Chapter - 4 POINT OF VIEW IN R. K. NARAYAN S THE GUIDE

Transcription

1 Chapter - 4 POINT OF VIEW IN R. K. NARAYAN S THE GUIDE 4.1) Introduction : The present chapter is an application of the point of view in relation to modality which is a special stylistic and linguistic feature of a text. R. K. Narayan s one of the most successful novels entitled as The Guide has been chosen for the application of the theory of point of view in relation to modality. The novel has crossed the national horizon and translated into several languages. It has been written after the independence and the setting is traditional and based on a fictional town Malgudi. The following issues are taken into consideration for the study of point of view: modality (deontic, boulomaic, epistemic and perception), evaluative adjectives, adverbs, and verba sentiendi, words of estrangements and unmodalized category. These linguistic tools have been studied/interpreted/analysed with reference to the values in modality (Halliday 1994; Tatsuki 2006), the relationship between the modal system and non-linguistic concepts (Simpson 1993), a model of point of view (Simpson 1993), categorical assertions (Lyons 1977), interpersonal metafunction (Halliday 1994, Halliday and Hasan 1989), epistemic and deontic modality (Palmer 1979, 1986, 1990, 2001, 2003) and characteristics of each of the three shading patterns (Simpson 1993). The chapter has followed the same scheme as it is followed in the third chapter of the present study. 4.2) Broad Storyline : Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan are the three well known Indian novelists in Indian English language. The present novel The Guide is Narayan s popular work. It has won the Sahitya Akademy Award for Narayan. R. K. Narayan s one of the most interesting novels is The Guide which has been written in the form of double narrative techniques: flashback and flash on. Narayan belongs to South India. The imaginary South Indian town named as Malgudi is the common setting for his most of the novels. The Guide has also the 126

2 same setting of imaginary town Malgudi. The story of the novel revolves around the life of Raju, a corrupt tourist guide who is primarily known as Railway Raju and a born dancer named as Rosie who is married with Marco, a man who is committed to his archaeological studies. The story of Raju who becomes a saint is a story of a man on whom saintliness is enforced. Flashback: First person Narration The story is told in two-fold narration. The novel begins with the release of Raju from the jail. After releasing from the jail, Raju takes shelter in a deserted temple of a village named as Mangal. The simple villagers take him granted as a Saint. Reluctantly, Raju narrated his own past to his one of the most loyal devotees named as Velan. This narration unfolds the past of his life. Raju a fatherless child lives with his mother and known as Railway Raju. Later he becomes a tourist guide and hence known as Raju Guide by the people and the tourists. The profession brought him in contact with Marco and his beautiful wife, a born dancer named as Rosie. She was so passionate dancer that her dancing changes the fate, destiny and future of her and Raju's life. Her dancing is so significant that it has been given place on the first page of the novel. Marco was against Rosie's interest in dance/art of dancing but she was not ready to leave it at any cost. Marco was interested in archaeology and Rosie was interested in dancing. Their passion of interests was a Lakshman-Rekha in their married life. Raju is fascinated by the charming personality of Rosie. He loves her and finally seduces her and enjoys good time with her. The fact is revealed to Marco. He becomes angry. He wants Rosie to go out of his life. Rosie pleaded and apologises for her blunder. Ultimately, Marco leaves Rosie behind and goes to Madras. Raju grabs this opportunity and gives shelter to Rosie in his home. Raju s widowed mother dislikes Rosie s entry, her dancing and the relationship of Raju with her. Raju s mother left the home when the things go beyond her control. Now, Rosie gets full freedom for the practice of dancing. Raju becomes the managing director of Rosie and Rosie becomes the dancer. Rosie s devotion, commitment and passion brought a grand success for her and she becomes a well known dancer. Their income grows tremendously. Raju thinks that it is his own success and started to live lavishly. He started to drink and gamble with his many rich friends. Everything was well and fine but there Raju made a mistake. He forges the signature of Rosie in order to 127

3 receive valuable jewellery which was lying in the bank on the joint account with her husband. The offence sent him in the jail whereas Rosie leaves for Madras. Afterwards, Rosie could do well without the help of Raju. Thus, the act of forgery made Raju and his beloved Rosie apart. In this sense, Raju s childhood, guide ship, love affair and imprisonment is revealed in the flashback narration and narrated by Raju himself. Raju himself narrates the flashback to his loyal devotee named as Velan. Flash on: Third Person Narration Raju takes the shelter in a deserted temple. The temple is located on the banks of the river Sarayu, near a village named as Mangal. The villagers assume him as a saint. They started to worship him and offer lot of eatables to him. It is a Velan, a villager who comes in contact with Raju and assumes him as a mahatma. As Velan s family problem is solved by pure coincidence, he becomes Raju s loyal follower. And it is the beginning of daily activities like discourse and gathering of the villagers in the temple led by Raju. Raju enjoys this saintliness thrust upon him by the villagers. He enjoys different types of food and a high-status offered by the villagers. When everything was well and fine drought plays a crucial role. The villagers fought themselves and divided into two groups and fought against each-other. The acute rain crisis forced the villagers to fight among themselves and Raju to starve. Raju asked Velan s brother to ask to the villagers to stop fighting and everything would be fine. He goes to the village and tells to the villager if they didn t stop the fighting, saint will not eat anything and satisfy the Rain God. And the comments of that villager made Raju to begin a fast for 12 days. A fast was aimed to please the rain-god. Reluctantly, Raju begins the enforced fast. The news spread everywhere like a wild fire. The huge crowd is seen including government officers and media persons at the temple. Though Raju begins the fast reluctantly, as time passes his mind and heart changes slowly due to humanity. At last, he asks Velan to take him in the basin of river. At the end of the novel, he told Velan and others that it was raining in the hill and sagged down. The question whether Raju really dies or whether the rain really comes are unanswered leaving the end into complete ambiguity. In this way, the growth of Raju into a Swami is set in the village named as Mangal which is narrated by an omniscient third person narrator. 128

