Socio - Political Aspects in R. K. Narayan s The Guide

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1 Socio - Political Aspects in R. K. Narayan s The Guide Mr. Jare M. R* Research Student (Ph. D.) Tiliak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune. Dr. Dhumal D. V** Assistant Professor (English Department) S. M. Joshi College, Hadapsar, Pune. Abstract: The present research paper, intends to focus on Socio Political Aspects in R. K. Narayan s The Guide. R. K. Narayan is well known novelist as well as postcolonial writer in Indian English literature. He is very famous for his novel, The Guide, which deals with postcolonial aspects. In the Indian English literature, Postcolonial writings are attempts at reviving the ethnic cultures, traditions, beliefs, languages etc. The postcolonial literature inculcates pride in one s own ancient culture and traditions. It abounds in patriotic feelings. Its aim is to develop the national identity in the wake of colonial rule. It deals with the colonized people s response to the colonial legacy by writing back to the center. The indigenous peoples start to write their own histories, legacies, using often the colonizer s language. His well-known novel, The Guide exposes not only through elimination of western civilization and cultural, traditional carnival. It is also based on political picture; his situation is that of the serious inner who is alive to require discussing the challenges of the post-colonial dilemma. He is either aware of the predictability of transform, or of the issues that focus the processes of change in a conventional civilization. The border between traditions as well as modernity is arbitrated with feature satire in his The Guide. Keywords: Post-colonialism, Westernization, imperialism. Introduction: The present research paper emphasizes on Socio Political Aspects in R. K. Narayan s The Guide. His literary writings give us what is particularly diverse regarding Indian modernity. His novels imitate the course of India s current social and enriching rebellion, but energetically editorimej2011@gmail.com, Vol-6, Issue-5, May Page 116

2 coherent and arbitrate its various attitudes and stances. The Western collide on Indian society and middle-class living life is very well depicted in his writings. One more thing is east-west which is an inevitable idea in his entire writings. Though, he has not presented this thought in terms of a huge social, financial or political clash, nor in terms of an idealistic disagreement. Its dimensions are ethical, so profound and inconspicuous that one might easily miss it in total. His The Guide is in type of a biography. The hero of the novel, Raju, is in turn a railway station food seller at Malgudi city, a traveler guide, anover-romantic adulterer, a dancing girl s executive, a trickster, a jail-bird and a martyred spiritualist. The tale pursues that the hero along anunusuallytress time series. After describing the early life and education of Raju, Narayan showed how Malgudi became a railway station and how Raju became the owner of a railway stall and then came to be a tourist guide. Trying to help a rich visitor, Marco, the archeologist, in his researches, Raju involves in a tangle of new relationships. Rosie, Marco s wife, became Raju s lover. Abandoned by Marco, Rosie realized, with Raju s help, her ambition of becoming a dancer. However, hisselfish instinct lastly betrayed him into a wrong action, and he accuses and criminal for phony. Coming out of the jail, he cuts off all connection with the history. As he makes a mistake as an austere, he obliges to guide as a Sanyasi (Sage) life. One more, he traps in the coils of his own self-deception, and he compels to assume a 20 days fast to end a famine that in danger the area with a dearth. In unsuccessful, he notifies his leader disciple Velan the entire reality about himself and his girl-friend, Rosie, and about collidesas well asconfinement. Other than, no one allege that he isanybodyas a Sage. One day, he makes his own bed, and he lies on it. Therefore, the researcher is free to deduce that, on the last day of the fast, he died luckily, as a sacrificial victim. While the heroine of the novel, Rosie is well-educated modern, married woman. She is never, dishonored with contemporaryas well asluxuriousethics. She is more conventional Indian spouse.she longs for fondness and thinks about from her companion. She may nothandle up with the archeological welfare of her companion, Marco who does not like being troubled by anybody, even his wife, in his studies and professional activities. He somewhat longs for pleasure of his success from his spouse. This distinction in wave-extent is the cause of clash between both husband and wife. As far as Raju s mother and Rosie are concerned there is difference in their assertiveness and spirit. It is very evident. Raju s mother, being traditional Hindu woman, does not have open civicacquaintance. She is bound by traditional values and patriarchy. Therefore she is afraid of going out of the house and mixing with the people. On the other hand, Rosie represents modern editorimej2011@gmail.com, Vol-6, Issue-5, May Page 117

