Chapter IV: Art of Characterisation

Transcription

1 Chapter IV: Art of Characterisation R.K. Narayan is known as one of the veteran Indian English writers and a world renowned literary figure of the twentieth century. He is among the pioneers of Indian English fiction. "Along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao, he inaugurated the novel form in Indian English literature. Each of these three novelists called the great trio; used his own version of English, freed from foggy taste of Britain, and transferred it to a new setting of brilliant light and purified herart. 1 Among these Indian English writers R.K. Narayan is supreme and the best because of his fiction which reveals varied dimensions of Indian life, tradition and ethos depicted by virtue of his unique individual talent. While talking about the place and position of R.K. Narayan in contemporary Indian English Literature, Shiv K. Girla concentrates on his use of the locale, his art of storytelling, plot construction and character delineation Mohammad Ejaz. R.K. Narayan and the inhabitants of Malgudi, (New Delhi : Rajat Publication, 2005), p.5 Girla, Shiv R.K. Narayan s: World of Values, (Ghaziabad: Vimal Prakashan, 1984), P

2 Narayan s great distinction as a novelist lies in creating an imaginary landscape, Malgudi, for giving his characters a local habitation and name. For this uniqueness and other characteristic features, critics have compared him with Jane Austen. We can see the touch of Jane Austen s, little bit of ivory and boaeder countries of Sir Walter Scott in Narayan s Malgudi. What Narayan has done for placing Malgudi on the literary map of Indian, Hardy and Faulkner did for their Wessex and Mississippi. Narayan s Malgudi, like Hardy s Wessex, serves as a useful and special background for events and episode. This helps readers to fully understand the actions of the characters inhabiting it. Srinivasa Iyenger is worth quoting: Narayan s art is the resolved limitation and conscientious exploration. He is content like Jane Austen. With his little bit of ivory, just so many inches wide: he would like to be a detached observer to concentrate on a narrow scene, to snap a small group of characters in their oddities and angularities: he would, if he could explore the inner countries of the mind, heart and soul, catch the uniqueness in the ordinary, tragic in the prosaic. Malgudi is Narayan s caster bridge, but the inhabitants of Malgudi- although 130

3 they may have their recognizable local trappings, are essentially human and hence, their kinship with all humanity. 3 The Indian epics, Purans and Shastras are the depositories of ancient values of life and moral codes of conducts. Indian writes have considerably used these to delineate various facts of Indian culture and civilization. Narayan being no exception exploits this treasure house of Indian scholarship and wisdom in order to make it known to the world. Laxmi Holmstrom rightly comments; There are some scholars and critics who consider Narayan to be the world s third best writer in English and talk high of his- finest achievements such as attaining a balance between The Indian and The Universal, combining technique and temperament, exploring the ancient Indian culture embodied in the Indian epics Shastras, Purans, Myths and Mythologies. 4 India is traditionally based on The Ramayana, The Mahabarata and the Purans and reveal the rich cultural heritage of the country. The values of these epics remain the same in every village, town or city. Novelist is not only faithful to his national tradition but also his cultural ethos and 3 4 K.R.S. Iyenger, Indian writing in English, (Sterling Publication, Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2001), p.360 Lakshmi Holmstrom, The Novels of Narayan, (Calcutta: Writes Workshop. 1973) and Iynthia Vandan Driesen. The Achievement of R.K. Narayan: (Literature East and West , 1977). pp

4 people. John up, an American novelist, observes Narayan s oneness with his people and surroundings What a wealth of material becomes available to a writer who can simply asserts such sense of community of writers immersed in their material and enabled to draw tales from a community of neighbours, Faulkener was our last great example. An instinctive, respectful, identification with the people of one s locale comes hard now, in the menacing cities on disposable suburbs. Yet without it a genuine belief in the significance of humanity, in human significance comes not at all. 5 Narayan has dealt with various philosophical concepts in all his major works like The Bachelor of Arts, The Dark Room, The English Teacher, The Guide, Waiting for Mahatma, The Vendor of Sweets, A Tiger for Malgudi and The World of Nagaraj. He painted a graphic picture of Indian society profoundly caught in mythology and drawing sustenance from spiritual legacy of its saints, seers, prophets and ascetics. Bhagwat S. Goyal has traced beautifully the growth of Raju from spurious no-good-fellow to a genuine human being and his acquisition of genuine humanity through the realisation of his human and spiritual selfhood Ranga Rao, Makers of Indian Literature: R.K. Narayan, (Sahitya Akademi, Delhi 2004), p.116 Bhagat S. Goyal, From Picaro to Pilgrim : A perspective on Narayan s The Guide, (Vimal Prakashan, Ghaziabad, 1977), p

5 His thematic pattern in the early novels and in the later novels delineate upon the problems encountered in human life. It suggests that life is a journey in quest of self-identity or emancipation from the miseries of life, which gets reflected in his characters. Narayan's characters are the true children of Malgudi. He presents 'a considerable section of Indian society striving to live its daily life in definite historical situation. He portrays a variety of characters covering the whole span of life. They are not mere types, for if a character gets typed, he loses all humanity. Narayan is never in a mood to try this experiment. His characters represent varied facets of human nature which is 'either good nor bad. The characters in Malgudi novels seem to achieve a sort of transmigration from body to body, name to name and ultimately to blur the sharpness of the distinction under the haze of the general acceptance. There are no 'good' and no 'bad' characters in Narayan's novels. Human nature is presented veraciously and interestingly and memorably, and there is no overt condemnation or praise. 7 An objective analysis of Narayan's characters reveals a definite journey of the self from innocence to experience and finally to wisdom. His moral instance makes his characters discard their jaundiced visions 7 Badal R.K., R.K. Narayan, A study, ( Prakash Book Depot: Bareily, 1976), p

