Question: Comment on the use of irony and humour in R.K.

Narayan’s Swami and

Friends.

Answer: Childhood means simplicity. It is carefree. Playing in the sun, with

naked feet running over green grass without carrying weights on shoulders, a
child’s life is the most euphoric times of one’s life. It is envied by all adults who
miss living outside the constraints of their new monotonous lives. One even
craves to re-live his or her childhood memories once again. R.K. Narayan’s
Swami and Friends brings out a story of a ten year old boy, Swaminathan, who is
prone to all typicality of a child’s behaviour. He, at his youthful age, is not yet
fully equipped to understand the practicalities of a world that surrounds him.
He only seeks fun which he gathers by participating in mischief with his friends.
The humour can be described as the straightforward and the combination of
innocence mixed with the desire to be taken more seriously. In many ways, the
main character Swami thinks and acts like a small adult, trapped in a child's
body. Swami's fears and anxieties in contrast to the so-called real stress of
adulthood create a universal laughter. He is fascinated by toys, daydreams in
class, disdains schoolwork, and hence is so relatable to all readers of the novel
because it creates nostalgia of having being engaged in similar activities. This
relativity with the protagonist and the other characters of the story is what
makes this piece of Narayan’s work so lovable. The reader is not laughing
at Swami or his circumstances, but laughing for him, from a place of
understanding and delight. But one does not realise how difficult and complex
can a life of a child get. At a first glance, Swami is viewed as a young playful boy
who has enormous amount of fun with his friends Somu, Mani, Sankar and
Samuel, ‘the four that he liked and admired the most in his class’ (Narayan,
’Swami and Friends’, 6). His everyday is a new ravishing episode of a comic that
entertains any follower of his. Swami’s life takes a dramatic turn when Rajam,
the Superintendent’s son, comes into picture. Swami thinks of Rajam being a
sophisticated and supreme fellow and tries hard to earn his friendship by
constantly impressing him at every chance he receives. He perceives Rajam to
be of high standards and fails to behold his flaws of neither being affectionate,
loyal nor faithful. He distances himself with his other friends who also begin
calling him ‘Rajam’s Tail’ and quarrels with them without realising how weak
their friendship has grown. Swami also takes his parents and granny for granted.
On getting to know Rajam will be at his place, Swami requests his father’s room
to receive him, asks his mother to prepare nice food, orders the cook to wear a
clean lungi and also tells his granny, ‘...when he is with me you must not call me
or come to my room...fact is, you are – well, you are old...’ (Narayan, ’Swami
and Friends’, 41) Swami places Rajam on the top of his priority list. After he
impulsively joins a rebellion against the Biritish, he breaks windowpanes and is
transferred to another school and misses the cricket drills because of excessive
homework in the new school which displeases Rajam who forced Swami into
participating in the team. At this point of time, in a moment of desperation he
runs away both from school and home. When he returns home, learns that he
had indeed missed the cricket match, and discovers that Rajam stubbornly
refuses to see him after this. Friendship at that age is nothing more than peer
pressure and this is a fact that Swami cannot fathom. School is a place where
life is tough. Constant pressure from all directions finally tells on Swami and he
bends. The irony lies in the fact that he brings two worlds together merely to
gain attention of a new friend, for whom he becomes inconsiderate of his old
friends and family, and that one friend doesn’t even forgive him. Also, the
bigger irony is that a child’s life is not as easy as one assumes it to be.

Bibliography
 Links :

1. http://harishankar.org/reviews/Fiction/Swami-and-Friends-by-R-K-
Narayan.html
2. https://wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/swamiandfriends.htm
3. http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/comment-rk-narayans-humour-
novel-swami-friends-291378

 Books :

1. Swami and Friends by R.K. Narayan, Published by Indian Thoughts

Publication

Submission by:
Harshita Mehta