Ramchand Character Analysis in A House for Mr Biswas

Ramchand is Mr Biswas’s garrulous and confident brother-in-law and Dehuti’s husband. He is initially a yard boy at Tara’s house, but elopes with Dehuti. This horrifies the family because of his low caste, but he ends up living in a comfortable hut and ultimately moving to Port of Spain, where he works at the Mad House, houses Mr Biswas for some time, and convinces Mr Biswas to reconcile with the Tulsis. Unlike the rest of the book’s Indian characters, he cares little about social status or caste.

Ramchand Character Timeline in A House for Mr Biswas

The timeline below shows where the character Ramchand appears in A House for Mr Biswas. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Mr Biswas marched down the main road for miles, till he had long left town. Ramchand, Tara’s former yard boy and Dehuti’s husband, tapped him on the shoulder and greeted him... (full context)

Education, Work, and Language Theme Icon

...manner of an old woman and seemingly unlike the sister Mr Biswas used to know. Ramchand asked Mr Biswas to read the writing on his walls—calendars and cards from Sunday school—and... (full context)

Ramchand felt sorry for Ajodha (who was “just asking” to “fall really sick”), Pratap (whose donkeys... (full context)

...kindly but underestimating their number and chatting politely with their brother Mr Biswas. So did Ramchand, who was now working as a warden at Port of Spain’s Lunatic Asylum and recommended... (full context)

...way to turn at the junction—to the north were Pagotes and Port of Spain (where Ramchand and Dehuti lived), and to the south his brothers—but a bus came by and its... (full context)

At four, when businesses closed for the day, Mr Biswas headed for Ramchand’s address, which disappointingly turned out to be “an unfenced lot with two old unpainted wooden... (full context)

Ramchand said that Mr Biswas could “stay here and rest as long as you want,” listening... (full context)

Mr Biswas shared one of Dehuti and Ramchand’s two rooms with their son. The house’s interior was much cleaner than the outside, its... (full context)

...its street-sweeping and newspaper deliveries, the fact that people drank milk from bottles, and that Ramchand went away to work every day. Ramchand showed Mr Biswas all around the city, taking... (full context)

Mr Biswas also enjoyed “Ramchand’s city manners” and let his brother-in-law patronize him, which he had always done since he... (full context)

After two weeks, Ramchand told Mr Biswas not to worry about finding a job, but he was penniless and... (full context)

Ramchand helped Mr Biswas reconcile with the Tulsis; his name was in the paper every day,... (full context)

...Port of Spain’s newest and best districts, and Mr Biswas felt extraordinarily lucky. So did Ramchand and Dehuti, who were tiring of Mr Biswas’s imposition on their space. Since they also... (full context)

...at the other mourners’ clothes in a sort of penance for her illegitimate marriage, and Ramchand helped plan the funeral arrangements. Mr Biswas glanced at Bipti’s body and then wandered around,... (full context)