6 and realize the reality of things. Through frequent rise and fall, they move until their experiences culminate in wisdom. After many adventures and misadventures in life the characters return to the all pervasive reality of Malgudi. And during this journey, Narayan observes the vast spectrum of life. Swami And Friends offers us a pure escape into irresponsible boyhood. The novel holds out promise of Narayan's skill as a great character delineator. Every character drawn in the novel is convincing and realistic. In the Novel the Swami and Friends, the novelist describes in vivid comic details of the little inhabitants of idyllic Malgudi - Swami, the average and the obscure; Somu, the self conscious monitor known as the uncle of the class, Mani, the mighty good for nothing; Samuel, the ordinary; Sankar, the most brilliant boy of the class; Rajan, the superior son of Police Superintendent, endowed with dash, romance and propensity for leadership. Narayan convincingly and comically unfolds how Swami gains experience step by step. He gets acquainted not only with different schools, but with cricket and even politics. Narayan's comic vision is reflected in the children's simple ways of interaction with a world that is of far serious dimensions. Swami and his friends participate in the Freedom Movement without any mature understanding of the problem. 134

7 Children burn clothes and break window panes of the school just for the sake of unadulterated pleasures. What a comic contrast between the real world of serious intentions and the children's world of innocence and pleasures, Narayan's real intention is to show passing from innocence to various stages of experience. Swami has gained enough of experiences of childhood. As he steps from childhood to adulthood, he needs to learn something more about the real workings of the world. He experiences the first glimpse of reality in the parting of Rajam, his dearest friend. With this parting, Swami moves away from the simple pleasure of childhood and comes a little closer to maturity. In this novel Narayan's focus is on the world of Swami and his friends but the adult characters too have been well portrayed. Father, Granny, Head Master of Albert mission School and Board High School, the school teachers- the fanatic Scripture teacher, Ebenear; the fire-eyed Arithmetic teacher, Vendanayagam, and the popular History teacher D. Pillai represent Swami's adult world. These characters tend to become overtone and exaggerated as they are viewed through the eyes of a child. Swami and Friends is a story of a child named Swamiathan. The novel is the interesting account of a school life with his friends Shankar, Mani, Somu, Rajam and Samuel, all the minor characters. In the Novel the Bachelor of Arts, Chandran, the hero of The Bachelor of Arts is Swami grown up. It is a novel of youth. In it Narayan's rendering of human relationship has perfection of phrasing and 135

8 a depth of understanding that makes Chandran's life very real. Narayan has created wonderfully memorable characters in The Bachelor of Arts. Graham Green Writes: And how vividly Mr. Narayan's characters do live : Natesan, the union secretary who has bribed his way to office with coffee and tiffin; Gajpathi, Professor of English, who finds errors in Fowler and corrects Bradley on Shakespeare the holy and dignified thief who steals flowers to lay before the gods; 8 Narayan vividly describes college life with all its singularities, oddities and eccentricities. Chandran, Swami reincarnated, matures in experiences of life. Chandran bids farewell not to one friend but to all his college friends. Chandran is aware that he has finished one phase of his life and is now passing towards the real world. How realistically the novelist describes the intensity of his sad feelings at the thought of leaving the pleasures of college life and entering into the real world. Chandran was aware that he had passed the very last moments in his college life. Chandran is a living character in the society. He has knowledge of caste, sects, sub-sects and still further division. He feels very tender and depressed. Born and brought up in a conservative and convention ridden society Chandran's youthful romantic passions wither away un- 8 Graham Greene, Introduction to Bachelor of Arts (Pocket Book edition, London, 1951), p.7 136

9 blossomed. His father, a retired District Judge, is an affectionate, sensible and tolerant. He is always keen and eager even at the cost of upsetting his plans. Chandran's mother, is loving and considerate but conservative and orthodox woman. She is a true image of conventional Indian society. She earnestly wishes Chandarn to marry Malthi, the girl of his choice. She does not want to violate the age old conventions and traditions in the matter, and would not compromise her family's status in the community. The popular theme of the clash between tradition and modernity is suggested in the clash of views between Chandran and his mother. Chandran's romantic love for Malathi dashes against his mother's cherished conventions, superstitions and fatalism. The long controversy are the matching of horoscopes, the question of dowry and gifts etc. all live a picture of convention ridden society of Malgudi. Chandran, the representative of modernity and change, retort. Disappointed and frustrated he becomes a sanyasi. The villagers think that he is under a vow of silence for ten years or ten months or ten days. The villagers are impressed. They request him to stay there. Chandran feels that he is fit f decides to return to Malgudi. He comes in contact with Mohan who explains that love and friendship are the variest illusions. He tells Chandran that people marry because their sexual appetite has to be satisfied and there must be somebody to manage the house. "There was 137

