ENGA SEM II (GUIDE) ARTICLE 1 - Srijita

Chapter – V: R.K.
Narayan’s Vision of Life
R.K. Narayan emerged as the second man in the illustrious trio
(Mulk Raj Anand R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao) of Indian novelist
writing in English. He managed to retain his sole identity as a
professional writer till the end of his life. One cannot phrase his work as
either plentiful of output or a reflection of the author's contentment. It is
this feature that places Narayan among the greatest story tellers of
modern Indian English. He has the most intimate knowledge of the life
of Indian middle class family. His memorable characters are all middle
class people. Upper class characters and characters belonging to the
lowest sections of society being outside his ranges are seldom
introduced, successfully his works.
The most important feature of Narayan's writings is perhaps his
commitment towards his imagined town Malugudi, he created for his
series of novels. In his novels, Narayan has taken up social problems of
day to day life. He has tried to solve the problem through the intellect of
characters. Protagonists in the work of art, be it any genre are the
185
A Portrayal of Women Characters in R.K. Narayan’s Novels: A Critical Study
spokesman of the creative artist. It is through him that they are directed
to move and act accordingly. It is the creative artist who creates
situations and under the given situations they act. Thus the characters
male and female becomes the brain children of the author. Their
thoughts and actions determines the attitudes or outlook of author
towards life. The main object of this chapter is to show to what extent
the protagonists in the novels of R.K. Narayan embody his vision of
life. K.R.S. Iyenger remarks: "He is the rare thing in India today, a
man of letters prime and simple."1
Experience and expression are two very significant phenomena in
the life of a creative artist. One is incomplete without the other. A work
of art or literature is an expression of writer’s understanding of. life.
Dispositions of a writer are best reflected in the characters created They
become spokesman of the author’s view of life and embody his vision
of life. In fact, the criticism of life and writer’s approach are co-related
to each other. The writer has a certain mission or object of his writings.
He is simply concerned about the basic problems of life and the
universe. Then he starts formulating his own principles or system of
thought which may be called the vision of life. R.K. Narayan is no
1
K.R.S. Iyenger, Srinivas, Indian writing in English (Sterling Publication Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1985), P. 358
186
exception. He too embodies his own outlook through his protagonists in
his works. He too has his own approach and attitude to life.
In all the works of literature, we find that author makes an
attempt to fight against the process of dehumanization and he attempts
to assert humanness. It is, in fact, unending search for identity which is
going on from time immemorial and still continues. Like everyone else
,a writer is interlinked with his world and he ought to have meaningful
relationship with the world his writings belong to.
R.K. Narayan successfully deals with women characters as he
does with male protagonists. They are fully drawn and developing
characters. The author has tried to probe into the mind of his characters.
He has portrayed in them what he has felt about. He presents their
feelings and emotions and thought and ideas. He is more interested in
the inner conflicts of their life. It is in relationship with the male
protagonists that female one can be better understood and this is what
we find in his novels throughout.
Although Narayan is not a teacher or preacher yet the central
problem in his novels is the problem of living a meaningful life. The
novelist presents the problems realistically in the background of a
traditional patriarchal system of society. Like other writers, R.K.
Narayan also has written on issues like love and marriage. As for love,
187
it is the very basis of life that sweetens the relationship between the two
sexes and makes life happy and meaningful. It is a natural human
passion that acts as a bond between man and woman. In the novels of
R.K. Narayan we find marriage without love or love without marriage.
There can be no love without personal emotions. Love always aspires
for higher ideals which is different to obtain and more difficult to
maintain. Love is different from sex. It is not necessary for survival but
gives a distinct meaning to life.
There are certain usual feminine tendencies in his women .He has
recorded usual feminine vices and virtues. We find, the qualities of
love, sacrifice and faithfulness, and courage. In the world of R.K.
Narayan, there is a supremacy of man over women. They don’t rise
above man leaving a few and ultimately they accept defeat under
pressure despite they struggle hard till to the end. They love living
through struggle and suffering but in the end admit defeat.They endure
all the sufferings coming in their ways. They face life by accepting it
and not by denying it. R.K.Narayan’s philosophy is based on acceptance
of life and not on denial of life. He signifies positive and affirmative
strength. He is not pessimistic in his vision. He hopes for a brighter
future though, he does not necessarily provide solution to the problems.
188
The novelist is presented with consummate knowledge of human
nature. His protagonists have a wide and varied experience of life both
tragic and comic. They are ordinary real human being with their
weaknesses and strength. They embody the author’s vision of life as this
is a struggle and in this struggle defeat or victory does not matter. What
matters most is the struggle that is faced. Life is neither a tragedy nor a
comedy. It is a blend of tragic-comedy. It is this realistic perception of
life that gets manifested in his novels through his characters.
Through the panorama of Malgudi novels Narayan faithfully
exhibits the vision of life, values, norms and rituals which have been in
existence and still continue to play a major role in shaping the lives of
Indian society. He has undergone a considerable change under the
influence of western materialistic civilization, the changes have been
vividly noticed amongst the people. According to O.P. Mathur:
Narayan does assert the validity of traditional Indian values but the
wind from the next has changed much of the panorama.”2
There are few doubts that R.K. Narayan was the most famous
Indian writer in English of the pre-Rushdie era. Due to the extreme
readability of his fiction, Western critics have had a kind of preference
for his novels, Myth, social implications and political events do make
2
Mathu, O.P. The West Wind Blows through Malgudi. (Indian Journal of English
Studies 19 1979), 125-34.
189
part of the pattern of his writing but they always remain confined to the
sub-text of the literary work.
The Sahitya Academi award-winning novel ‘The Guide’ forms an
important basis for a study from this peculiar perspective in the fiction
of the South Indian writer. Rightly considered as one of Narayan's
masterpieces, the novel is characterised by a very complex and
elaborate plot, a great experiment in the technique of writing. The whole
story, in fact, is the account of a combining of two tales which cross
each other, mix and blend leaving the reader with a feeling of
harmonious completeness and coherence The former is the report of an
impersonal omniscient narrator in the third person in the historical
present, whereas the latter directly draws back from the protagonist's
confessions to Velan, who automatically plays the role of the implied
reader.
The female protagonist incarnates the typical role of the alluring
man; she communicates through an instinctive body-language and that,
let alone her professional career, makes her irresistible to Raju's eyes, I
was only conscious of her movements, the guide has to admit. On the
other hand, Marco is an archaeologist as fond of his research projects as
insensitive and detached from his pretty wife's graces. "If a man has to
190
have peace of mind it is best that he forgets the fair sex," 3 he states
to the very puzzled narrator. As a matter of fact, he is not a real negative
character: He was a good man remembers Raju.
Another possible explanation of the reader's poor consideration
for Marco is that his refusal for dance is equivalent to a refusal for life,
hence also his classification as 'dry' in the comment of Krishnaswami.
In addition, the example of Marco and Rosie is an adaptation of the
Sankhya concept; it is a stereotype of the Indian couple composed by a
marked intellectual man, if not an academic, and a brilliant, vivacious
girl. Exemplifications of this aspect also find representation in The
Strange Case of Billy Biswas by Arun Joshi, Music for Mohini by
Bhabani Bhattacharya and Inside the Haveli by Rama Mehta. In the
fiction of R.K. Narayan this model appears again in The Bachelor of
Arts and in The English Teacher, even though in both the cases it is not
as fully developed as in The Guide.
The focus on this peculiar bias of the whole aspect may help us to
clear the area from misleading or hasty conclusions. One does not rarely
find encomiums to the South Indian writer for his `progressive' attitude
towards the emancipation of women or, more generally, towards an
ideological stand in favour of the cause. If it is true that his opposition