4 For the analysis of point of view in the selected novel, a researcher has exactly followed the scheme which has been followed in the previous chapter. A researcher has selected the eight sample texts from R. K. Narayan s The Guide for the analysis of point of view in association with modality. 4.3) Text 1 He is a big man, he may go anywhere; he may have a thousand things to do. Oh, you don t know. He has renounced the world; he does nothing but meditate. What a pity he is not here today! Just sitting there for a few minutes with him ah, what a change it has brought about in our household! Do you know, that cousin of mine came round last night and gave me back the promissory note. As long as he held it, I felt as if I had put a knife in his hand for stabbing us. We won t have to fear anything more; it is our good fortune that this great soul should have come to life in our midst. But he has disappeared today. Wonder if he has left us for good. It would be our misfortune if he went away. His clothes are still all there in the hall. He has no fears. The food I brought yesterday has been eaten. Leave there what you have brought now; he is sure to come back from his outing and feel hungry. Raju felt grateful to this man for his sentiment. Do you know sometimes these Yogis can travel to the Himalayas just by a thought? I don t think he is that kind of Yogi, said another. Who can say? Appearances are sometimes misleading, said someone. They then moved off to their usual seat and sat there. For a long time Raju could hear them talking among themselves. After a while they left. Raju could hear them splashing the water with their feet. Let us go before it gets too dark. They say that there is an old crocodile in this part of the river. A boy known to me was held up by his ankle once, at this very spot. What happened, then? He was dragged down, next day Raju could hear their voices far off. He cautiously peeped out of his hiding. He could see their shadowy figures on the other bank. He waited till they vanished altogether from sight

5 4.3.1) Background of the Text 1 : Raju, a railway guide is sent to the jail due to his own guilt. He is released from the jail and takes shelter in one of the remote and abandoned temple where he is supposed as a holy saint. Velan, one of the villagers offers him food and experiences a kind of silence i.e. spiritual satisfaction in Raju s company. Raju s saintliness is approved by everyone when his words play a key role in the case of Velan s sister s marriage. Actually, it was due to the change in her thought but the villagers give the credit to Raju. Raju in his discourse used to apply the mysterious and vague expressions. It widened the circle of visitors. Men and children including all variety of people started to visit the temple. They were listening to Raju silently. Raju sometimes prefers silence and used to speak anything. The people even accept his silence with equal gratitude. The evening time was a critical time for him because the villagers used to visit the temple at evening after returning from their field. One such evening, Raju hides himself behind large hibiscus bush. The villagers come there and noticed the absence of their saint. It leads them to speak, inquire and question about Raju. As a result of the discourse we have the text ) Significance of the Text 1: All the actions of anything come under the domain of culture. The present selected text is also not an exception to this general rule. In Indian culture saint, temple, cast and religion have special values. It is supposed that saints have mysterious and magic power which differ them from the others. The present selected text is significant in the sense that the general opinion of the villagers about Raju (saint) is described in it. According to the villagers saint like Raju can go anywhere by just meditation. They think that it is their good fortune so God has sent a soul of Raju to them to rescue the villagers from their predicament. The selected text reveals the mentality of the villagers which is quite often seen all over India. The superstitions of Indian villages are more or less same all over the country. All the religions have emerged from the east region of the world. The people of India worship a so-called saint but not a famous scientist. The real mentality of the villagers have been described in it so the present selected text is significant one and helps to reveal the point of view of the narrator. 130