10 nothing deeper than that in any man and woman relationship. Chandran matures and learns wisdom in the school of experience. Gradually Chandran gets tuned to the ways of the world and learns to shoulder the responsibilities of life. He obtains the agency of The Daily Messenger and marries Susila, I beautiful girl of his parents' liking. The novel ends with Chandran in love with life: "his mind full of Susila, the fragrance of jasmine and sandal paste. 9 Chandran, who gets pleasure in his familiar Malgudi and, accepts the reality of life. The first two novels discussed above show that family is the centre of action. In most of the novels the protagonist of the cross section of the society engage in struggle of life. Narayan. William Walsh rightly comments : It is against the presence of the town, finely and freshly evoked, and amid a net of family relationships, each thread of which is finely and clearly elaborated, that Narayan's heroes engage in their characteristic struggles. The conditions of the struggle vary from novel to novel, the stress is highly particularised, and the protagonist may be a student, a teacher, a financial expert, a fighter for emancipation. 10 The primary aim of all these characters is to achieve. Mohan is the conflicting character in the Bachelor of Art. Kailash and 9 10 R.K. Narayan, The Bachelor of Arts, (Indian thought publication Mysore, 1979), p.70 William Walsh, R.K. Narayan, A Critical Appreciation, (Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1983), p

11 Malthi are the preceding and minor characters of the novel. They represent the significant behaviour and nature. The Dark Room presents a study of an urban upper middle class woman. It depicts the life of Savitri, wife of a well-to-do company executive Ramani, and a mother of three. In the context of Narayan's depiction of a society, there is combined weight of tradition, custom and social opinion. These three components usually compel individuals to play their expected role of life. The novel explores the fruitless effort of a traditional middle class Hindu housewife to get rid of the role she is expected to play. The Dark Room is a very interesting novel. Its characters belong to middle class family with their ambition and expectation. The novel has focused social and personal relationship. The whole span of complex inter-personal and social relationships which a married Indian woman invariably undergoes is analyzed here through the medium of her own consciousness. "My main concern, says Narayan, is with human character a central character from whose point of view the world is seen and who tries to get over a difficult situation or 139

12 succumbs to it or fights it in his own setting. He further adds, I value human relationships very much intensely. 11 Human relationship in any form makes one s existence worthwhile. The character of Savitri is conceived in the novel by the inner working novelist, whose business is to explore the soul. She is presented as a traditional figure a dutiful and obedient wife, a devoted mother and an efficient housekeeper with the development of the narrative, we find her gradually developing. On discovering the infidelity of her husband, Savitri reacts sharply to the experience, feels the tensions inherent in her situation and grows and changes in the course of action. She becomes an effective instrument to explore the darkness of her life symbolized by 'the dark room' of her house to which she is used to retiring on gloomy occasions. By and by, this dark room comes to assume a menacing proportion in her psyche, causing emotional upheavals and finally culminating in the decision to abandon her husband and children. In the course of the narrative, the novelist tries to explicate the women's traditional role as a housewife, mother and wife, her self-image, her relations with others and her fear and hopes for the future. Hence a sympathetic treatment of the subject of social emancipation itself is attempted. 11 Interview, The Indian Literary Review June 78,

13 Narayan's Savitri is certainly no tragic figure. The opening of the novel clearly indicates the kind of servile role she is condemned to play in the house. In her first confrontation with her husband over the question whether their young son who says he is ill, should attend school or not, she is totally humiliated, having had to meekly put up with rejoinders like, "Mind your own business, do you hear go and do any work you like in the kitchen, but leave the training of a grown-up boy to me. It is none of a woman's business". 12 She appears to be only a weak, whispering, timid and spineless creature. She, no doubt, has her good points. She is a capable housewife, who knows how to deal with sudden guests. After a number of such incidents, Savitri poignantly realizes by way of self-evaluation. We are responsible for our position. We accept food, shelter and comforts that you give, and are what we are. I don't possess anything in this world. 13 Inrrestingly enough man is a bundle of contradiction. It applied to Savitri also. she is shown to be a bundle of changing moods and conflicting responses, and made to talk and act in turn like an orthodox Hindu wife, and an ardent feminist, a brooding fatalist and a bold activist. Her mood swings appear to defy even feminine logic, which is supposed to be a class by itself. The meek, traditional Hindu wife of the opening Narayan R.K. The Dark Room, (Indian Thought Publication :Mysore, 1938), p.11 Ibid, pp

14 episode starts making fiery speeches and resorts to dramatic gestures of defiance half way through the narrative: I'm a human being", she said... "You men will never grant that. For you we are playthings when you feel like hugging and slaves at other times. 14 Savitri is so taken aback by her own defiant attitude that she wonders whether she is the same old Savitri or someone else. she realizes that she must forgo fear in order to uplift herself: One definite thing in life is fear. Fear from the cradle to the funeral pyre and even beyond that, fear of torture in the other world. Ironically it is the 'other woman' Shanta Bai, a part of the love-triangle, who is herself a 'socially liberated' one. She is a chief woman agent of the Englandia Insurence Company. What possession can a woman call her own except her body. Everything else that she has is her father's, her husband's or her son's. 15 Savitri is shown as a bold, self possessed and educated woman who has left her husband because he ill-treated her. She has pretensions to literary tastes. For instance, she tells Ramani that she couldn't exist without a copy of 'The Rubaiotaty that' Khayyam' is the only person who would have understood the secret of her soul. The way Ramani, who himself ill-treats his wife, reacts to the story of Shanta Bai's struggles Ibid, p.113 Ibid, p