3
P. Thomas. Kama Kalpa or the Hindu Ritual of Love (1956; D.B. Taraporevala Sons,
1963) p. 112.
191
to male chauvinism appeared as early as 1938 in The Dark Room and
his outlook was far more astonishing when compared to Raja Rao's, the
other South Indian Brahmin novelist we must also bear in mind that his
satire somehow gently but constantly battered the issues of feminism.
In a few words, an objection to the male-oriented set of values
which regulated everyday life in Indian society does not necessarily
mean or imply a support for feminism. Far from it, the body of evidence
which supports the feeling that R.K. Narayan is heir of a highly
conservative world and that, as previously stated, he always strongly
opposed any agent that might possibly reverse an acquired balance, is
not inconsiderable.
In a traditional society where mythology is replete with the
glorious tales of self-sacrificing women, where women are always seen
as sexual objects or in their relation to men, where women are more or
less devoid of education and economic independence, where the
structure is still patriarchal, women's liberation movement still seems a
far cry. This is why Narayan, induced by the social reality of man-
woman relationship of the contemporary Indian society, portrays the
Ibsenite feminist movement with realism. He could easily have made
his Savitri a staunch rebel like Ibsen's Nora but the harsh realities of
192
Indian society compel Narayan to make his heroine surrender to its
overwhelming pressures.
Narayan has explained the myths and legends of the Indian of the
Indian culture. He has accumulated religions and cultural navigate of
the Indian society. The woman has shaped mind, imagination,
behaviour pattern and general aptitude to life. This influence in so
deeply engraved that it finds unconscious expression in the vision of
life. According to William Walsh, “The religions sense of Indian
Myth is part of Narayan’s grip of reality, of his particular view of
human life and his individual way of placing and ordaining human
the feeling and experience.”4
R.K. Narayan’s repeated situations and characters in different
combination, is also the part of his vision of life. Through simple and
ordinary characters of his novels, he expresses his agony and unrest
about the misconception. He remains detached in all his stories as a
hetero-diegetic narrator. He apparently remains aloof from
contemporary socio political issues. He largely explores the south
Indian middle class milieu in his fiction. This fictional small town and
its inhabitant have their local identity. But there is a conflict of the real
4
Ibid. pp. 166-167
193
and the universal. The inhabitants are essentially human having kinship
with all humanity.
The novelist makes sincere efforts throughout his novels to
substantiate the realistic effect of the multiple facets of human nature. It
is worthwhile to note down an interesting comment of Jayant K. Biswal:
"Narayan's characters are like caravans journeying along life's
varied experiences. Diverse facets of human nature are presented at
times the social order is threatened. But the comic always
presupposes some stable social values against which the instincts
and aberrations of individuals are focussed in their word postures.
In spite of their frailties there is an elemental simplicity about them.
These is sure a human feel in the virtues as well as the vices of the
Malgudians.”5
The remarkable thing about the author is his special ability to
draw good from his character. His vision of life is voiced through the
works and words of the protagonist. Central to this achievement was the
fictional town, which he peopled with ordinary men and women made
memorable by his art. It is voice as much as anything else that defines
our action. In its registration of ordinary life in Malguidi its
unhurriedness, its imperturbable humour set against a sad and poetic

5
Jayant K. Biswal, A critical study of the Novels of R.K. Narayan (Nirmal Publishers
and Distributers, New Delhi, 1987), P. 32
194
background. There is nothing false strained and deliberate about his
fiction. When we read about Malgudi we feel we are there.This
powerful impression is created not by detailed descriptions of the
country side or buildings but by the characters. It is voice which is
rooted in a world view quite different from that which we encounter.
R.K. Narayan has presented the character who approves the
vision of life. From the very first novel we see such things. A creative
writer has to struggle hard for communicating his vision honestly in a
language other than his own. The novelist has made laudable efforts to
harness the rich sources and English and mix it up with native colour. It
is due to his sheer creative brilliance that the novelist succeeds to
express himself through characters. He handles most critical situations
with a fine touch. His characters are wonderful having peculiar
innocence and distinctive artistic presentation. Narayan is objective in
the treatment of his subject matter. He can cause to work a miracle even
with a modest language resource with honesty and confidence. The
miraculous working of language as a tool is his great achievement.
Sometimes his language is highly emotional. M.K. Naik quotes in this
regard:
"R.K. Narayan's chief contribution to Indian English fiction
is twofold: first, he has created a tiny but perfectly credible
195
universe in Malgudi, which is in the same class as Hardy's Wessex
and Faulkner’s Yokna Patawpha: and he has filled it with men and
women who are as real to us as the people actually around us.
Secondly in eagle eyed observe of life and human nature, he has
illuminated the basic ironies, deep seated ambiguities and
existential dilemmas of human conditions.”6
Narayan's fictional world appears to be the actual world in which
we live. His novels are the description of one’s daily life on surface
ground and suggest the depth beneath. His dealing with the fiction is
neither fashionable in modes nor eye catching in themes. He has chosen
ordinary everyday life matters in almost all of his novels. This novels
are universal in appeal. They please the one and the many. He is a pure
realist. the term realism means firstly to depict the things a they really
are or as they appear to be. Secondly, it means the art of making the
unreal appear as real. For some scholars realism is the fidelity observed
in the transcription of life as it is. To some others it is a plausible
interpretation of life.
Narayan is a realistic writer, he presents reality which is artistic.
There are two ways of depiction of realism. Firstly, it may mean
depiction of things as they really are, or as they appear to be; secondly,