6 4.3.3) Internal or External Point of View : The mode of narration plays a vital role in deciding the point of view. There are homodiegetic and heterodiegetic point of view which have been employed in the selected novel. The present selected text belongs to the third person point of view. It uses the third person pronouns (he, she, it, and they) and the name of protagonist Raju while narrating the story. We find the use of first person pronouns as well but it is only in direct speech. In this sense, for deciding the point of view the reporting clause which is surrounded around the direct speech and the indirect speech or narration has been considered for the analysis. See the following key expression with underlined lexis from the selected text: i) Raju felt grateful to this man for his sentiment. ii) For a long time Raju could hear them talking among themselves. iii) Raju could hear them splashing the water with their feet. iv) Raju could hear their voices far off. v) He cautiously peeped out of his hiding. vi) He could see their shadowy figures. vii) He waited till they vanished. The above underlined noun Raju and pronoun he, his suggest that the text uses the third person pronouns and hence it belongs to the heterodiegetic mode of narration. The text expresses the point of view of a narrator. It is not a point of view of a protagonist Raju. But it needs very little alteration. To transfer it and make it a point of view of Raju and at the same time it will shift to homodiegetic narration from heterodiegetic narration in the following way: i) I felt grateful to this man for his sentiment. ii) For a long time I could hear them talking among themselves. iii) I could hear them splashing the water with their feet. iv) I could hear their voices far off. v) I cautiously peeped out of my hiding. vi) I could see their shadowy figures. vii) I waited till they vanished. 131

7 In this way the linguistic analysis of the selected text 1 is of third person point of view which is of heterodiegetic types and hence belongs to the Simpson s Category B of External point of view of Narratorial mode (Simpson 1993:56). The mode of the selected text is not the reflector mode but it is of narratorial mode ) Application of Point of View : Let s find out the positive, negative and neutral shading of the selected text with the help of specific linguistic tools. Positive Shading The following underlined expressions indicate the positive shading of the selected text: i) Oh, you don t know.. ii).! Do you know, that cousin of mine. iii), I felt as if I had put. iv).that this great soul. v).this great soul should have come to. vi) Raju felt grateful to this. vii) Raju felt grateful to this. viii) Do you know sometimes these. ix) He cautiously peeped out of his. The underlined words from the expressions are know, know, felt, great, should, felt, grateful, know and cautiously indicate the positive shading of the selected tent. The lexis know, know, felt, felt and know belong to the category of verba sentiendi which proves the positive shading of the selected text. Apart from it, the lexis great, grateful and cautiously are evaluative adjectives and adverbs. The evaluative adjectives and adverbs reveal the positive shading of the text. Apart from verba sentiendi, evaluative adjectives and adverbs the high-value modal should which expresses obligation is also used to indicate the positive shading (Halliday 1994: 362; Tatsuki 21006:76) of the text. In this way, the selected text expresses the positive shading of Category B of External point of view of narratorial mode. Negative Shading Negative shading as the wording denotes is completely opposite to the positive shading. The linguistic tools of negative shading are also visible in the selected text. 132

8 The following underlined words of the expressions chosen from the selected text reveal the fact: i), he may go anywhere;. ii) ; he may have a thousand things to do. iii) I don t think he is that kind of Yogi,. iv) Who can say?, v) For a long time Raju could hear them. vi) Raju could hear them splashing.. vii) Raju could hear their voices far off. viii) He could see their shadowy figures. The underlined words from the above expressions may, may, think, can, could, could, could and could reveal the negative shading of the selected text. The modals in the selected text are may, can and could are low-value modals (Halliday 1994: 362; Tatsuki 2006: 76) known as epistemic modality which reveal the negative shading of the selected text. Apart from low value modal, the word think belongs to the category of words of estrangements. A kind of uncertainty is expressed by it. It also adds to the negative shading of the selected text. In this way, the above noted linguistic tools reveal the negative shading of the selected text. Neutral Shading The third type of Category B External point of view of Narratorial mode is neutral. The following underlined lexis from the chosen expressions of the selected text reveals the negative shading of the selected text: i) He is a big man,. ii) Oh, you don t know.! iii) ; he does nothing but meditate.! iv). What a pity he is not here today! v) We won t have to fear anything more;. vi) ; it is our good fortune that. vii) It would be our misfortune. viii) His clothes are still all there in the hall. 133

9 ix) ; he is sure to come back. x)? Appearances are sometimes misleading, xi). They say that there is an old crocodile. As far as the above chosen examples are concerned, there is the use of the modal will and would in example v and vii respectively. And all other examples are the examples of unmodalized category. In other words, this unmodalized category of neutral shading expresses the strong affirmation which is called as categorical assertion. The modal which are found in the above expressions are will and would of median-value modality (Halliday 1994: 362; Tatsuki 2006: 76). In this way, the selected text contains a good amount of linguistic tools which reveal the neutral shading of the selected text ) Dominant Shading : The narrator has used the particular linguistic items to express his point of view. He has done so in order to achieve specific effect. A researcher found all the three shadings in the selected text almost equal in number. There are nine examples of positive shading, eight examples of negative shading and eleven examples of neutral shading. In this sense, the general opinion of village peasants about the Indian saints, sadhus, Gurus and religious figures have been explained by using all the types of shading. R. K. Narayan employed positive, negative and neutral types of shadings to reveal his point of view. The selected text and its point of view are so intermingled with one another that it can t be separated from one another. 4.4) Text 2 Raju felt like an actor who had come on the stage, and, while the audience waited, had no lines to utter or gestures to make. He said to the master, I think you may take the children away to their corner for their usual lessons; take one of the lamps with you. Even as he said it he could not help thinking how he was issuing an order about the boys who were not his, to the teacher who need not obey him, pointing to a lamp which again was not his. The teacher started to obey him, but the boys lingered on. He said, You must read your lessons first and then I will come and speak to you. Now I will first speak to your elders; what I say to them will not interest you. And the children got up and went away with the teacher to a farther corner of the pillared hall. 134