15 He said that men deserved to be whipped when she hinted at a couple of attempts on her honour. He was in complete agreement with her philosophy of life. 16 This exposes Ramani's total infatuation for Shanta Bai and her pretensions as well. On the brink of suicide after leaving her home, Savitri realizes bitterly. No one who could not live by herself should be allowed to exist. In the novel, the web of human relationship is visualized as the most important of contexts in which any single character must be enmeshed. The rustic couple, Mari and Ponni, to whom Savitri turns for support after she has left her husband, provide a frankly ironic picture of a marriage in which it is the wife that wears the pants in the house. Ponni has a clear cut philosophy of husband management which she expounds to Savitri: Keep the men under the rod, and they will be all right, show them that you care for them and they will tie you and treat you like a dog. 17 The Indian novels of the social realist tradition are primarily guided by a desire for social change. In this novel, the\same desire is voiced by the protagonist Savitri herself. There is an awakening of the spirit. Although the conflict in her soul has not subsided, yet a faint hope lingers on within, she is assured of the change that is bound to come in Ibid, p.119 Ibid, p

16 the succeeding generation of women. Higher education in this context is seen as a useful ploy to attain dignity and self-reliance for women. Savitri wonders, If I had gone to a college and studied I might have become a teacher or something. 18 She further adds, Sumati and Kamla must study up to B.A. and not depend for their salvation on marriage. 19 But the bang of these brave speeches ends in a pitiful whimper when she finds herself alone in the ill lit secluded temple towards the close of the book, and some of the reasons, which finally make her beat an inglorious retreat, are not exactly calculated to arouse our respect and admiration: She grew homesick. A nostalgia for children, home and accustomed comforts seize her, lying here on the rough floor, beside the hot flickering lamp, her soul racked with fears, she couldn't help contrasting the comfort, security and loneliness of her home. When she shut the door and put out the lights, how comforting the bed felt and how well one could sleep! Not this terrible state. 20 The question is which feminist world could be considered well lost for a comfortable bed? Savitri, in the end, returns meekly to her home and hearth. There is a tacit acceptance of the situation; a mute submission to her filial obligations. She returns, so to speak to the habitual routine of her day-today family life, not without the threat of 'the dark room', which has come Ibid., p.120 Ibid.,p.122 Ibid p

17 to symbolize the menacingly disruptive element of her conjugal life. There is no promise of reform on the part of the husband either. Savitri admits her defeat: I am like a bamboo pole which cannot stand without a wall support it. 21 In this novel Narayan has depicted the importance of successful friend and manager. He has described the importance of children in the family Kamla, Sumati, and Babu are minor characters of the novel. Mani and Ponni belong to low caste category both are minor characters. Krishna is the central character in the novel The English Teacher. He is now fully mature to meet the challenges of worldly life. He is a lecturer in English in Albert Mission College, feels rejuvenated with joy of life when his wife Susila and his child Leela come to stay with him. The story of their wedded life is a prose lyric on which Narayan has lavished his best gifts as a writer. 22 Its action is confined to the domestic scene or more properly to the husband-wife relationship. Krishna's life becomes all misery and loneliness when his wife Susila passes away after a brief illness. He behaves like a contemplative philosopher brooding over the futility of human relationship and the evanescence of life: Wife, child, brothers, parents, and friends. We come together only to go apart again. It is one continuous movement. They Ibid, p.195. R.K. Narayan, The English Teacher, (Indian Thought Publication, Mysore, 1981), p

18 move away from us as we move away from them. The law of life can't be avoided. An affectionate father Krishna is anxious to be mother and father both to Leela, his loving daughter. A loving and devoted husband, Krishna develops spiritual contact with Susila. He has resigned his post as lecturer in the college and accepts teachership in a school. When he returns home after his farewell party from the Albert Mission College, he finds Susila by his side. Narayan has successfully portrayed various characters in this novel. Krishna is a typical tragic-comic hero of Narayan. Lazy and vacillating, introspective and contemplative, Krishna is a man of very minute observation and can discern even the slightest absurdities and affectations of those in whose contact he comes. He is an affectionate father and a loving husband. Krishna's liberal and affectionate father is shown as one who is very fastidious about the precise use of English. For writing letters he uses his home made ink, memo pad and a steel pen with a fat green wooden handle, with which he has written for years. The unambitious, gentle and humane, master of a private school of children is the most remarkable of all the characters in the novel. He has boundless love for children. He looks shaggy and is indifferent to his dress and comforts. Principal Brown, who gets angry because a student spelt the word 'honor' without using U in the class, is in sharp contrast with 146

19 Professor Sastri of logic who is more practical and has made more money out of estate brokerage. The three novels discussed above reveal a distinct pattern of development as far as the central character is concerned. In spite of variation in names from novel to novel, one can clearly perceive a chronological account of experiences of an individual beginning from the innocent fun of childhood to the sorrow and wisdom of adult life. Thus, Swami, Chandran and Krishnan are the three successive phases of an individual's life childhood, adolescence and adulthood respectively. Further, there is a significant movement from the atmosphere of humour and fun towards a sense of pathos and redemption achieved through experiences that are apparently ridiculous and incongruous. It is a pattern that characterises Narayan's fictional world in his novels. Mr. Sampath The Finanacial Expert, The Guide, The Man Eater of Malgudi and The Vendor of Sweets-presents a new pattern in Narayan's characterisation. In these novels we enter an exotic world of half headed or half-hearted dreamers, artists, financiers, speculators, twisters, adventurers, eccentrics, cranks, stars, Sannaysis, several of them not Malgudi products at all but straying or imparted from 'outside'. Less and less can dear old Malgudi maintain its former sheltered existence. Innocence has given place to experience. The nuances of humanity are 147

