides that he will go outside to watch the bees with the man to keep the man company. The boy and man have a fairly lengthy conversation, and the older man reveals to the boy that his name is Black Wordsworth (after the famous white poet called William Wordsworth). The boy asks Wordsworth a number of questions and the two quickly bond and form a strong friendship.
The two have a conversation and Wordsworth asks the boy if he would like to buy what he calls the "greatest poem ever written." Despite claims of the poem's stature, Wordsworth offered the poem to the boy and his mother for only four cents. The boy, in turn, didn't accept the offer as the boy's mother refused to pay for the poem. The two end their conversation and Wordsworth invites the boy to his home so that the two could eat mangoes together. The boy's mother is initially suspicious of the man and his motives but allows her son to spend time with the man.
After the boy returns home from eating mangoes, his mother is enraged to see that the boy has spilled mango juice on his shirt. The boy's mother, in fact, beats him, causing him to go back to the older man. Their relationship only grows stronger, but the boy begins to realize how deceptive Wordsworth is.
On one day, many years after the boy and B. Wordsworth meet, the boy goes to meet Wordsworth at his home. Instead of finding Wordsworth alive and well, though, the boy finds Wordsworth near death on his couch. Wordsworth tells the boy a joke and then makes the boy promise to never return to him because of the poet's deception. The boy begrudgingly agrees and never sees Wordsworth, who has presumably died, again.
For Naipaul, "B. Wordsworth" is a semi-autobiographical story. The story of a young boy (Naipaul's representative in the story) who befriends a poet is akin to an experience that Naipaul had when he was younger. Because of this, "B. Wordsworth" is very analytical, reflective, and emotional. It is also a loving ode to poetry and the power of the written word. And though it was a deeply personal story for Naipaul, it is also entertaining for readers to read. Having entertainment value, after all, is one of the most important things any work of fiction has.
Additionally, "B. Wordsworth" explores themes related to identity, friendship, coming-of-age, curiosity, and the role and value of artists (among many other themes). Perhaps most significantly, "B. Wordsworth" is about the value in treating strange and unexpected situations with a healthy dose of skepticism and concern.
A rich and complex story, "B. Wordsworth" is also the portrait of an artist who has been alienated and detached from society for quite some time. B. Wordsworth is a man seemingly devoid of talent, empathy, and social grace. A hermit, B. Wadsworth lives on the margins of society. He has few friends and not many resources to work with. His life is a lot like a poem: it has a defined beginning, middle, and end-- and it often rhymes.
