I

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Narayan's perception of the uncommon in the common

is still a success; though with this radical

difference in approach. The potential here is for

going out of oneself, an ordinary man's capacity

to raise himself in the ordinary things he does at

home while normally the Narayan character is seen

using the uncommon potential for inflation of the

ego. (Narasimhaiah, "R.K.Narayan The Swan and the

Eagle 145)

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan is one of the foremost Indian

English writers. Before turning into a writer, he was a teacher

for a very short period of five days. His novels are widely read

both in India and abroad. They have been translated into many

languages. Explaining how he came to write, R.K.Narayan says:

I remember waking up with the name Malgudi on

Vijaydasami, the day on which the initiation of

learning is celebrated... . Malgudi was an earth-

shaking discovery for me, because I had no mind

for facts and things like that, which would be

necessary in writing about Lalgudi or any real

place. I first pictured not my town but just the

2

railway station, which was a small platform with a

banyan tree, a station master, and two trains a

day, one coming and one going. On Vijayadasami, I

sat down and wrote the first sentence about my

town: "The train has just arrived at Malgudi

station'... This sentence about the town got

revised. (R.K.Narayan, Interview, John is Easy to

Please 156)

R.K.Narayan was born in 1907 in Madras and his mother-tongue

Tamil. Born a Tamilian, he was brought up in Mysore, where

Lnnada is spoken, and he writes in English. Narayan finished his

• aduation very late when he was 24 - because he failed several

mes in his Intermediate and Degree Examinations. After his

aduation, he worked for a while in the Mysore secretariat and

ter for five days as a teacher in a village school. But his

ner urge was always for writing. K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar comments

the use of English by R.K.Narayan in this way "... he uses the

gush language much as we used to wear dhoties manufactured in

ncashire." (Indian Writing in English 359).

Over the years, a great deal of criticism has been written on

rayan. Almost all of them euologize his writings. Of course, a

w have their own reservations. Ramesh Shrivastava in an article

tled "What is so great in R.K.Narayan" comments:

The weakness of Narayan is the weakness of his7

conviction. His works are like animated cartoons which

3

shake our jaws, arouse our drowsy spirits, relieve us

from the drudgery of daily chores but fails to move our

soul. ( Perspectives on R.K.Narayan 206 - 7)

But this view is just the opposite to what Walsh feels:

Narayan'S fastidious art, blending exact realism,

poetry, melancholy, perception of gaiety, is

without precedent in English literature, and as

far as one can see, without following. It is

engaging because of the charm and authenticity of

its Indian setting, moving because of the

substantial, universal human nature which it

incarnates. ( R.K.Narayafl 23 - 24)

In spite of these critical views one has to make an objective

evaluation of his works. So far all the critical writings on him

have been tentative, without any particularized view point to

project. People have been writing on his themes, language, ironic

vision, comic vision and power of observation. But no one has

made use of any theoretical frame work. The present research

concentrates mainly on the comedy as portrayed through the

characters of Narayan, taking into account the theories of comedy

as defined by Northrop Frye...

Swami and Friends is the first novel published by R.K.Narayafl

in the year 1935. This novel with the original title Swariiinathan, The

Tate was published in London by Hamish Hamilton at the behest of

Graham Greene. Greene helped Narayafl to get his first three novels

published in England. In his autobiography, Narayan mentions the

fact that no publisher ventured to publish him twice. Swami and

Friends resembles Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Swami and

Friends portrays in episodes a few years of life of Swaminathan, a

middle class Malgudi boy. Eventhough the pranks of Swami are

stereotyped, they get an added charm at the hands of Narayan.

Swami's difficulties come from different corners. Swami has the

knack of getting into troubles. What is attractive in Swami is

that he is selfless, innocent, childish and lovable. His friends

are also almost of his type in mentality but different in

behaviour. Nobody shared his fears. None of his friends had his

sense of hospitality. When Rajam visits his house, Swami is fussy

in pleasing him in all respects. At the same time when Swami goes

to Rajam's house, Rajam tries to show off his importance and

perhaps his father's power also "The bond between them was

laughter. They were unable to see together the same absurdities

and incongruities in things. The most trival and unnoticeable

thing to others would tickle them to death"(Swami and Friends 9).