20 lost in the rattle of civilization. The imperatives of tradition are exceeded by the impact of change, and stability and certainty are no more. These novels prove the human nature and conduct in a more searching and revealing way. The situations taken up developed in these mature novels are concerned primarily with complications, passions and motives of modern complex life. Mr Sampath is crowded with interesting characters representing different walks of life. It is a variegated pattern of life with its comic sidelights, sad moments and complications leading to involvements. Srinivas, aged 37, with his wife and children, is an unpractical idealist. He is the founder-editor of The Banner and later script writer of The Burning of Kama. Srinivas's avowed objective in publishing The Banner is on the one hand, attacking ruthlessly pigheadedness wherever found, and on the other, prodding humanity into pursuing an ever receding perfection. In the beginning, he like Krishna, is preoccupied with the metaphysical problems in the fashion of Krishna. He undergoes various experiences of events that happen to himself as well as all others in the small town of Malgudi. During his travel, he comes across many men and women who in unknown ways contribute to his understanding of the mystery as well as the understanding of this world. 148

21 The Banner has nothing to do with any war, past or future. It is only concerned with the conflict that is always going on between man's inside and outside. Till the forces are equalised, the struggle will always go on. Srinivas unexpectedly meets Mr. Sampath, the owner of The Truth Printing Works, who agrees to publish The Banner. Mr. Sampath's dynamism, self assurance, composure, self confidence and queer ways, impress Srinivas. He handles the court registration affair in a queer manner. After making his formal declaration before the magistrate in the court, the printer takes out of his pocket a pod of fried groundnut, cracks its shell, and puts the nut into his mouth. Srinivas is shocked. He is afraid of he might be charged with the contempt of the court. The printer's eye results satisfaction. He frankly gives his reason for doing this outrageously funny thing, you know, I have achieved an ambition in life: I've always wanted to crack nuts and eat them in a court - something to foil the terrible gloom of the place. 23 Sampath grows curious as one episode follows another. The situation takes an interesting turn when The Banner is suddenly brought to a standstill because of a sudden strike by workers at the Truth Printing Works. After the closure of the Press, Mr. Sampath joins film company, Sunrise Pictures. Many queer and eccentric 23 Bhatnagar K.C., Realism in Major Indo English Fiction ( Prakash Book Depot, Bareilly, 1980), pp

22 characters come together. K.R.S. Iyengar remarks: Once the cranks, crooks and eccentric have been gathered together, things begin to human how and creak. There is Narayan after the closure of the Press he joins film company, Sunrise ores. Many queer and eccentric characters come together. K.R.S. at last the inevitable explosion. 24 From this point the novelist realistically and satirically exposes the glamorous world of cinema, which Mr. Sampath joins after the closure of the printing press. Somu, an ex-president of the Zila Parishad and one of the promoters of Sunrise Pictures Ltd.; Sohan Lal, a rich capitalist and film financer; De Mellow of Hollywood, the brain behind the Studio Organization; Mr. Sampath, the chief executive; Srinivas, the idealistic story writer; Ravi, a talented artist goes crazy with infatuation for a girl whom he never really knows. Shiva of a hundred pictures and Shanthi, a ravishingly beautiful young woman chosen to play the role of Parvati join the film company, The Sunrise Pictures. Sampath calls Shanthi his cousin and plans to marry her as his second wife. He assures Srinivas. I'm doing nothing illegal, to feel apologetic. After all, our religion permits us to marry many wives. 25 The shooting of the picture The Burning of Karma is in progress. Shanthi and Sampath are playing the roles of K.R.S. Iynger, Indian writing in English, (Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1983), p.285 William Walsh, R.K. Narayan: A Critical Appreciation ( Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1983), p

23 Parvati and Shiva respectively. Ravi, mad with love for the unknown girl, rushes between Shiva and Parvati and tries to carry the scantily clad Shanthi, who resembles very closely the girl whom Ravi has madly loved but not known, causing utter chaos and confusion. The picture of The Burning of Karma is ruined. Ravi lands in a police lock up. Sampath retires to the rest house on Mempi Hills with Shanthi. Srinivas gives a new lease of life to The Banner. Sampath appears once again on the scene. He meets Srinivas in his office. He is calm and subdued but he has an intimidated look in his eyes. He tells Srinivas that Shanthi, a widow, got disenchanted and disgusted with it all and left for Madras, leaving behind a note for him, threatening to have off her head if he pursued her. As for the film: It must be dropped. We've been abandoned by both Shiva and Parvati. And only Kama, the Clod of Love, is left in the studio. 26 A touch of irony is discernible in this remark. Srinivas attains maturity and wisdom. He learns the lesson of quietism and disciplined detachment. Thus during the course of the action he grows and develops. He is not in the end of the novel, what we find him in the beginning. He is progressive. Minor characters too are well portrayed. Srinivas's landlord, an old widower with several sons and daughters, is a comic character. He has a 26 William Walsh, R.K. Narayan: A Critical Appreciation ( Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi,1983), p