6
M.K. Naik and Shyamala A Narayan, Indian English Literature 1980-2000, A critical
survey (Delhi pen craft International, 2001), P. 22
196
it means the art of making the unreal appear as real. How for Narayan is
realistic in the manner of his creation can be seen from the harmony
which his narration acquires in the blending of theme and the style. He
does not see the ugly side of reality. Extreme crudities, naked sex
description and cruelties are ignored by him. He portrays the seemy side
of reality. His situations and characters are realist, and so is his
language and style. The life which he describes is put before us with a
wealth of detail and accuracy. The authors humour is the direct outcome
of his intellectual analysis of the contradictions in human experience
tragically or comically. In his novels humour and irony coexist. In the
Bachelor of Arts novelists vision is very clean he wants Chandran to act
according the words of pandit. Because if he marries Malthi, there may
be some misfortune for either of them. So they should not marry and
watch for other prospects of life. Mismatch of horoscope may cause
harm to life.
In his novels R.K. Narayan does not portray the photographic
reality. He presents artistic reality. He differs from the French realist
and naturalist who are interested in the stark and naked realism of life.
He depicts a kind or realism which is something more than reportage.
He grabs the Indian mind perfectly with all its superstitions
comprehension of life. The manner of narration and the harmony which
197
narration acquires in the blending of theme and style expose the realism
of the author. Keeping in view the middle clan people of his novels
Narayan adopts a pedestrian style. This style is not vigorous sensational
and colourful style like Manohar Malgonkar, this simple style and tone
mirrors the daily rhythm of life of the middle class people of Malgudi.
In this connection Philip Rahv Says: ".......... All that we can
legitimately ask of a novelist in the matter in hand. What is said
must not stand in a contradictory relation to the way it is said...."7
It is important to mention that R.K. Narayan is not a social critic
as such nor is he interested in propagating any ideas. The stories of his
novels reveal that the author makes his common man aware of his talent
and potentials. This talent and calibre helps him rise above his so called
destined role in the society. He has roots in Hindu culture which has so
great an impact that novelist and his characters remains unable to shake
themselves off the irrational social customs and superstitions. Author's
contribution claims serious attention which it has not so far received in
the measure it deserves. Narayan's characters moving under the
prevailing social customs and traditions revolt and accept defeat in the
end.
7
Rahv, Philip, Fiction and the criticism of fiction (N. York,1965), P. 58
198
Through the creation of his novels, R.K.Narayan faithfully
exhibits values, norms, rituals and his vision of life. These high morals
have been in existence and still continue to play a major role in shaping
the lives of Indians. The author has beautifully and artistically drawn
the picture of the middle and lower class of society and revealed the
mind and heart of the people. Every minute action and its reaction on
the society has been exposed. Malgudi is seen steeped in tradition and
its inhabitant’s women characters with their roots in family and religion.
Even today they cherish a heritage of faith and values, customs and
rituals and even dogmas and superstitions. As Dr. Badal observes:
"Narayan's characters any typically Malgudians rooted in the age
old local traditions, this characters belong to Malgudi. This
Sampaths and Chandrans do not play their part, but live, move in
and out, talk and laugh, and then disappear only to appear again
and again in the familiar sights,"8
In the novels of R.K. Narayan characters make certain attempts to
go against the prevailing social customs and traditions but they cannot
shake them off. Simply they muster courage for change. They cannot
stand the collective force of the society as a whole. The result is that
they accept defeat, remorse comes and they find happiness in
8
Badal, R.K., R.K. Narayan: study (Prakash Book Depot, Bareilly, 1976), P. 7
199
submission. Author does not seem to approve of their attitude or any
type of rebellion on their part. There is a marked attack on
sentimentality in almost all his novels. Chandran is able to lead his life
properly and seriously when he overcomes sentimentality that causes
frustration in his life. Sastri returns to her husband and children when
she understands the actual situation and realises the fatality after her
escape from home. Ravi and Raju are also not able to cope with and rise
above cheap sentimentalism. Margayya survives the shocks of life
possibly because he has sufficient fund of common sense and practical
wisdom.
Narayan's vision of life has clearly been displayed through each
of his creations. In his very first novel Swami and Friends, he has
apparently disclosed his rebellious nature against the focus on
Christianity which was the main Concern of Albert mission school. He
has further criticised the sophisticated feelings of upper class society
through the character of Rajam, Swaminathan and his friend Rajam,
chief characters in the novel belongs to the Brahmin caste. However,
these are a marked change in their outlook. Swami is brought up in a
Hindu orthodox family, steeped in superstitions and blind beliefs. He is
set in contrast with the character of Rajam, the son of the superintendent
of police. He rebuts Swami in no certain terms when the latter narrates
200
how he is cheated by the coachman. "We Brahmins deserve that and
more" said Rajam, "In our house my father does not care for new
moon days and there are no annual ceremonies for the dead."9
Rajam was brought up in a modern family his father being the
S.P. of police. However, he too could not completely free himself from
the impact of Hindu culture. The story of hell and heaven had a great
bearing upon his mind. When the friends at school come to him, he
gives a hair raising account of hell which makes them unhappy. Rajam
continues.
"It was written in the Vedas that a person who fostered
enmity should be locked up in a small room after his death. He
would be made to stand, stark naked on a pedestal of red hot iron.
There are believes all around with bees as big as lemons. If the
sinner stepped down from the pedestal he would have to put his foot
on immense scorpions and centipedes that crawled about the room
in hundred."10
Narayan has revealed a comic vision of life through irony and
paradox in his novels. Though novelist has written tragedies yet the tone
of his novels is comic. Raju’s story of his love for Rosie the dancer, and
9
Narayan R.K. Swami and Friends (Indian Thought Publications, Mysore, 1971) P.109
10
Ibid, P. 46
201
his rise and fall as guide, lover and promoter are half comedy. Novelist
does not end his novels on a pessimistic or disappointing note. The
Guide ends neither at the time of Raju’s landing in jail for moral
degradation, nor when Raju’s love affair with Rosie comes to an end at
the discovery of the book published by Rosie’s husband. Here novelist
presents a comic situation when Raju is on fast and about to die a whole
crowd of men, women and children gathers on the bank of the river and
there is eating, drinking and merry-making. The reporter takes interview
of a dying saint: Tell me, how do you like it here? How long have you
been without food now? Do you feel weak? When will you break your
fast? To Narayan life is neither purely a story of sins, nor purely of
virtues, it is a blend of the saintly and the sinful. The individual and
social reality go together to constitute the comic pattern. He presents
fact and fiction together against each other to present a whole picture of
life. The novelist describes his world through the eyes of children. We
can feel the comic element in father's attempts to teach Swami
arithmetic lesson. The novelist is not satisfied with the present day
education system. He is statistic in his humour while describing the
teachers. He satirises teachers by describing the head master sleeping in
his office with his spectacles on Narayan is not a reformer but an
observer. He also exposes the eccentricities and follies of people. He
exposes and ridicules religious attitude and superstitions each other to
202
present a whole picture of life. The fanaticism is seen in the scripture
master Ebenezer. He condemns Hindu idea of idol worship he shows
Lord Krishna as lower, comparing him to Jesus. Swami objects to the
criticism of Hindu God by his teacher.
Narayan in his Novel The Dark Room very clearly and straight
forward explain his vision of life. He voices the emancipation of women
in the Indian orthodox Hindu society, where men hold a superior
position and women are confined to the home and hearth with all sorts
of taboos and traditions clamped on them. But it would be wrong to
consider Narayan a feminist in terms of Western feminism, his attitude
is shaped with a strong Indian sensibility of any of foreign cultural
aggression in the movement that that he launches to bring about a
