JAGAN

Jagan is a lovable hypocrite. His aggressive piousness, combined with his need to brag about
his detachment from the material world, make it hard to take him seriously. However, this
provides a useful contrast in his relationship to Mali. Nothing in the novel is more certain than
his love for his son. Although Jagan can be overbearing, stubborn, insufferable, and oblivious,
he truly wants Mali to be happy. He supports Mali in all of the endeavors that do not cause him
to compromise his own beliefs, and is willing to let Mali learn from his own mistakes, rather
than bailing him out of trouble and sparing him harsh lessons. Jagan does not find true peace
until he stops caring what others think of him. This is evidenced by the fact that he is finally
willing to retreat to the grove, where he will truly be alone and unobserved.

literary techniques in The

Vendor of Sweets.
There are plenty of literary techniques used in The Vendor of
Sweets, such as metaphors, rhetorical questions, and
personification. The story is filtered through the perspective of the
protagonist, Jagan, so most of these techniques are used to help
the author illuminate Jagan's thoughts and feelings.

In chapter 3, Jagan tells the doctor who treated his wife for a brain
tumor that perhaps "a nature-cure" would have helped with the
treatment. The doctor responds scornfully, telling Jagan, "Nature
would sooner see us dead. She has no use for a brain affected by
malignant growth." In this quote, there is personification. Nature
is personified as a cruel, merciless creature who would rather kill
than tolerate an imperfect organism. The doctor here is trying to
convince Jagan that the natural remedies he has so much faith in
are ineffective.

In chapter 4, Jagan is thinking about his son's prospective career as

a writer. Jagan feels anxious, because he is not sure exactly what
his son plans to write or if he will be any good. When he thinks
about his son's writing, this anxiety is revealed by a succession
of rhetorical questions. He asks himself, for example, "What does
he really write .... Stories? What sort of stories? Poems? Or did he
write philosophy?" This quick succession of rhetorical questions
indicates that Jagan knows very little about his son's writing and is
anxious, because he doesn't know if his son will be able to make a
career as a successful writer.

In chapter 5, Jagan is enthusiastically telling everyone who will

listen that his son, Mali, has arrived safely in America. The people
he tells fail to be quite as excited as he would like them to be and
become fixated on why Mali sent news via a letter rather than a
telegram. Jagan becomes frustrated and calls these people "Stupid
fellows! Frogs in the well!" This is an example of a metaphor. The
people with whom Jagan has become frustrated are, of course, not
literally frogs in a well, but Jagan uses this metaphor to articulate
how stupid he thinks they are. Frogs in a well are unable to see
much and live very confined lives. They don't have much life
experience. Jagan considers these people (who aren't as excited
about his son's journey to America as he thinks they should be) to
have also lived very confined, dull lives, which he takes to be the
reason for their supposed stupidity.
CHAPTER 1 SUMMARY

Jagan is introduced as the title character. He is an old man who operates a candy shop. This is
shown to be ironic, since he himself, according to the teachings of asceticism, has renounced
sugar and salt. He speaks with his cousins and boasts of all the earthly things he does not cling
to, but it is ironic to hear him brag about his own humility. Furthermore, there are
contradictions in his refusal to eat sugar, while he makes he living by selling candies. At the
end of the chapter, the workday has ended. Jagan’s workers report to him and turn in their
earnings. Jagan skims some of the profits off the top to avoid paying taxes on the unreported
income. It is clear that his morality is selective.
CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY

As Jagan walks home, he thinks about his book. He has written a book about homeopathy and
natural cures that has languished with a publisher for years. He sees his son Mali in a group of
students, but does not call attention to himself, not wanting to embarrass his son when he is
engaged with other youth.