10 Velan ventured to suggest, Give us a discourse, sir. And as Raju listened without showing any emotion, but looking as if he were in deep contemplation, Velan added, So that we may have the benefit of your wisdom. The others murmured a general approval ) Background of the Text 2 : Raju, the main character of the story comes out of the jail. The dilemma was there in his mind whether to return to his home to Malgudi or not. He leaves the thought to return to his home-town Malgudi and reaches to the remote and abandoned temple of Mangal. In this remote temple of Mangal he is assumed as a noble person i.e. holy man who is known as saint by Velan. Actually, Raju never thought to be a saint. He was just a Railway Raju, a corrupt guide whose greed for money had sent him into the jail. As Raju comes out of the prison, there were two basic questions before him: Where to stay? What to eat? The remote temple has solved his first question. Now, Velan s misunderstanding is going to solve this second question ) Significance of the Text 2 : The remote temple solved Raju's problem of living. Now, Velan s misunderstanding is going to solve his second question. Hence, though Raju was not a saint, his basic needs of bread and butter allow Velan to proceed. He doesn t oppose to Velan. Meanwhile Raju s knowledge and experience as a railway Raju and Raju guide helps him to influence the folks including Velan, master, children and almost everyone. The villagers of Mangal use to bring him sweets, fruits and other needful things. In return, they expect blessings from him. The villagers used to visit the temple on regular basis. They persuade him for the discourse and blessings for the blessings through discourse the villagers have gathers there in the temple. The selected text is significant one and hence useful to reveal its point of view ) Internal or External Point of View : The text 2 belongs to the category of heterodiegetic. It is because the events and actions are relayed through a third person narrator. The author himself narrates the story in order to go further into the future. The following examples from the extract are quite sufficient to understand and comprehend that the narration is of third person: 135

11 i) Raju felt like an actor who.. ii) He said to the master,. iii) He said it.. iv) He could not help thinking how.. v) He was issuing an order about the boys. vi) He said, you must read your lessons first. A researcher is again confidently stating that this narration is not limited third person but it is third person omniscience narrative. It is because in the third person omniscience narrative, the author knows/feels/recognizes the internal movements of the character/s mind situation. The first sentence of the text reveals it clearly: Raju felt like an actor who had come on the stage, and while the audience waited, had no lines to utter or gestures to make. The word felt is significant here and reveals what the protagonist of the story is thinking or feeling about. The selected passage would have become the homodiegetic narrative after making the following changes: i) I felt like an actor who.. ii) I said to the master,. iii) I said it.. iv) I could not help thinking how.. v) I was issuing an order about the boys. vi) I said, you must read your lessons first. Thus, the above linguistic analysis reveals that the text 2 belongs to Category B External Point of View of Narratorial mode ) Application of Point of View : The actions and events of text 2 are relayed through the third person omniscient narrator. Hence, the type of narrative is heterodiegetic narrative. Though the narrator is the third person, he knows as well as tells what happens and what the main character/s think/know/feel. Hence, the narration is of third person omniscient type. As far as modality is concerned in association with the psychological point of view, there are three types of shadings. Those three shadings are called as positive shading, negative shading and neutral (categorical assertion) shading. 136

12 Positive shading The deontic modal system expresses duty and the boulomaic expresses desire. Positive shading is a type of modality which expresses desire, duty, obligation and opinion of the action, event and episode narrated in the text. The text is also full of verba sentiendi (words which denote thoughts, feelings and perceptions.). The following expressions reveal the positive shading: i) Raju felt like an actor The lexis felt belongs to the category of verba sentiendi because it expresses the feelings of Raju. Now look at the following sentence: ii) He said, you must read your lessons first. The modal must is used in the above clause. The modal must expresses high-value modality (Halliday 1994:362) and expresses strong commitment (Simpson 2004: 46). iii) I think you may take the children away. The continuum of commitment which is known as requirement is expressed by the deontic. The modal may expresses duty and it reveals deontic modality of permission. Hence, it also belongs to the same shading i.e. positive shading Negative shading The negative shading is full with the epistemic modal auxiliaries and words of estrangement. The uncertainty of the narrator is also revealed through human perception. See the following examples: i). he could not help thinking. ii), to the teacher who need not obey him,. iii) I think you. In the above sentence no. i, the modal could expresses lack of speaker s confidence. It is the epistemic degree of commitment. The basic proposition of the sentence is: He did not help thinking. Hence, the above sentence i, clearly reveals the negative shading. Now look the sentence ii, the modal lexical verb need again performs the same function and again add the negative shading of the text. The sentence iii, uses modal lexical verb think which shows the epistemic commitment of speaker s commitment and it belongs to words of estrangements. 137

