Arrival and departure
Unsurprisingly, this memoir does indeed describe the ineffable quality of Arrival and departure. That is a lot of territory to cover, so to speak, because in Naipaul's life, there has been a lot of moving around, from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago to England, to New York City, and then back to England to Oxford where he stayed for a long while. The constant shifts in his life were coupled by changes in his personality and self-experience. The Enigma is that the external changes were coupled by strange shifts in his self.
Trinidad and Tobago
Naipaul describes his life in the island country of Trinidad and Tobago. The islands are lush and beautiful, but life there is difficult, and Naipaul describes the tension he felt when deciding whether to stay or leave. Because of his rising success as a novelist, he followed the path which seemed best for his career, but throughout his life, his remembrance of Trinidad and Tobago shaped his experience of life and self. Through his many moves, these homelands became a kind of mythic past in his experience.
England before and after
Naipaul technically arrives in England twice, once from the literal island jungles of Trinidad and Tobago, and once from the concrete jungle of New York City. Both times, he describes England with pastoral imagery, struck by the timeless quality of English countrysides. He describes this imagery with poetic language, attempting to capture something ineffable that he identifies with in England. The concrete imagery of England leads him to abstract considerations on time.
Time and speed
Besides the personality shifts that each move demands within the author, he also notices the change of pace. In New York City, the rapidness of the city and the constant commotion are a long-shot from the quietness of English countrysides. Even when he goes to Oxford, the pace is completely different. Again and again, he notices that England has a timeless quality about it, especially in the country, a phenomenon whose inverse opposite is found in the hustle and hubbub of New York City.