change in the status of Indian women. The inheritability of Western
notion of liberated women but he does not forget to depict the perils of
western waves of movement for women's freedom in India.
The Central Character of the novel The Dark Room is Savitri, a
submissive house wife. Who is married to Ramani, an employee of the
Englandia Insurance company. They have three children, Kamala,
Sumati and Babu, Savitri, is a typical Indian house wife, dominated and
neglected by her husband. There is a Dark Room in their house where
203
Savitri retires whenever her husband is cruel treatment seems
unbearable to her.
A woman holds a very strange place in Indian society. She has
been revered for being sati and at the same time she has been hated and
loathed for being a widow or for not bringing dowry. stories of women
literary texts . However, with the progress of time the women of Indian
society changed. Now she started making herself noticed by fathoming
all areas which were until now they are no of men. In literature too, the
role of woman was given a certain distinction, In this league R.K.
Narayan writes about characters like Savitri and Shanta Bai in the Dark
Room and shows the various perspectives of the Indian woman.
The Dark Room' has main characters, Ramani, the Branch
manager of the Englandia Insurance Company, his wife Savitri and
Shanta Bai Ramani's secretary cum-mistress. the whole story of the
novel revolves around these three characters, life is moving on smoothly
with the occasional agitations and angers, Savitri gets upset at time by
Ramani's behaviour and sulks in Dark Room, a musty until store room,
next the kitchen. But life is still pleasant and happy one day Santa Bai
comes to know about the affair and tries to stop Ramani. He refuses, so
Savirti leaves the house to and her life, However, this could not happen
as she is saved by a low caste blacksmith Mani. He and his wife Ponni
204
takes care of Savita but after a few days of hardship and loneliness she
returns to her home and children.
In Savitri-Ramani relationship, the novelist draw a picture of
patriarchal society where father/ husband dominates and exploit the
women who becomes helpless or what is called ‘abala’ with no voice of
her own. She can’t protest and even if she raises her voice, it is unheard
or suppressed. This is the pitiable condition of contemporary society
which is shameful and can’t be acceptable. With regard to Shanta Bai –
Ramani relationship, the author reveals the double standard of Ramani
for Savitri and Shanta Bai which is again unacceptable and
condemnable.
Happy and cordial relationship does not necessarily require
marriage. There can be marriage with love or without love. Marriage is,
of course, a sacred bond of trust and mutual respect. It has no meaning
outside the values that bind together. Hence what is more important for
true relationship is feeling of love and sacrifice mutual trust and mutual
respect which is revealed by his protagonists in his novels.
Narayan's novels have many female characters but most of them
are traditional Indian women who live a life within the confines of their
home. The character of Savitri in the first half of the novel is an
example. Despite the rude nature of her husband, Savitri performs the
205
duties of a mother and wife uncomplainingly she takes the frequent
harshness with indifference. She behaves or talks only after judging his
mood. She is a quintessential mother, wife and homemaker. She is the
humble Patient, loyal wife mentioned in the scriptures. Savitri is such a
humble and down to earth person that after, hearing about her husband's
affair, she does not believe in. later she feels remain is not to be blamed,
Perhaps, she is not beautiful anymore and hence Ramani got attracted to
Shanta Bai, In her innocence she starts paying attended to her looks.
In the context of Narayan's depiction of a society the combined
weight of tradition, custom and social opinion usually compels
individuals to play their expected life. The novel explores the fruit her
class Hindu house wife to discard the role she is expected to play.
Importantly the whole atmosphere of complex inter personal and social
relationship which Married Indian women constantly undergoes, is
analyzed here thorough the medium of her own consciousness. Narayan
says in this regard: “my main concern is which human character a
central character from whose point of view the world is seen and
who tries to get over a different situation on succumbs to it or fights
it in his own setting.”11
11
Sen K., Critical Essays in R.K. Narayan’s The Guide with an introduction to Narayan’s
Novels, (Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1971), p. 124.
206
He further adds, "I value human relationships very much, very
intensely. It makes one's existence worthwhile human relationship
in any and every form, whether at home or outside."12
The character of Savitri is conceived in the novel by the inner
working novelist, whose business is to explain the soul, she is a
traditional figure a dutiful and obedient wife, a devoted mother and an
efficient housekeeper with the development of the narrative. we find her
develop gradually.
In the course of the narration the novelist elaborately explains the
women's traditional role as mother and wife, housewife, herself image,
her rebellions with others and her fear and hopes for the future. A
sympathetic treatment of the subject of social emancipation is
attempted. Narayan's Savitri is not a tragic figure but circumstances
made her tragic. The opening of the novel clearly indicates the kind of
servile role she is condemned to play in the house. She has no liberty to
take any minor decision. One day unable to attend school create
problem over these question she humiliated on the remark, "mind your
own business do you hear go and do any work you like in the
12
Ibid, p. 124
207
kitchen, but leave the training of a grown up boy to me. It is none of
a woman's business"13
There she appears to be only a weak, whispering, timid and
spineless creature. Savitri is a capable house wife, who knows none to
deal with the ghosts. There are some such incidents. When she feels
strongly and realizes self evaluation. “We are responsible for our
position. We accept food shelter and comforts that you give, and are
what we are. I don't possess anything in this world”.14
Savitri feels deeply that man is born feels deeply that man is born
free so is woman but she is everywhere in chains. How ironical a
woman's life is! She never enjoys freedom. She is under the control of
her father during her childhood. When she gets married, she is
controlled by her husband. The things do not stop here. Even when she
becomes a mother, she is guided and governed by her son. Savitri says:
“I don't possess anything in this world what possession. What
possession can a woman call her own except her body? Everything
else that she has is her father's her husband's or her son's”15
Shanta Bai, is the other woman a part of the love triangle, who is
herself a socially liberated one. In the novel she is shown as a bold, self
13
Narayan R.K., The Dark Room, (Indian Thought Publication, Mysore, 1985), p.1
14
Ibid, pp. 112-113.
15
Ibid., p.75
208
possessed and educated woman. She has left her husband because she
was ill-treated by him. She used to pretend to be a literary person for
instance she tells Ramani that she couldn't exist without a copy of the
Rubaitoty that Khayyam is the only person who would have understood
the secret of her soul. In the novel the web of human relationship is
clearly depicted where single character must be enmeshed. There is a
rustic couple Mani and Poni also plays an important role in the novel.
They are saviour of Savitri. Poni has a clear cut philosophy of husband
management which she expounds to Savitri: "Keep the men under the
rod, and they will be all right show them that you care for them and
they will tie you and treat you like a dog."16 When savitri comes to
know about the use of her house furniture in the office of Ramani, she
feels very pity: "Later she knows what the use Ramani has made of
the furniture; Angered and betrayed Savitri retreats into herself
and lies quiet still in the private place she has of her own, the dark
room, Romani's further betrayal makes her realize how helplessly
dependent she is upon him."17
For the weakness and helplessness Savitri's half hearted attempt
to assert herself as a human being is much appreciating. She is at last
stirred to revolt at her husband's infidelity and passionate attachment
16
Ibid., p.140
17
Ibid, P. 8
209
with one Shanta Bai his office assistant. Firstly she tries to persuade
him to leave the woman and she would forgive and forget. But when
she finds that nothing is of any use. Her courage is seen in warning to
her husband. "I'm a human being, you men will never grant that.
For you we are play things when you feel like hugging and slaves at
other times. Don't think that you can fondle us when you like and
kick us when you choose."18
Narayan has a lot to speak on issues like love and marriage but he
suggests that the relationships based on good values, truth, honesty,
sincerity, mutual love and faithfulness would live long. Relationship