13 Neutral shading Neutral shading is the shading in which there is the complete absence of narratorial modality. It is also known as categorical assertion. It reflects the principle of objective realism. Genette (1980) and Rimmon-Kenan (1983) called it external focalisation. Now look the following expressions from the selected text: i).then I will come and speak to you.. ii). Now I will first speak to your elders;. iii) ; what I say to them will not interest you. The modal auxiliary will denote median-value of modality (Halliday 1994:362). On the other hand, it is called as the categorical assertion (Lyons 1977). The rest of sentence is unmodalized and hence, belongs to the neutral shading of the concerned text ) Dominant Shading : From the above interpretation of the text, it is quite clear that all the three shadings of points of view are almost equal in numbers and Narayan has given equal importance to each of the shadings. There are three positive shadings, three negative shadings and four neutral shadings of point of view in the text. The linguistic tools of point of view are used by the narrator in order to achieve particular effect on the minds of readers. Raju occupy the central place among all these happenings. The point of view and the text can t be separated from each other as point of view is a unique future of the text. There might be at least one of the shading of point of view present in the text. 4.5) Text 3 As I entered, I heard her voice. Looking for me? She was sitting on a boulder in the shade of a tree. She must have seen me come up. I saw you even half a mile away, but you couldn t see me, she said like one who had discovered a fault. You were on the peak and I was in the valley, I said. I went up to her and made some polite inquiries about her coffee. She looked both sad and profound. I sat down on a stone near her. You have returned alone. I suppose he is wall-gazing? she said. Yes, I replied briefly. 138

14 He does that everywhere. Well, I suppose he is interested, that s all. What about me, interested in something else? What is your interest? Anything except cold, old stone walls, she said. I looked at my watch. I had already been away from him for nearly an hour. I was wasting time. Time was slipping through my fingers. If I were to make good, I should utilize this chance. Every night you generally sit up and quarrel, do you? I asked boldly. When we are alone and start talking, we argue and quarrel over everything. We don t agree on most matters, and then he leaves me alone and comes back and we are all right, that s all. Until it is night again, I said. Yes, yes. It s unthinkable that anyone should find it possible to quarrel or argue with you being with you must be such bliss ) Background of the Text 3 : Marco and his wife Rosie come to Malgudi. Marco is interested in anthropology while Rosie is a born dancer. As they are unfamiliar to the place, they seek help of a guide named as Raju, the protagonist of the story. Raju, a corrupt tourist guide and highly practical man impresses the couple. He helps them in each and every manner as well as accompany them especially Rosie who has a charming and fascinating personality. Raju observes the life of a couple. He recognizes differences in their attitude, interests, motives and overall lifestyle. On the other hand, he is fascinated by the charming and beautiful personality of Rosie. A bachelor Raju falls in love with a married Rosie. He is almost crazy in her love. He forgets everything for her. He forgets even the shop, business and home also. And he tries to meet her anywhere, anytime and in any condition. He finds out the new ideas and techniques to speak and interact with Rosie in her husband Marco s absentee. One such crucial occasion has been picked for the interpretation of point of view which is found in the selected text. 139

15 4.5.2) Significance of the Text 3 : The text is really significant one. The text is a discourse between Raju, the guide and Rosie, a dancer. For the first time Raju got a chance to interact with Rosie. The text reveals the feelings, emotions and affections of Raju towards Rosie. According to him Rosie is so beautiful creature that it is bless to have her company. As the selected text is significant, it is equally significant to study the point of view reflected in the selected text ) Internal or External Point of View : We have seen in the introduction of this chapter that Narayan has employed a double technique of narration in The Guide. The selected text is narrated by a protagonist of the story which starts in the past and proceeds up to the present time. Raju, the protagonist of the story gives each and every details of his past life to Velan, one of the typical villagers of Mangal. The narrator of the selected text not only narrates the actions, events, episodes and the story but also narrates what he thinks, knows and feels. Again, the more interesting feature of the point of view is that the distinction between who tells and who sees. From the selected text, it is clear that Raju, a main character of the story tells the story and Velan who is absent in the selected text sees i.e. listens the story. The selected text reveals the internal mentality of the protagonist Raju. The following underlined expressions from the selected text underscore the homodiegetic narrative of the story: i) As I entered,. ii). I heard her voice. iii) She must have seen me come up. iv)., I said. v) I went up to her and. vi) I sat down on a stone. vii) Yes, I replied briefly. viii) I looked at my watch. ix) I had already been away. x) I was wasting time. xi) Time was slipping through my fingers. 140

