"The Mourners" is a novel of V.S.Naipaul.

Sheela is in Mourning because she has lost her young son. Ramesh, who is a poor relation of Sheela visits her house to offer his contolence. When he comes to sheela's house, he is taken by the servant maid to her room. The room is full of darkness. He does not know how to begin the conversation. It is sheela, the mourner begin the conversation enquiring about him and his family. When they talk, his smile and cries unable to bear loss of her son.

Ramesh does not know how to console her. During their conversation sheela enquires eheather Ramesh knows about her son snd asks her servant to bring the photos of Ravi, her dead son. Whenever, she utters her dead son's name she bursts into tears. Ramesh finds i difficult to look sheela face to face. Inorder to avoid eye contact, his eyes rest on the picture on the wall. The picture refers is "Princess in the Tower" to king Richard II and his father who were imprisoned and later put to death. Sheela eyes also follow him, which rests on the wall. Sheela states that like Richard II and his brother, she is likely to die. Unable to bear the loss of her dead son. Ramesh does not know what to do and how to console her. When Ramesh is ready for saying goodbye her husband arrives wife. He is a doctor.

He greets Ramesh with pale face. Ramesh enquires the doctor about and his sheela. The doctor is of opinion that his wife is suffering from a shock due to their son's death and hopes that within two days she will be alright. The doctor also discusses how he wishes to seen his death son to a context and also how he was excellent in singing english and hindi songs. The doctor is philosophising a fact that we are here they and we may go tomorrow makes you to thing about life and death.

Thus, the story has a touch of in a life. It brings out meeting manners and offering condolence is a social obligation.