24 regular and sizeable income by way of rent from half a dozen families living in a cleverly partitioned house. He himself lives in a small room in Anderson Lane. He deliberately covers his transparent stinginess under a mask of ascetic simplicity. Ravi the famous actor who has played the part of Shiva in over a hundred dramas and twenty films for the last twenty years, demands five thousand rupees extra for the extra rehearsals but when refused, descends from Kailas defiantly. The seasoned actor playing the role of Karma, the god of love, is a funny youth, with a big head and sunken cheeks and long hair combed back on his head. The only normal characters in Mr. Satnath are Mrs. Srinivas who has serious domestic budgetary problems, Mrs. Sampath with her cross to bear, and Ravi's mother with her maternal anxieties. The novel, Mr. Sampath has related the story of printing press. Ravi is a lover of Shanti. He is the minor character of the novel. He has suffered frustration. R.K. Narayan s next novels The Financial Expert is little better than caricatures. Commenting on Margayya's character Graham Greene Writes: Margayya the sad ambitious absurd financial expert is perhaps the most engaging of all Mr. Narayan's characters. In his ambitions for his boy, his huge dreams, his unintended villainies and his small vanities and his domestic tenderness, he has the hidden 152

25 poetry and the unrecognised pathos we so often find in Tchechov's characters who in the last page vanish into life." 27 The word Margayya is purely derivative: Marga means the way and Ayya denotes one who shows the way. Indeed, he shows the way out to those in financial trouble. It is, indeed, ironical that Margayya who shows the way to others is finally ruined. Margayya, Narayan's most brilliant single comic creation, gradually realises his desire for a life freed from illusions in a series of comic encounters: first with Arul Doss, the dignified peon of the Cooperative Bank who shows up Margayya's utter insignificance, then with the strangely impressive priest in the temple who rehearses him in rituals for propitiating the Goddess of Wealth, followed by Dr. Pal journalist, correspondent and author whose sociological work, Bed Life makes Margayya's fortune, and finally Mr. Lal, the large, astute, but fundamentally uncomprehending businessman. His meteoric rise to prosperity, social status and his ultimate downfall and his return to his original humble position comically expose the futility of dubious and shady means: Margayya's humble desire to lift himself out of dire poverty to a position of fame and prosperity gradually turns into an intense 27 Shiv M.Pandeya, Studies in Modern Fiction ( Vikash Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1983), p

26 passion for wealth. He is consumed with the desire to accumulate more and more wealth. Margayya s wife could hardly pass into the small room to pick up a saree or towel. There was currency bundles stacked up a foot high all over the floor. His fortune is ruined by the folly of his spoiled son, Balu on whorl he centres all his cares. Margayya, who has attained the height of fame and prosperity, returns to his original position in the end and realises the fundamental truth that happiness lies in contentment and the reunion of human relations. He is happy playing with his grandson: Now get the youngster here. I will play with him. Life has been too dull without him in this house. 28 In Margayya the value-oriented past and money-oriented present simultaneously exist and for a time the illusion of success blinds him to the absurdity implicit in the relationship between these two opposing forces. In this state of knowledge when the sham of life has been exposed and abandoned after immense suffering, Margayya is able to build a bridge to the world of innocence. Dr. Pal and Margayya are well drawn characters. Dr. Pal is both the preserver and destroyer of the protagonist, Margayya. Dr. Pal makes a dramatic entry into the novel. He all of a sudden meets Margayya when he is about to enter the pond in search of red lotuses. He introduces himself as a journalist, correspondent 28 Shiv M.Pandeya, Studies in Modern Fiction (Vikash Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 1983), p

27 and author. Dr. Pal is a foil to Margayya. As compared to Margayya who is superstitious, half-educated and convention obsessed, Dr. Pal is enlightened, highly educated and rational. Margayya is frank and candid in his views on sex and wants that his Ok Bed Life should be widely read. He is eager to have the book read by all married people because it will lead to harmony, peace and happiness in their lives. He tells Margayya I want to serve mankind with my knowledge. I don't want to keep it within my closed fists. 29 He exercises corrupting influence on Balu by putting him on wine and woman. Dr. Pal s practical wisdom is enviable. He knows how to persuade people to accepting anything. The rich merchants of Malgudi deposit all their money with Margayya and later, even withdraw in a huff from his custody effetely on account of Pal's persuasion. It is, indeed, an irony that it is dear Pal's guidance that Margayya becomes a mini Crosses, and again is his wrath that reduces Margayya to a pauper. K.R.S. Iyengar rightly remarks in this connection, Dr. Pal-Margayya relationship: There is a certain chain of nemesis in the intersecting relation-ships between Dr. Pal and Margayya, the apostles of sex and money respectively. Balu is an 29 Narayan R.K. Mr. Sampath (Hind Pocket Books, Delhi, 1979), p