16 xii) If I were to make good,. xiii), I should utilize this chance. xiv)? I asked boldly. xv), I said. The distinction between first-person mode of narration and third-person modes of narration is the distinction between homodiegetic and heterodiegetic narration. This exercise is extremely useful. It is because it reveals the point of view. Converting the first person narrator (I, we) into third person (he, she, it, and they) would have transferred the narrative from homodiegetic to heterodiegetic mode of narration. And if I replace the first person pronoun I by Raju, it will have become the third person omniscient narrator. It requires very little alteration to the text as following: i) As Raju entered,. ii). Raju heard her voice. iii) She must have seen him come up. iv)., Raju said. v) Raju went up to her and. vi) Raju sat down on a stone. vii) Yes, Raju replied briefly. viii) Raju looked at my watch. ix) Raju had already been away. x) Raju was wasting time. xi) Time was slipping through his fingers. xii) If Raju were to make good,. xiii), Raju should utilize this chance. xiv)? Raju asked boldly. xv), Raju said. At the same time one must know that first person narrative brings much closer to the actions, events and episodes than any other mode of narration. The selected text is of homodiegetic type because the story is told or narrated by a participating character. The terms homodiegetic and heterodiegetic are used by Genette instead of internal point of view and external point of view. Simpson s (1993:51) model of 141

17 point of view and category external point of view of narratorial mode and reflector mode has been classified into positive, negative and neutral shadings ) Application of Point of View : The selected text is of Category A Internal Point of View. In this selected text, Raju, the protagonist justifies his mental situation of deep love to Rosie, the married dancer. It is also stated that how he opens the subject in the absentee of her husband, Marco. Let s look all these things in association with positive, negative and neutral shading. The relevant expressions have been selected and appropriate part is underlined. Positive Shading The selected text uses high-value deontic modals showing obligation and requirement as well as evaluative adjectives and adverbs. The use of deontic modals, evaluative adjectives and adverbs confirm the text s positive shading. Now, look the following sentences with underlined appropriate part: i) She must have seen me come up. ii) iii) iv) I went up to her and made some polite inquiries. She looked both sad and profound. Yes, I replied briefly. v) If I were to make good, I should utilize this chance. vi).? I asked boldly. vii) It s unthinkable that anyone should find it possible. viii). being with you must be such bliss. ix) She asked sharply, Among these nine sentences, the researcher found the use of the modal auxiliary must and should two times each. The modals must and should are the modals of high-value modality (Halliday 1994: 362; Tatsuki 2006:76). The modals must and should belong to deontic modal system and used to express obligation, duty and commitment. The use of the modals such as must and should belong to positive shading. The examples i, v, vii and viii are of this category. 142

18 The rest of the examples are of evaluative adjectives and adverbs. Those evaluative adjectives and adverbs are polite, sad, profound, briefly, boldly and sharply. The use of the linguistic tools such as deontic modality, evaluative adjectives and adverbs marks the positive shading of the selected text. Negative Shading Now look the following sentences from the same text: i), but you couldn t see me, ii) Well, I suppose he is interested, that s all. The modal could is low-value (Halliday 1994:362; Tatsuki 2006:76). It is the marker of negative shading. The modal could express the epistemic modal system and marks the negative shading. In this way, the example no. i, is an example of negative shading. Now look at the next example. The underlined lexis is suppose. And the lexis suppose is a modal lexical verb of estrangement. The use of the weaker epistemic modality marks the negative shading of selected text. Neutral Shading The word neutral marks that it is neither positive nor negative. There is the absence of deontic, boulomaic, epistemic and perception modality. In other words, neutral shading is the unmodalized category. This category is also known as categorical assertions. The following examples from the selected text clearly underscore the neutral shading of the selected the text. i) When we are alone and start talking, we argue and quarrel over everything.. ii). We don t agree on most matters, and then he leaves me alone and comes back and we are all right, that s all. The above two sentences are from one single paragraph of the selected text. It is spoken by Rosie and gives details of her past married life. In it she uses the first person plural pronoun we. It means Rosie herself and her husband Marco. In it Rosie could use both positive and negative modality. But she couldn t use it. It may be because she wants to put forward the objective description of her relations with her husband. The second reason may be that the categorical assertion is the strongest way of expression. The selected expressions are in present tense. 143

19 In the above examples Rosie tries to hold back the subjective attitude, view, opinion and evaluation. The best criteria of identifying neutral shading are the absence of narratorial modality. In this regard, the chosen two examples are the best examples of neutral shading. There is no use of any type of modality at all. On the other hand, there is neither the use of verba sentiendi, evaluative adjectives, adverbs nor words of estrangement. In this sense, the chosen examples express Rosie s cool, flat and detached attitude towards her husband i.e. to her married life. Rosie could have modalized each and every statement. But she didn t modalize it. And hence it reveals the neutral shading of the text ) Dominant Shading : The narrator has used the linguistic tools of point of view in a specific way in order to achieve specific effects. As far as the occurrence of shading of point of view are concerned, there are 10 examples of positive shading, 2 examples of negative shadings and 9 examples of neutral shadings. It clearly reveals that positive shading and negative shading dominate the selected text. Raju, a guide wanted to establish good relationship with a beautiful dancer Rosie. So he uses the linguistic tools of positive shadings of point of view. When he says,. Living with you must be such bliss, he uses a modal must. The modal must is deontic modal of strong obligation. In this way, the attitude of Raju is revealed by the use of positive shading. On the other hand, Rosie narrates her past life with her husband Marco. While narrating her past life she uses the unmodalized statements which reveal the neutral shading of point of view. In this sense, point of view is an integral part of the text. We can t separate it from the text. 4.6) Text 4 Raju argued with him patiently. You beat the shopman first, didn t you? The boy took it literally and said, I didn t beat the shopman. The man who beat him was... He gave a number of local names. Raju felt too weary to correct him and improve his understanding. He simply said, It is no good; nobody should fight. He felt it impossible to lecture him on the ethics of peace, and so merely said, No one should fight. But they fight! the boy argued. They come and beat us. 144

