Critical Appreciation of the Story A Horse and

Two Goats
Introduction
‘A Horse and Two Goats’ is a short story written by acclaimed Indian writer R.K.
Narayan. The story was first published in 1960 in the Indian newspaper The
Hindu. The story appeared in Under the Banyan Tree, another volume of
Narayan’s short stories published in 1985.

The story is based on cultural differences and shows how they affect people.
An American who dreams of going to India, finally travels there to a small
village that was mostly forgotten. He sees a statue there. He likes it and
demands an old Indian present there to sell it to him. The oldman
misunderstands and thinks that the American wants his goats and the two
start to argue. However the truth dawns on the old man and they settle into
an agreement.

Plot of the Story

Exposition: The story is se in Kritam, a tiny village located on the edge of India.
The main character and protagonist of the story, Muni, is shown as poor and
deprived oldman who previously led a prosperous life, which has gone
down¬hill, leading to him and his wife living in poverty. Muni and his wife are
taunted by the villagers as a barren couple as they have no children, and are
frowned upon, because even though they are childless and must only support
themselves, they still live a rundown life.

Rising Action : In the rising action of the story, Muni begs his wife to make him
a breakfast of drumsticks. She decides to make this breakfast as long as Muni
is able to find the other ingredients needed. Muni’s wife does not have these
ingredients in the house not the money to buy them, therefore she sends her
husband off, telling him that a day of fasting will do him good.

Climax: Muni continues to his usual spot, underneath a large clay statue of a
horse and warrior, where he rests as his goats graze. Unexpectedly, Muni is
approached by an American man who has just pulled over in a station wagon.
Muni becomes frightened as the man’s ‘Khaki’ coloured clothing misleads
Muni to believe the foreign a soldier or police officer.

Muni tries to run away, however his old age restricts him and he is unable to
move. The stranger approaches Muni and greets with ‘yes, no’. These two
words are as far as Muni’s English vocabulary reaches. The foreigner, who in
reality is a businessman from New York, pulls out a cigarette, lights it and
offers it to Muni. Muni accepts this offer and then, the American pulls out a
business card. Muni becomes startled at this action as he believes that this is a
warrant of some kind, therefore he starts blabbering of his innocence.

Falking Action: The American asks Muni questions about the marvellous horse
statue which he believes that it belongs to Muni. Both men converse, though
neither understands what the other is saying. This language barrier leads to
Muni, reminiscing about his past, the statue and his childhood, while the
American explains to Muni how he will be rearranging his funiture back in New
York, to accommodate the statue.

Resolution: Finally after this strange conversation, the American places a

hundered rupee note into Muni’s hand. Muni believes he has just sold his
goats, while the American believes he has just purchased the statue. The
American makes his leave with the horse statue, while Muni returns home to
his wife. When he arrives home and explains to his wife that the money has
come from their sold goats, she is infuriated and does not believe him. Muni is
left confused and the story ends with the wife threatening him to go back to
her parents.

Moral of the Story

The story shows cultural differences. Both the American and the old man are
quite ethnocentric by knowing little of each other’s cultural background and
both keep talking about different topics, not understanding a word of what
the other one is saying. The writer tries to convey that cross-cultural
knowledge is important in the world today. We see how different these two
people are by what they value. For the wealthy American, the statue is nothing
but pretty decoration, and the hundred rupee note the American offers the old
man is of little value to him.

Muni, on the other hand, who only owns copper and nickles, can not even
afford the pretty dream of his because he does not have the small amount of
twenty rupees that are needed for this. The statue of the horse is not a
decorative object for Muni. As a matter of fact, Muni values it for the spiritual
importance of it. This shows how wealthy people are quite materialistic while
the poor value the small things.

Characterization
In the story, there are only four characters namely Muni, his wife, the American
and the shopkeeper. Muni is the protagonist of the story. He has been shown
as an old and desperately poor man. Once he was prosperous, with a large
flock of sheep and goats, but a series of misfortunes have left him with only
two scrawny goats. The whole story revolves around him.

Muni’s wife is a minor character. She has been presented as old as Muni, but
more agile in terms of being able to earn something or the other by doing
odd jobs so as to provide Muni with a meal at the end of the day. Then there
is an American who is only seen at the spot of a statue. As he is fascinated
towards the statue, he bargains it knowing Muni its owner. Shopkeeper is
another minor character who seems to be a business minded man. He seems
to be a practical man who can not be swayed by any words or actions.