based only on selfish consideration would not live long. In this
connection, education is seen as a powerful means to attain dignity and
self-reliance. Savitri wonders, "If I had gone to college and studied I
might have become a teacher of something". She further adds,
"Sumati and Vimla must study up to B.A. and not depend for their
salivation on marriage."19
The English Teacher is an interesting account of domestic
felicity, so called spiritual things and philosophic discussions. Krishnan,
the chief protagonist embodies authors vision of life. He ceases to have
18
Ibid, P. 12
19
Ibid.,p.120
210
interest in life when his wife Sushila dies. The sudden death of his wife
Rajam made the novelist overwhelmed with impenetrable despair. The
second part of the novel is entirely fused with the psychic
communication, Kishna feels spiritual communion with his dead wife's
spirit. In his interview with Vedmantra, Narayan said that, "all that he
has set down in the second half of the English Teacher had actually
happened to him and that he frequently visit a lawyer in Madras
who claimed to communicate with the dead through so called
automatic writing."20
Narayans Next novel Mr. Sampath Presents some of the
important events of his life through the protagonist Srinivas, an editor of
the Banner. In this novel novelist has discussed his two main motifs
money and sex. This is the theme of restoration of the old order and the
social values upheld by our ancestors. Novelist in this novel tries to
explain his clear cut philosophy of earning money by only fair means
and use that for the welfare of the needy Srinivas is shown as the
obedient character of the author. Narayan comments: "Overnight, as it
were, Malgudi passed from a semi agricultural town to a semi
industrial town, with a sudden influx of population of all sorts. The
labour gangs, brought in from other districts, spread themselves
20
Badal, R.K., R.K. Narayan : A study (Prakash Book Depot, Bareilly, 1976), P. 38
211
out in the open spaces. Babies sleeping in hammocks made of old
pieces of cloth, looped over three branches, women cooking food on
the road side, men sleeping on parameters these became a common
sight in all parts of Malgudi."21 The Financial Expert is the story of a
man Margayya, who wish to reach the summit of Mount Everest like a
fanatical mountaineer. Richard Eharch rightly commented. "The
financial expert is likely to survive as one of the most original pieces
of fiction published this year."22 Margayya has been portrayed as an
astute businessman of Malgudi now changed into a semi-agricultural
semi-industrial town. In this town caste system seems to have
disappeared from the social scene, and in place of the feeling of
inferiority, now the sense of superiority is enjoyed by Margayya. This is
also one of the objectives of author’s writings. He tries to reform the
society according to his vision of national life. This novel is the
successful effort to humanise the hero from his greed and wickedness.
The Waiting for Mahatma, displays the political sense of the
author. It is not a political novel, Mahatma's character is quite
frequently narrated. The writing of this novel clears the insight and
vision of the author in the sense that he wants the readers to improve
21
R.K. Narayan, Mr. Sampath (Indian thought publication, Mysore, 1956), P. 4
22
Shiv K. Girla, R.K. Narayan, This world this art, (Saryu Publishing House, Meerut
1984), p. 34
212
their ways, through the examples his characters presented. It is a love
story of Sriram and Bharti against the background of the political life of
India during the independence movement in India. Through the Bharti's
character Narayan has depicted the feeling for un-touch-ability and
independence deeply. Bharti is the true follower of Gandhiji and Sriram
joins her. In this novel, the author experiments in role reversal in terms
of male and female hierarchy. Bharti emerges as the final emancipator
of Sriram. Both Bharti and Sriram are orphan, yet their worlds are
fundamentally opposed.
Bharti, in The Wating for Mahatma play an important role. She is
a staunch follower of Gandhiji, who takes an active port in Quit India
Movement and collects fund for Harijan welfare programmes. She is an
educated young girl who is like Narayan’s other female characters try to
define her role. She advocates liberty of women and want them to join
her. Bharti is a social worker in the novel she is described as a social
reformer: “She is daughter of India who wanted something to do
with Mahatma Gandhi. She is Sriram’s destination who loves to be
where Bharti is”.
The Guide is R.K. Narayan's much discussed and most popular
novel. Like The Dark Room, The Guide is also voices author’s concepts
of women's emancipation through portrayal of Rosie. She is the main
213
female character of the novel. She is the artistically inclined, a young
and beautiful wife of Marco, the archaeologist. Rosie meets Raju an
enthusiastic tourist guide at Malgudi railway station and this meeting
changes her fortune. Her married life with Marco proves miserable,
woefully incomplete and unfulfilled. Raju is shown as a joyful
Youngman. Marco is a art lover, he is preoccupied with dead and long
lost things like cave walls. Raju comments in horror, “This man would
go on wall gazing all his life and leave her to languish in her hotel
room. Strange man" 23 Raju gets involved in a tangle of new
relationship. Rosie, Marco's wife becomes Raju's lover. Abandoned by
Marco, Rosie realized, with Raju's help, her ambition of becoming a
dancer. But Raju's possessive instinct finally he trays him into a
criminal action, and sentenced for forgery.
Rosie, like Raju is a multifaceted personality, who moves from
being a Devdasi, an highly educated girl, then to a housewife, rejected
by her husband and finally establishes herself as a professional dancer.
In spite of her fully gained independence she often regrets for her failed
marriage. She seems to be at the same time conservative and self
assertive challenging the orthodox Hindu conception of what women
should be and yet a part of her is intensely orthodox. She claims her
23
Narayan R.K. The Guide, (Indian Thought publication, Mysore, 1985), p.63
214
identity clearly by starting that she is Devdasi she belongs to the class
and caste outside the compass of organized patriarchal Hindu society.
She hails from family of Devdasi: "I belong to a family traditionally
dedicated to the temple as dancer.... We are viewed as public
women... we are not considered civilized"24
Yet, Rosie obtained the degree of M.A. in economics and as a
result she discards the convention and enters into matrimonial
agreement with Marco. She is shocked to find that he is more interested
in the sculptured figures on walls and stones in caves, than in his wife,
who is living embodiment. Finding encouragement and interesting
engagement from Raju, Rosie too started taking interest in him. In the
absence of Marco, the two get drawn close to each other. Raju's mother
was against this affair, she warns Raju of the bad influence, ".... don't
have anything to do with this dancing woman. They are all a bad
sort."25 Rosie's association with nature shows that is the only recluse
and relief of her life to which she claims, "I am prepared to spend the
whole night here. Here at least we have silence and darkness,
welcome. Things."26
24
Narayan R.K. The guide, (Orient Longman Private Ltd. Delhi, 2004) P. 84
25
Ibid- p. 69
26
Kundu, Rama, Anita Desai's Fire on the mountain, (Atlantic Publishers and Distt.,
2005), P. 127
215
Rosie’s quick association with a night, with the jungle and wide
Mampy hills gives her character a new dimension which relates to echo-
feminism like Nanda Kaul in Fire on the Mountain. But the most crucial
comparison in the novel comes when Raju narrates the scene in which
Rosie watches the king kobra to dance, Rosie's attraction to the snake
and her performance of the snake dance are richly symbolic and highly
suggestive. Like the snake which belongs to the world of undergrounds,
Rosie too belonged to the socially stigmatized class of Devdasi's
reforming herself like the snake to become closer to lord Shiva Natraj.
The spiritual transformation is therefore, evident here and it is cleared
that the metaphor of dance rightly associated with Rosie. She gets
frustrated with Marco because he forbids her to dance and gets duped
by Raju.
Rosie is an artist par excellence. She has an aesthetic sense and
wishes to nurture it. She is, of course, grateful to Raju who has made
her national celebrity as the greatest dancer of Bharat Natyam. But the
same Raju remains responsible for the abrupt end of her career. He
made her dancing art a commercial venture tainted with the vices of
cheap popularity. Raju made a fortune out of Rosie's dancing career and
liked to live lavishly. Nalini alias Rosie seemed to accept it all with a
touch of resignation, but she was no longer her old happier self. Raju
216
realises, "She had seemed such a happy creature in her old house,
even when my uncle was bullying her"27
Rosie after getting popularity as a great dance feels that there is
no need of Raju at all. She needed no props. "I knew I was growing
jealous of herf- reliance... She would never stop dancing. She would