28 important character who gives the plot its major coronations and twists, and enriches it with both the comic and pathetic. 30 Waiting for the Mahatma is a political novel based on Mahatma Gandhi s struggle for independence, the Quite India Movement of 1942 and ending with the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in the Birla house garden at the prayer meeting. This novel has a special significance of it s own. Waiting for the Mahatma is a Gandhian novel. Technically Sriram the hero of the novel and the plot revolves round him; but the dominant figure, even though he is seldom on the stage is Gandhi and the theme is Gandhism." 31 The Gandhian impact is felt by an individual in this novel. The theme in Waiting for the Mahatma is apparently the Bharti-Sriram romance which, however, gains a new dimension in the background of their common allegiance to the Mahatma. In the beginning, Sriram is a shiftless and moronic youth spoiled by a huge sum of unearned money and his grandmother's care. Sriram, hardly a lovable character, is conceived in gentle irony. The author keeps an ironic distance between himself and his central figure through whose consciousness all the characters are presented K.R.S. Iynger, Indian Writing in English, ( Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 1983), p.281. S.R. Ramtake, R.K. Narayan and his Social Perspective, (Atlantic publishers & Distributions (P) Ltd. New Delhi, 1998), p

29 It is a girl, named Bharti, who brings about a great change in the course of Sriram's life. To the end Bharti remains the goal towards which his life moves. The Mahatma comes to Malgudi where he has to be given a civic reception at Nallappa's Grove. He sees Bharti, the fund collecting disciple on the dais, again attracts him and realises his love for her. Significant enough, it is for Bharti's sake that he decides to join as one of the followers of the Mahatma. Consequently, Sriram-Bharti relationship deepens. The Mahatma's departure at the end of his tour leaves Sriram alone at a new home a deserted shrine on a slope of the Mempi Hill, overlooking the Valley, Bharti assumes a new role that of the beloved Guru I am your Guru. Sriram felt: The whole thing is extremely false. She ought to be my wife and come to my arms. 32 During the course of the freedom movement, Sriram comes in contact with a large number of people. Bharti comes to Sriram's hideout to take leave of him as she has decided to court arrest. The smothered fire of passionate love in Sriram's heart surges out as he suddenly embraces her. There is a rare touch of sensuousness in the description that follows He held her in an iron embrace in his madness. Her braid laid its pleasant weight on his forearm. His cheeks smelt of the sandalwood soap. He kissed the pit of her throat. He revelled in the scent of the sandalwood 32 R.K. Narayan, Waiting for Mahatma, (Indian Thought Publications, Mysore, 1981), p

30 that her body exuded. She wriggled in his grasp for a moment and at the same time seemed to respond to his caresses. India attains independence. Bharti tends the victims of communal holocaust that follows the great divide. At last they are married. The Mahatma blesses them: Good, good, God bless you. I will be your priest, if you don't mind. I've been a very neglectful father; I'll come and present the bride. Tomorrow the very first thing then, it is followed by a premonition. Bharti, I have a feeling that I may not attend your wedding tomorrow morning. Anyway you are not to put off your marriage for any reason, remember. The Mahatma is killed by a misguided youth. 33 Thus, Waiting for The Mahatma is a novel about that limited individual's growth and maturity, while Kanthapura is the history of a revolution where the different characters are not important as individuals but as parts of a greater whole. Sriram and Bharti are leading and central character in the novel Bharti is a young heroine, a Malgudi Portia, rich only in her natural endowments, whereas Sriram can easily qualify for a Malgudi Bassanio. She exercises a great influence on Srimam and transforms him to a great extent.she is raised to the great hights. It is Bharti who makes a patriot and a man of Sriram, and in marriage he is certain to find in her the 33 R.K. Narayan, Waiting for the Mahatma (Indian Thought Publications, Mysore, 1981), p

31 saviour strength that is woman's strength or Shakti. This novel bears the stamp of Narayan's art in its delineation of life and its comic undertones. The common people Kamni, the shop-keeper with his scrupulous account-keeping; the smooth tongued fund office manager; unscrupulous Jagdish who exploits Sriram but helps him trace Bharti, Chairman Natesh with their gossipy tongue and malice tinted views and their basically good hearts attract our attention. They are given an animate and eloquent identity by Narayan's art. The Guide is the master peace of all R.K. Narayan's creation. It is one of the most celebrated novels. The Guide is the story of Raju the protagonist s rise and fall of his fortunes as guide, lover and impresario and then his end as a saint who is neither born nor made but simply happens almost like the weather. In Raju's character, Narayan deftly embodies the complex association of sincerity and self deception: These apparent contradictions in Raju's character come to the surface, as the plot moves towards climax. The story begins at a crucial point in Raju's career when his multiple role as a guide, a lover, an impresario and a prisoner has already ended. He is about to assume the role of a sage. The eventful past of Raju s chequered life comes out in snatches of retrospection and a long spell of recapitulation before Velan. Raju has been portrayed as a reckless and romantic hero who asserts his identity in 159

32 an imperious world. He vehemently denies the ethical in-junctions of the traditional society and hard realities represented by Marco, Velan, his mother, Gaffur and many others in order to fulfil his existential needs. Raju's life begins in a normal middle class traditional way. The peaceful tenor of life, controlled by his gruff, gossipy father, and his wry and practical and tradition oriented mother, undergo a change when Malgudi acquires a railway station. His father begins to run a shop at the railway station. He drops his schooling and begins to run the shop. Its modernity and bustle delight him, and open new dimensions before him. The most vivid and thrilling part of Raju's life are lived in public places-first the streets, the shop, the railway station, and later, concert halls, jail and the Mempi, William Walsh observes: He was always in some sense an institutional figure. At the station he came to be known as Railway Raju and he was sought out by everyone who wanted advice and directions. It is written on the brow of some, he tells Velan, that they shall not be left alone. 34 Raju couldn't be left alone because he was felt to be a naturally public character, one of those who seem hardly to exist in private. It is a compulsion of such people to respond in the way the audience wants. Raju's answers to his questioners at the railway station bear no relation to 34 William Walsh, R.K. Narayan: A Critical Appreciation, (Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1983), p