20 He paused, ruminating upon the words, and added, And they will kill us soon. Raju felt bothered. He did not like the idea of so much commotion. It might affect the isolation of the place and bring the police on the scene. He did not want anyone to come to the village. Raju suddenly began to think positively on these matters. He gripped the other s arm above his elbow and said, Go and tell Velan and the rest that I don t want them to fight like this. I II tell them what to do later. The boy prepared himself to repeat his usual arguments. But Raju said impatiently, Don t talk. Listen to what I say ) Background of the Text 4 : Raju, the protagonist of a story, a guide after escaping from the jail takes shelter in a remote and detached temple. He becomes a Swami (saint) due to the misbelief and the neglected temple becomes holy temple. People of a nearby village named as Mangal used to go there, sit there and liked to listen to their swami s discourse. When everything was well and fine rain-god doesn t bless the village and the villagers. As a result villagers were experiencing a fearful, fatal and deadly drought. Rivers and wells were dried out. The crop production was almost at zero level. There was no grass at all and cattle were dying because of the scarcity of food and water. The last year s granary was finished. At this crucial stage a shop man of the village was selling rice at a very high-level. The consumer asking for rice lost his temper and slapped a shopkeeper. As a result, irate shopkeeper attacks the consumer with a chopper. At this stage some villagers feel pity for the consumer and attacked the shop and shopkeeper. This attack divides the village into two groups. The first group is headed by the relatives of a shopkeeper and the other group is headed by the Velan, a chief follower of so-called swami. Both the groups were attacking to oneanother fiercely. One of the attacks was so terrific that Velan was down with an injured skull and burns. Apart from it, both the groups were planning for future attacks on one-another. In this critical situation Velan s brother comes to swami and reports the details of fighting between the two groups. He was not very popular person in the village. On the contrary, he was one of the lesser intelligences of Mangal. Due to the injury of his brother and to seek Swami s bless he comes to the temple and reports about fighting to swami and requests the swami to do something for the betterment of villagers. 145

21 4.6.2) Significance of the Text 4 : The drought which resulted into the fighting between two groups of the village Mangal is quite significant in the novel The Guide by R. K. Narayan. Swamiji was the final remedy for the villagers for every crisis. Hence, the lesser intelligent Velan s brother informs every details of the fighting to Swami. In this regard two sentences of Raju are significant here:, It is no good; nobody should fight., No one should fight. These two sentences underscore that Raju wants to stop fighting at all. There are two reasons for it. As a swami, it was his moral duty to do his level best and prevent the fighting and as a criminal he doesn t want to police to come on the stage and to reveal the reality. In both the cases he wanted to stop the fighting. The text is again significant one as it shows the fatal effects of drought and fighting. The whole village is divided into two groups. And hence, the message of Raju receives a great significance and hence reveals the point of view of the narrator ) Internal or External Point of View : The technique flashback is used which starts in the past and comes in the present. The other part i.e. flash-on starts in the present and looks forward in the future. The selected text belongs to this second part of narration. The use of the third person narration is omniscient in the present selected text of the novel. It is because the narrator is the author and he knows, thinks and feels the internal mind situation of the character/s. The underlined words from the chosen text prove it. The boy took it literally and said,. Raju felt to weary to correct him. In this sense, the selected text is of Category B External point of view of Narratorial mode. The following underlined expressions from the Text 4 underscore the heterodiegetic narrative of the story: i) Raju argued with him patiently. ii) iii) Raju felt to weary to correct him. He simply said, 146

22 iv) He felt it impossible to lecture him. v) Raju felt bothered. vi) He did not like the idea of so much commotion. vii) He did not want anyone to come to the village. viii) Raju suddenly began to think positively. ix) He gripped the other s arm. x) But Raju said impatiently, All the above underlined expressions prove that the narration is of third person omniscient and it is called as heterodiegetic narrative. It is because the narration uses the third person pronoun he and the noun Raju again and again. If we replace the noun Raju and third person singular pronoun he by first person singular pronoun I it will become homodiegetic narrative of first person narration. It requires very little alteration by replacing noun Raju and pronoun he by the pronoun I as follows: i) I argued with him patiently. ii) iii) iv) I felt to weary to correct him. I simply said, I felt it impossible to lecture him. v) I felt bothered. vi) I did not like the idea of so much commotion. vii) I did not want anyone to come to the village. viii) I suddenly began to think positively. ix) I gripped the other s arm. x) But I said impatiently, Thus the above analysis reveals that the text belongs to Simpson s Category B External Point of View of narratorial mode ) Application of Point of View : In this section of research, modality in association with the point of view is applied to the selected text. The selected text is a type of heterodiegetic narrative. It is because the story is narrated by the author. The heterodiegetic narrative is associated with external point of view. The external point of view is of two types i.e. of 147