3 woman. Therefore, she is not afraid of going out and mixing with the people. She seems to be influenced by the western culture. Her character, actions and assertiveness are totally opposite to Raju s mother. She without any fear goes out of the house alone and carries out her activities. If the researcher tries to analyze the novel, The Guide from the social point of view, we find that this novel depicts Indian society, its civilizations, ethnicities, ethos, pretentions, misconceptions and sacredconvictionsas well as it presents a clash between the customary and present values. Customary values are well represented through Raju s mother and his maternal uncle and present values are represented by Raju and Rosie.There is always a clash between old and new and whenever it is there than traditional values have to give place to modern values. Perhaps because of that Raju s mother has to leave her home for Raju and Rosie. R. K. Narayan has always written his novels in a bi-cultural viewpoint. Therefore, there is always a clash between the primeval Indian customs and ethics and contemporary western ethics. This clash can be seen in most of his novels and The Guide is not exception to it. There are three major characters in this novel. They are concerned with the revitalization of native Indian art forms. Raju seems to be the psychosomatic projection of the typical individual in Indian social set up. On one hand, Raju is deep-rooted in the family custom on the other hand, he is very critical of the long-standing institutional ethics. Rosie is criticized by the public as a public woman. Her caste affiliation is also criticized. However, for Raju she is the noblest caste on earth. Raju refutes the predominantway of thinking through his assertion about Rosie. There is also a clash between castes, creeds, classes and their long-standing standards. It also highlights on the fading modern social and moral structure. Marco is dandy and he only pays lip-service to a casteless, conventionless society. The casteless and conventionless society was slowly taking shape before him. Being dandy and pretentious, Macro publicized for a nicelookingwell-educated young lady irrespective of caste. He, for all his learnedness, looked upon dancing as just street aerobics. He denies and kills Rosie s predisposition for life and love of art. Raju s father is a worldly wise man. He takes the full advantage of the expatriate world line of work and trade. Perhaps his father s materialism might be the cause of Raju s materialism. The railway has brought the outside world to Malgudi. It has been brought with its contemporaneousness and hybridity. It differentiated the world of Malgudi both factually and emblematically. Before it, there were not the Western notions of individual choice and selfexpression. These were scrupulously out of place among the people of Malgudi. The milieus that editorimej2011@gmail.com, Vol-6, Issue-5, May Page 118

4 opposed customwere the westernized parts of the town. It was at these very places that Raju and Rosie carried on their meetings. It was afresh urbanized rich world of Malgudi. It was no longer the traditional world. Illogically enough Raju s mother and his uncle who were traditional minded were living there. It nurtured the rebirth of art by cheering Rosie to express herself as an artist and classical dancer. Rosie was avoided calling her as a devadasi by the people who were traditional. But because of the rise of a well-off and multiethnic class of people in Malgudi, she is reborn as Nalini, the esteemed classical dancer. In this novel the novelist seems to be mainly charmed by the omnipresent presence of swamis and saints, gurus and guides, charlatans and philistines, cobras and concubines in India s flamboyant society. Because of his distinguishinghumor, he is able to capture the gamut of Indian life. He has captured it with its misconceptions and pretenses, its dogmas and idiocies, its complexities and energies, its inflexibilities and flexibilities. The action of the novel proceeds in two distinct streams and presents two opposingfeatures of Indian ethos. From social point of view, the novel brings out the changeover in India from an outmoded way of life to a new and urbanized one. It also depicts the characters belonging to these two opposing areas. Raju s parents and uncle and the old school master signify convention, prevailing attitude, hierarchy and conformist values. The peripheral character however crucial to the development of the plot is Velan. His personality is not drawn in detail and it is not essential. He is not a credible character in a western setting and is the sole person accountable for the final quandary of Raju. However his contribution is not simply to subjugate Raju but to raise Raju up into a saint. It is Velan whose steadfast trust that finally enables Raju to rise above himself. The novel ends with typical Indian legend. The protagonist of the novel, Raju is major character which tells his own story to colleagueduring the night and by the time, he finishes, the angleboast. Thus, it is Indian cultural and typical Indian traditional way, Raju himself is a listener. Therefore, the novelist, R. K. Narayan, gets a superlative achievement throughout this unfolding story. Concluding Remark: Thus, The Guide is a composite parable which satirizes the development by which gods as well as demi-gods came to recognize within the belief, wherein through the century slegends and fairy-talesarrive to make around a gentleman until, he regularlyachieves the stature of a editorimej2011@gmail.com, Vol-6, Issue-5, May Page 119

5 divinity and joins the ranks of outer space beings as a marvelousmanifestation. In the ironical point of view, the novel, The Guide, iseven though a gentle one, about the classification of respectinside Hinduism. The protagonist, Raju is in a sense, the cleansing of a kind of personality that survives in Hindu legends for just about five centuries; the cheatclever. In our Hindu civilization, most of the sagaciousas well as Gods are described to be imperfect, and no one ismeasured perfect or deceitful so low as to be incapable of success great religious heights. In the same way, in Indian Hindu civilization, changeis happened to a human being due to an externalcharity without the decision of the human being. Works Cites: 1. Mathur, O. P. The Guide: A Study in Cultural Ambivalence.The Modern Indian English Fiction. Ed. O. P. Mathur. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, Nair, Rama. Gunas as Determinants of Character: A Study of R. K. Narayan s The Guide. Osmania Journal of English Studies. 26 (1990): Narayan, R. K. The Guide. Chennai: Indian Thought Publications, Sankaran, Chitra. Patterns of Story-Telling in R. K. Narayan s The Guide. The Journal of Commonwealth Literature (1991): Sen, Krishna. Critical Essays on R. K. Narayan s The Guide: With an Introduction to Narayan s Novels. Kolkata: Orient Longman Pvt. Ltd., editorimej2011@gmail.com, Vol-6, Issue-5, May Page 120