33 conviction or reality but only in the feeling he senses in the questioner. It was inevitable that he should become a guide, but a guide with no content in his message, only an attitude determined from outside. As a guide, a projection of his audience, he was a great success. Tourists from all parts insisted on Raju s services. Whatever he did for them he did with a certain detachment, not for any private gain, but simply because they asked him. "Anything that interested my clients was also my own interest. The question of my own preferences was secondary. 35 In fact Raju is a projection of what people need. So his sincerity consists in being false to himself and to fill the vacancy in his existence by the thinking of others. Marco, who is an inveterate enthusiast of ancient art and sculpture, has an icy temperament and a hostile attitude towards warmth and love in human life. He is one of Raju's clients. The Guide begins an affair with Rosie, the discontented wife of Marco. Their relationship appears to be much more of feeling than sensuality, a temperamental rather than a passionate union. Rosie, a talented dancer, devotes herself rigorously to develop her art. Raju's role now shifts from that of a lover to the role of a manager, trainer and agent. Rosie, better known as Malini in the theatrical world, blooms into a great 35 William Walsh, R.K. Narayan: A Critical Appreciation, (Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1983), p

34 artist, and Raju, her manager, thrives as a successful entrepreneur. They enjoy a period of great success and social popularity. Raju, without any adequate reason forges Rosie's signature on a document claiming her jewel box, which is in her husband's keeping. Raju is prosecuted and is sentenced to two years jail. Raju proves to be an ideal prisoner. After the completion of the sentence, he takes shelter in a neglected temple in the village Mangal. Here he is mistaken for a saint. Again he is guilty of duplicity. Raju, a fake saint, counsels on marriages, arranges schooling for the children resolves feuds, gives spiritual guidance, medical treatment and practical advice. Purely as a kind of miniature welfare service, Raju amply repays the village's investment in him. A famine in the village brings about the crisis. People expect the pseudo saint to work miracles with the rain god and Raju goes on a religious fast to move the pity of the rain god. On the twelfth day he is too weak yet he goes to the river and reaches the basin of water where he daily prays for rains. For the first time in his life Raju is sincerely making a personal effort, for the first time he is learning the thrill of full application, outside money and love. Raju opens his eyes, looks about and says, Velan it's raining in the hills. I can feel it coming up under 162

35 my feet, up my legs and with that he sags down. 36 The Guide is in the real sense a pensive comedy of Raju, a dreaming saint. Narayan shows great insight in portraying Raju's character. He grows out to be a great national figure out of his individual discrepancies and duplicities in response to communal collaboration. Characters in Guide represent two norms of social behaviour. Raju's parents, though sketchily drawn, represent the conventional social morality and are averse to change and innovation. Raju, Rosie and Marco break away from a normal way of living. Narayan's comic world here is as rich and varied as ever with a suggestion of growth. The characters like Velan, Gaffur, the adjournment lawyer, the star lawyers of Madras, Mani, James J. Malone, the postmaster, and the barber outside the prison house are all living and breathing figures. Narayan's unerring sense of realism and eye for detail bring out the men and manners of his comic world pleasantly alive. In The Man Eater of Malgudi, Sampath-Margayya-Raju achieves a further reincarnation as H.Vasu, M.A. Taxidermist, and Sampath's old printing press has as it were a new owner, Natraj, as unlike Vasu as the unlike the panther. Vasu, the protagonist, is the embodiment of evil. The novelist has portrayed his character with great insight and ironic perception. Narayan has dealt with the conflict between good and evil in 36 R.K. Narayan, The Guide, ( Indian Thought Publication, Mysore, 1963), p

36 many of his novels- The Guide, The Financial Expert, The Vendor of Sweets etc., but in The Man Eater of Malgudi evil is described as an ominous force which symbolises anti-life. In the words of Dr. K.R.S. Iyengar: In the Guide, evil takes the form of frivolity and sensuality, in The Man Eater, evil is as it were anti-life, anti-nature, anti-faith in the Sweet Vendor, evil takes passion of Mali and uses him as a Vehicle for fouling the sanctities of home and marriage and even the sovereignty of creative imagination. 37 Vasu is the hero of the novel The Man Eater of Malgudi. He is a taxidermist. He inspired by patriotism in his youth, had joined marriage, and even the sovereignty of creative imagination. In The Guide, evil takes the form of frivolity and criminality in The Man Eater, evil is as it were anti-life, anti-nature, anti Faith; in The Sweet Vendor, evil takes possession of Mali and uses him as a Vehicle for fouling the sanctities of home Disobedience Movement against the British rule, broken the laws, marched, demonstrated and ended up in jail. But for some reason unknown to us. He suffers from the feeling of injured ego and in course of time, he completely divorces and alienates himself from the main streak of life. 37 K.R.S. Iyengar, Indian Writing in English, (Sterling Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1983), p