Hatterr and Soyinka

As I mentioned in class today, I found Soyinka and Hatterr were placed in similar circumstances but handled them differently. Soyinka had parents of two different religions and Hatterr had parents of two different cultures, so both of them were hybrids. Yet, Soyinka chose to accept both Christian and pagan beliefs whereas Hatterr chose to ridicule both Hindu and Western ideas. In my opinion, Soyinka's approach is preferable over the Desani's. I find it possible to believe that there can be a pleasant compromise between both colonial and native influences which is what Soyinka is trying to show. However, I have a tough time understanding what the purpose of Desani's approach is. While I find it interesting that Desani makes fun of both the greed of Hindu mystics and the pretentiousness of people who claim to enjoy works by Shakespeare and Joyce, I find it difficult to understand why he would do this. What is Desani's take on colonization? Does he think that if you're born between a clash of two cultures, it can result in you becoming an overly enthusiastic, slightly insane character like Hatterr? Most importantly, what would Desani gain by mocking both Western society and Hindu traditions? After reading most of this novel, I feel like Desani's purpose may be to show that crazy world experiences that Hatterr has because of the different cultures he's exposed to result in him learning more about Life.