23 narratorial mode and reflector mode. The selected text is of narratorial mode. As far as narratorial mode of point of view is concerned, it has three types of shadings. Let s study these three types of shading in association with the selected text. Positive Shading It is expressed and revealed by the use of high-value modal of deontic and boulomaic modal, verba sentiendi, evaluative adjectives and adverbs. The following underlined part from the chosen sentences reveals the positive shading of the selected text: i) Raju argued with him patiently. ii) iii) iv) The boy took it literally and said,. Raju felt too weary to correct him. He simply said, v)...; nobody should fight. vi) He felt it impossible to lecture him. vii) So merely said,. viii). No one should fight. ix) Raju felt bothered. x) He did not want anyone to come to the village. xi) Raju suddenly began to think positively. xii) But Raju said impatiently,.. These sentences/expressions have been picked from the selected text for the detail analysis. All these expressions with underlined lexis signify that the dominant modal system employed by the author is of positive shading. The high-value modal should is used in the example no. v and in example no. viii. The modal should is the main marker of deontic modality and it expresses obligation and so the marker/tool of positive shading. There are plenty of examples of evaluative adjectives and adverbs in the selected text. Those expressions are: patiently, literally, weary, simply, merely, suddenly, positively and impatiently. Modality is the significant linguistic tool of interpersonal metafunction of language. The selected extract is the interaction between Raju (Swami) and Velan s brother. In this interaction the use of the first and the last evaluative adverb is 148

24 significant one. When Raju begins his conversation, narrator has used the adverb patiently and when the extract concludes writer employed the adverb impatiently. The use of these opposite adverbs reveals the mind situation of Raju. It is also revealed that how Raju fears to fight as it will probably involve police and all these things. The ample use of the evaluative adjectives and adverbs signifies the selected text s positive shading. The modal lexical verb felt has been used three times and the modal lexical verb want has been used once. These two verbs belong to the category of verba sentiendi which is one more important linguistic tool to express the positive shading. Negative Shading Low-value modals i.e. epistemic modality with its subcategory i.e. perception modality and words of estrangement mark the negative shading. Look at the following expressions with the underlined words: i) It might affect the isolation of the place. ii) Raju suddenly began to think. The modal might is low-value modal and used to express epistemic modality which is a prominent marker of negative shading. In the second sentence, the underlined lexis think is a modal lexical verb of estrangement which also reveals the negative shading of the selected text. Neutral Shading See the following expressions with the underlined lexis: i) You beat the shopman first,. ii) It is no good;. iii) But they fight! iv) They come and beat us. v), And they will kill us soon. vi). I ll tell them what to do latter. Neutral shading is the unmodalized shading in which there is use of few verba sentiendi and use of a few words of estrangements. The first four examples are the examples where modality is absent. All the first four sentences are the examples of unmodalized category. And therefore reveal the neutral shading of the text. In the last 149

25 two examples modal will has been used. The modal will is median-value modality (Halliday 1994:362, Tatsuki 2006:76). In this sense, the text reveals its neutral shading ) Dominant Shading : The narrator has used the specific linguistic tools to express his angle to look at the thing or matter. In the selected text, it is very clearly revealed that the positive shading is dominant shading. The high-value modality of positive shading is frequently used by so-called Swami i.e. Raju to regulate the behaviour of Velan s brother and the villagers. It is also notable that modality is a realizer of interpersonal metafunction of language. When a researcher compares the positive, negative and neutral shadings of the text 4 ; the sequence of the dominant shading is positive, neutral and negative. The text itself reveals that the positive shading is dominant as compared to the negative shadings and neutral shadings. There are 14, 2 and 7 examples of positive, negative and neutral shadings of point of view respectively. It reveals the dominance of positive shading. 4.7) Text 5 The assembly grew very loquacious and showered praise on him from all directions. A woman came up and touched his feet. Another followed. Raju cried, Have I not told you that I ll never permit this? No human being should ever prostrate before another human being. Two or three men came up, one of them saying, you are not another human being. You are a Mahatma. We should consider ourselves blessed indeed to be able to touch the dust of your feet. Oh, no. Don t say that Raju tried to withdraw his feet. But they crowded round him. He tried to cover his feet. He felt ridiculous playing this hide-andseek with his feet. He could find no place to put them. They tugged at him from various sides and they seemed ready to tickle his sides, if it would only give them his feet. He realised that there was really no escape from this demonstration and that it would be best to let them do what they liked. Almost everyone in the crowd had touched his feet and withdrawn, but not too far away; they surrounded him and showed no signs of moving. They gazed on his face and kept looking up in a new manner; there was a greater solemnity in the air than he had ever know before