not be able to stop. She would go from strength to strength.”28 Raju
discovers that Rosie is independent now she is no longer in need of any
assort. She is now a new woman an emancipated one. He remarks:
"Neither Marco nor I had any place in her life, which had its own
sustaining vitality and which she herself had underestimated all
along." 29
Raju exploits Rosie for his own advantages and enjoyments. He
says: “I had monopoly of her and nobody had anything to do with
her.. she was my property and a little later. I did not like to see her
enjoy other people's company. I liked to keep her in a citadel.”30
Raju thinks that Rosie can't do anything without his support; he also
thinks that Rosie is successful only because of him. But he is soon
disillusioned. She rises to new heights of popularity and stardom
27
Ibid, p. 173
28
Ibid., p.187
29
Ibid., p.199
30
Ibid., p. 127
217
without him. He is full of surprise at her extraordinary vitality. Raju
realizes that Marco, her husband and he himself are useful at all to her.
She leaves her husband because he takes no interest in her art.
A woman is physically weaker than a man but when she is
emotionally disturbed, she becomes stronger than man for the simple
reason that in such moments of crisis, she derives strength from her
inner most resources. She becomes stronger and more confident. This is
exactly the case with Rosie, after she feels humiliated and cheated by
Marco and Raju. She emerges as a new woman, more confident and
more independent. She feels that it is the inner strength that matters and
it is sufficient enough to face the world habituated by man like Raju and
Marco. This is the way that in her begins self realization of woman. The
novelist tries to bring home this important aspect of Rosie's character
which in itself embodies the author's own vision of life.
Narayan has taken a radical view of the subject of marriage in
this novel. He has artistically drawn the picture of the social as well as
political life of the country. The rich, though immoral in their private
life, become influential in the society, and their show of social service
gets importance. There is a clash of caste and class in the society. The
novel present the strange transformation of the protagonist from a
tourist guide into a jailbird, then a fake Sadhu into a famous martyr.
218
R.K. Naraya's next novel The Man Eater of Malgudi, presents the
chief protagonist, Natraj as a cowardly, submissive and good for
nothing fellow. Novelist has taken the story from mythology as he told
an audience at Columbia University in 1972, "At some point in one's
writing career, one takes a fresh look at the so called myths and
legends and finds a new meaning in them. After writing a number
of novels and short stories based on the society around me, some
years ago suddenly I came across a theme which struck me as an
excellent piece of mythology in modern dress. It was published
under the title the man eater of Malgudi. I based this story on a well
known mythological episode the story of Mohini and Bhasmasur."31
Through this novel Narayan has expressed his view that a man is
responsible for his miserable condition.
Vasu is an aggressive bully and from the very first day of his
arrival in Malgudi, he creates death and destruction and spoils the
peaceful carefree life of Natraj and his circle. He treats the poet and sen,
the journalist, with contempt, makes fun of them and oases sarcastic
remarks. He says that we receive from almighty only that what we
deserve. Man on earth is helpless, there is nothing in his hands to do or
undo. Natraj feels sorry for not coming up to Vasu’s expectation . He is
31
R.K. Narayan, Gods, Demons and Modern Times (The literary criterion, 3 winter,
1972) pp 47-48
219
overwhelmed by the spirit and indomitable courage of the taxidermist.
Afraid of him, Natraj says: “I was longing for a word with Vasu. I
stood like a child at the treadle, hoping he would look at me and
nod that all would be well again. He was a terrible specimen of
human being no doubt, but I wanted to be on talking terms with
him.”32
The Vendor of Sweets presents an old windower of high minded
Gandhian philosophy. Though he is a fack disciple but tries to put
forward Gandhi's vision of life. Jagan's hypocrisy has changed his
nature. Circumstances compelled him to leave his house. Helplessly he
could not compromise with the world. Over this situation G.S. Amur
point out: "His act is an act of despair; he runs away in tears."33
The portrayal of the emergence of new woman in the post-
independence era is greatly discussed and elaborated in Narayan's The
Painter of Sign. This novel brings out the relationship between Raman,
a young rationalist sign-painter with his old aunt in Malgudi and Daisy,
the heroine of the novel. Daisy is a family planning officer who does
her work with a visionary zeal. She is an educated woman who does not
32
Narayan R.K., The Man Eater of Malgudi (Indian Thought Publication, Mysore, 1980),
p. 94
33
Amur, G.S., R.K. Narayan in his own culture: An approach to the vendor of sweets.
From explorations in modern Indo English Fiction, edited by R.K. Dhawan.(Bahri
Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1982), p. 128
220
believe in the western culture and as a pure Indian woman she performs
her duty honestly. Though her name suggests a westernized tradition,
but there is a tradition abiding spirit in her.
The Painter of Signs embodies the spirit of change and
urbanization that blows over Malgudi. Daisy, who dominates over her
male counterpart, Raman, manifests the spirit of liberation. She is the
only female character in all the Malgudi novels of Narayan, whose
dynamism controls all the events in the novel. She is strikingly modern
in her spirit of independence. Women like Savitri and Rosie are of the
traditional type, who depend on the men folk and can not conceive of an
independent existence. Daisy is the new woman who does her best to
establish women’s equality with men. She is anti-family in her attitude.
Daisy, a family planning activist is alienated from the institution of
family in one way or the other. Born in a joint family, she feels
suffocated. She discards the institution of marriage and consequently
has a sort of unmitigated antagonism to conception. She realises and
admits honestly: “married life is not for me. I can’t live except
alone.”34
The Painter of Sign follows the unusual courtship of Raman, a
sign painter in Malgudi and Daisy, a career wise feminist working to
34
Narayan, R.K. The Painter of Sign, (Indian Thought Publication, Mysor 1989).p 89
221
make family planning available to all in India. She employs Raman to
paint signs and murals for various clinics throughout the countryside.
During their business travel, Raman infatuated with Daisy who is
determined to succeed in her own business before becoming his wife.
She offends the groom on the face and thus offends the whole orthodox
tradition. She flees her family, and never again in her life she gets
herself reconciled to the idea of a family. She merely withdraws
physically but remains active and omnipresent in her activities done
here, that can be supposed to evolve into a social movement in future
and may act in the way she desires. Daisy’s independent nature is
further evident when we notice that her aim is confined not only to the
area of family planning but she endeavours to enlighten the villagers
with the light of education. Education would help them distinguish
between right and wrong. Daisy has a tradition of her own within which
she is successfully devoted to her mission. She is not defeated, rather
goes on spreading her mission with rejuvenated spirit to the well being
of humanity.
The World of Nagaraj is set in the typical background of familiar
Malgudi. It describes the unwelcome complications in the quiet and
comfortable life of the protagonist, Nagaraj. The conflict between
tradition and modernity has been revealed through Tim’s character. Tim
222
is fascinated by the degenerating influence of modernity. He leaves his
uncle’s house along with his wife Charu, but in the end, like all
rebellious characters in Narayan’s novels, realises his folly and returns
to the fold of tradition and family life. In the novel all male and female
characters are struggling sometimes for their liberty and sometimes for
their identity. Like other Malgudi novels this novel also presents
common human follies and reconciliation at last.
Talkative Man and The Grandmothers Tale also express the
vision of the author through the deeds of main protagonists. Almost
every novel deals with its genuine and individual problem. The creative
artist has beautifully and artistically tried to solve the mystery or
problem raised by him in the beginning. The novelist presentes the
problem first and then through his visionary outlook finds salvation.
The novelist after much wanderings in and around the Malgudi circus,
observes the ways and manners of human beings he is familiar with. He
comes to the conclusion that, “humans have monopolized the
attention of fiction writers. Man in this smugness never imagines
for a moment that other creatures may also possess ego, values,
outlook and the ability to communicate, though they may be