Setting of the Story

The story takes place in Kritam, probably the tiniest of India’s seven lakhs
villages. Its four streets are lined with about thirty mud and thatch huts and
one Big House, made of brick and cement. Women cook in clay pots over clay
stoves and the huts have no running water or electricity. A few miles away,
down a rough dirt track through dry fields of cactus and lantana bushes, is a
highway leading to the mountains, where a large construction project is being
completed. The meeting between Muni and the American was intended to
take place between about 1945 and 1960 when the story was published, but
the date is not central to the story.

Appropriateness of the Title

The title of the story seems to be an appropriate, though it may be misleading
at first because readers will probably incline to assume the story a fable about
horse and two goats. However, the title reveals its meaning after reading the
story. From the beginning of the story it is observed that Muni is left with two
goats which he wants to get rid somehow.

It is only when the goats are being taken to graze near the highway, that
Muni’s chance encounter with the American takes place. The American thinks
that Muni is the owner of the horse statue under which he is resting. The
American, throughout his coversation with Muni, praises the statue as its
prospective buyer. On the other hand, Muni does not understand the
foreigner’s motive and goes on talking about Hinduism and the reincarnation
of the Kalki in a horse with reference to the statue.

Then the American gives Muni a hundred rupee note to buy the statue. Muni
accepts the note thinking that the American is interested in his two goats and
therefore is giving him hundred rupees. As there is confusion in the story
about the intention of buying the statue of horse or the two goats of Muni,
the title is undoubtedly justified.

Realistic Element
R.K. Narayan’s fiction is often noted for its realism, its simple and accurate
presentation of common, everyday life as it is lived by identifiable characters.
In A Horse and Two Goats’, Narayan pays careful attention to the small details
of Muni’s life : where he lives, what he eats, how he coughs when he smokes
his first cigarette. Although many of the small details, like the drumstick tree
and the dhoti where Muni puts his hundred rupees, are particularly Indian,
they are also basic enough to human experience that they are easily
understood by an international audience.

Humorous Element:
Humour is an important element in A Horse and Two Goats’ and
understanding Narayan’s humour is important to understand his world view.
Humour, which is affectionate and sympathetic to humanity and human
foibles is often distinguished from wit which looks more harshly on human
fallibility. For Narayan, who looks at the world through the lens of his Hindu
faith, weakness and strife are to be accepted and transcended, not railed
against. When he creates the comic characters of Muni and the American, he
laughs them gently and kindly, not critically.

Symbolical Element:
There is a symbolical element in the story, the horse statue. Along with time,
the statue has been forgotten and in a way, so has the village. The village may
not have been forgotten and in a way, but it is so small compared to the rest
of the large cities of the world. Consequently, this village called Kritam does
not seem to be common knowledge. Another factor this statue represents is
the newer generations that are becoming, perhaps, less religious and more
liberal. It is mentioned that ‘even the youthful vandals of the village left the
statue alone. The younger generations do not seem to care about the spiritual
significance of the religious statue.

Use of Imagery:
The writer has employed a number of images which adorn or beautify the
narration of the story. At first, we see colour images in phrases such as :

1. ‘Painted a brilliant yellow and blue all over.’

2. ‘red-faced foreigner’.
 3. ‘This is a marvellous combination of yellow and indigo.’

The writer has employed the rural imagery when he describes in the story
bamboo thatch, straw mud houses, mud pot, bullock carts and cattle grazing.
The auditory imagery is also found in the stroy :

1. ‘Muni kept cleaning his throat, coughing and sneezing.’ ‘

2. ‘A couple of cronies lounging in the temple corridor hailed him.’
3. ‘Hardly had these words left his lips when they heard the bleating
outside.’

The Use of Figures of Speech

Figure of speech alliteration has been used in many sentences of the story.
Some of the phrases are following :

1. map by a microscopic dot.

2. feuilt with 6rick.
3. a lock of forty sheep
4. A couple of cronies

Some depictions are exaggerated creating hyperbolic meatphors. For instance,

the village which objectively is a ‘tiny dot’ on local maps, becomes ‘the apex of
the world’ for locals.

Figure of speech personification has been used in the following: ‘Our pundit
discoursed at the temple once how the oceans are going to close over the
earth in a huge wave and carry on its back only the good people and kick into
the floods the evil ones plenty of them about.’
Simile has been used in the following : ‘ though when she came to him her
bosoms were large, like mounds of earth on the bank of a dug-up canal.’