35
incapable of audible speech.” Narayan's characters have a
35
R.K. Narayan, A Tiger for Malgudi, (Indian Thought Publication, Mysore, 1979), pp.7-
8
223
philosophic outlook towards life. philosophy for them is not an
objective reality but a way of life. Narayan's characters can be
categorized into three distinct groups on the basis of their philosophical
perspectives and social activities. Firstly, there are the chief protagonists
with a specific philosophical vision in life. Srinivas in Mr. Sampath and
Natraj in the Man Eater of Malgudi and Nagraj in the world of Nagraj
are philosophers in their own ways who expound, protect and promote
the value system that is deeply rooted in Indian philosophical thought.
Secondly, there are those like Vasu in The Man Eater of Malgudi and
Sampath in Mr. Sampath who offer a resistance to the unity and
harmony of the Malgudian world which is a microcosm of the Indian
society. Lastly, Narayan introduces in his novels a class of people who
offer a critique of Indian philosophy and thought, in their own way.
They are ordinary people engaged in the mundane activities and their
attitude of life, circumstances and fate bring about the divergent
interpretations and analysis of Indian philosophy.
Narayan's characters adhere to or violate the ethical and moral
system which is the major component of Indian philosophy and thought.
His philosophical characters subscribe to the moral and ethical dictates
and codes laid down in Manu-Smriti; Srinivas and Natraj are moralists
who adhere to the values of the Indian society. The characters who
224
violate the peace and harmony of the Malgudian world are immoral,
unethical and they are eventually punished. Mr. Sampath ends up a
forlorn person while Vasu precipitates his end in a mysterious manner.
The critiques of philosophy simultaneously pursue their own ethics.
Narayan's fictions authenticate the eternal view of self-
realization and Moksha as well as the contents of Indian philosophy.
Moreover, his birth and upbringing in a traditional Brahmin family
further substantiates this indelible mark of Hinduism on his personality
and writing. The Bhagvad Gita and its Karma philosophy regards self-
realization or enlightenment as the ultimate goal in a man's life,
although the methods for the attainment of this goal may vary from man
to man. Soul i.e. Atman acquires unanimity with the supreme soul or
almighty who is Paramatma or God. Moksha is a state of moral and
intellectual perfection transcending the distinction between good and
evil, between doubt and faith, between being and non being. This goal is
attainable in present life as per the teachings, sayings of the upanishads
and Jivan Mukti or liberation in the end, when the individual who has
reached this stage, dissociates himself from physical accomplishments,
he becomes Brahman itself; that is final release or Videha-Mukti.
Narayan has very artistically interwoven various thoughts of The
Bhagwad Gita in his novels. He has presented the theory of
225
renunciation, and liberation or Moksha in his two novels, The Guide
and A Tiger for Malgudi. Raju, the tourist guide is initially entrapped in
the illusory world when the materialistic charvaka philosophy guides
and governs his life. He commits the crime of forging the signature of
Rosie and is accordingly punished and sent to the prison. He has to pay
for his foul deeds. He receives his ill fate accordingly his evil Karma.
But landed into the prison life, he finds time for his moral and social
transgression. The prison accrues to him an ideal opportunity to journey
into the innermost regions of his soul and shakes off his material and
social illusions. Thereafter, evolution in the character of Raju is a
ceaseless and ongoing process. If the Guide is the spiritual odyssey of a
man, A Tiger for Malgudi on the contrary presents an insight into the
animal world. Narayan has experimented here with the popular theme of
transformation in a beast. The novelist's choice for the most powerful
animal form the animal kingdom as the chief protagonist in the novel is
full of inferences and hidden meaning.
R.K. Narayan is a writer voicing the emancipation of women in
the Indian orthodox Hindu Society. In Indian society men hold a
superior position and women are confined to the home and hearth.
Indian woman is clamped in with all sorts of taboos, traditions and so
called customs. It would be wrong to consider Narayan as a feminist. In
226
terms of Western feminism Narayan’s attitude is shaped with a strong
Indian sensibility. His feminism stands to resist the possibility of any
foreign cultural aggression in the movement that he launches to bring
about a change in the status of Indian Women. It is true that Narayan
admits the inevitability of Western notion of liberated women, but he
does not forget to depict the perils of following western waves of
movement for women's freedom in India.
The way Narayan tried to promote the status of women is
significant.He follows a slow and steady method to carry his women's
lib- movement which begins in from The Dark Room and come to an
end with fulfilment in The Painter of Sings.He encompasses a long
journey from Savitri to Daisy via Shanti, Bharti and Roise. The chief
reason behind it remains in Narayan's being a post- colonical writer. He
does not encourage the western wave in the process although he
registers changes in the fabric of society under the impact of colonial
rule. He depicts the modernization and endorse the moribund society of
Malgudi. He often questions the thwarting taboos and orthodox beliefs
that reduce a woman to a plaything of a man. Narayan presents woman
as upholder of traditional values, he develops the movement within the
traditions of Malgudi society, and so Shanta Bai is portrayed as a
227
wreaker of home, Rosie takes the traditional name Nalini and Daisy
leaves Malgudi.
A woman has held a very strange place in Indian society. She has
been revered for being ‘Sati’ and at the same time she has been hated
and loathed for being a widow or for not bringing dowry. Stories of
women are in abundance in the ancient literary texts. However, with the
progress of time the woman of Indian society changed and she started
making herself noticed by fathoming all areas which were until now the
arena of men. In literature too, the role of woman was given a certain
distinction. In this league R.K. Narayan writes about characters like
Savitri and Shanta Bai in The Dark Room and shows the various
perspectives of the Indian woman.
The above analysis shows Narayan as a traditional storyteller. He
does not think to shape or create story, that comes naturally to him. His
narrator is often a detached and amused observer of events. There is
very little emotional involvement of narrator in his novels. His first and
third person narrators show little variation among themselves and carry
an unmistakable imprint of their creator. People react and respond to the
actions and situations of others lives. The characters of R.K. Narayan’s
novels are clearly more important than the situations. His delineation of
women characters has been one of the unfailing considerations. His all
228
women characters are from Malgudi but, they are much different from
each-other. All these female characters are different individuals with
merits and demerits of character. Thus, Narayan has successfully
presented the whole milieu of the Indian middle class society.
***
229

ENGA SEM II (GUIDE) ARTICLE 1 - Srijita

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

ENGA SEM II (GUIDE) ARTICLE 1 - Srijita

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter – V: R.K.

Narayan’s Vision of Life

R.K. Narayan emerged as the second man in the illustrious trio

writing in English. He managed to retain his sole identity as a

either plentiful of output or a reflection of the author's contentment. It is

class people. Upper class characters and characters belonging to the

lowest sections of society being outside his ranges are seldom

introduced, successfully his works.

The most important feature of Narayan's writings is perhaps his

commitment towards his imagined town Malugudi, he created for his

series of novels. In his novels, Narayan has taken up social problems of

characters. Protagonists in the work of art, be it any genre are the

to move and act accordingly. It is the creative artist who creates

thoughts and actions determines the attitudes or outlook of author

the protagonists in the novels of R.K. Narayan embody his vision of

man of letters prime and simple."1

Experience and expression are two very significant phenomena in

of art or literature is an expression of writer’s understanding of. life.

Dispositions of a writer are best reflected in the characters created They

He is simply concerned about the basic problems of life and the

universe. Then he starts formulating his own principles or system of

thought which may be called the vision of life. R.K. Narayan is no

exception. He too embodies his own outlook through his protagonists in

In all the works of literature, we find that author makes an

attempt to fight against the process of dehumanization and he attempts

to assert humanness. It is, in fact, unending search for identity which is

,a writer is interlinked with his world and he ought to have meaningful

relationship with the world his writings belong to.

R.K. Narayan successfully deals with women characters as he

He has portrayed in them what he has felt about. He presents their

feelings and emotions and thought and ideas. He is more interested in

the inner conflicts of their life. It is in relationship with the male

we find in his novels throughout.

Although Narayan is not a teacher or preacher yet the central

problem in his novels is the problem of living a meaningful life. The

novelist presents the problems realistically in the background of a

traditional patriarchal system of society. Like other writers, R.K.

sexes and makes life happy and meaningful. It is a natural human

R.K. Narayan we find marriage without love or love without marriage.

There can be no love without personal emotions. Love always aspires

for higher ideals which is different to obtain and more difficult to

gives a distinct meaning to life.

recorded usual feminine vices and virtues. We find, the qualities of

love, sacrifice and faithfulness, and courage. In the world of R.K.

Narayan, there is a supremacy of man over women. They don’t rise

and not by denying it. R.K.Narayan’s philosophy is based on acceptance

of life and not on denial of life. He signifies positive and affirmative

strength. He is not pessimistic in his vision. He hopes for a brighter

future though, he does not necessarily provide solution to the problems.

The novelist is presented with consummate knowledge of human

comedy. It is a blend of tragic-comedy. It is this realistic perception of

life that gets manifested in his novels through his characters.

Through the panorama of Malgudi novels Narayan faithfully

Indian society. He has undergone a considerable change under the

influence of western materialistic civilization, the changes have been

vividly noticed amongst the people. According to O.P. Mathur:

wind from the next has changed much of the panorama.”2

Indian writer in English of the pre-Rushdie era. Due to the extreme

readability of his fiction, Western critics have had a kind of preference

sub-text of the literary work.

The Sahitya Academi award-winning novel ‘The Guide’ forms an

of the South Indian writer. Rightly considered as one of Narayan's