The Bachelor of Arts (1937) is the story of Chandran who falls

in love with Malathi but their marriage proposal ends abruptly,

because their horoscopes do not agree. Because of this Chandran

loses interest in material life and turns to a sanyasi life for a

brief period. But again, unable to stand the troubles of that

world, he turns to the worldly life. He later marries Susila a

girl of his parents' choice, and becomes a correspondent of a

newspaper. He happily forgets Malathi. C.D.Narasimhaiah's comment

on the character of Chandran is quite significant: "The irony is

in this present willingness to marry Susila, a girl chosen by his

parents. To him there was 'no such thing as love; it was a foolish

literary notion' ("R.K.Narayan: The Comic as a Mode of Study in

Maturity" 143).

The Dark Room (1938) is the third novel of Narayan often

disregarded and sometimes praised for espousing the cause of the

distressed wife. This novel tells the story of Savitri who is ill

treated by her husband Ramani. Though otherwise a harmless man,

Ramani tries to monopolize the homefront by his boorish and often

chavuanistic tendency. Savitri bears all ill-treatment until she

comes to know of "the other woman" - Shanta Bai - the predecessor

of Shanti of Mr.Sampath - who woos Ramani to her side by

overplaying her misfortune. Just for her sake Ramani makes many

changes at the office which invites vulgar comments from Kanta

Iyengar. Ramani treats his wife according to his whims and

fancies and has no respect for her feelings. However, unable to

bear the thought that her husband has an affair, she fights with

him. The fight ends in Savitri leaving the house for good or so

she thinks. After being rescued from suicide, she takes the job of

a maid in a temple. But she feels lonely and returns home. Rarnani

and the children behave as if nothing has happened. Savitri

continues her life in the same way as she was before. She cannot

afford to be a Nora. -

6

The next novel The English Teacher (1945) is quite

utobiographical. The story is narrated by Krishnan who is the

entral character. This work deals with Krishnan's life before and

fter his wife's death. Krishnan had a contented life with his

ife Susila and his little daughter Leela. But unfortunately their

eaceful life was shattered by the untimely death of his wife from

yphoid. In the second half of 'the novel Krishnan through

cultism establishes links with her. She now becomes a kind of

Lilding spirit in his life. There comes a sort of renunciation in

ishnan's mind. He resigns his lecturer's job and joins as an

dinary teacher in a children's school. Syd Harrex describes the

d of the novel from a philosophical perspective:

By the end of the story Krishnan has accepted the

inevitability of the dissolution of human ties...

has discovered the joy of a meaningful life in the

spontaneous world of children... and has

experienced with Susila the harmony of souls.

("R.K.Narayan's Grateful to Life and Death" 53)

This novel is a reflection of Narayan's own life. He lost his

fe Rajam very early in his life. He never married afterwards. In

interview to Ved Mehta he discusses this aspect in a detailed

y:

My father-in-law was quite well-to-do, wanted to

settle a house for Rajam, and one day he case up

from Coimbatore and we went round searching for a

place. We looked through a number of remodelled

7

houses, and late that afternoon we landed upon one

that seemed suitable. It had the solidity of an

old house and the bright cleanness of a new one.

While my father-in-law and I were canvassing the

land, Rajam went into the bathroom, an outhouse,

to wash. She didnot rejoin us. I got worried and

walked back to the bathroom. Rajam was pounding

away at the shut door screaming, 'someone open it!

some one open it!' I gave the door one or two hard

kicks and Rajam fell out in my arms. She was

convulsed with sobs, and her face was feverish

red. She cried out that it was the dirtiest place

she had ever been in. She said a fly had settled

on her lips. I took her home, but she wouldn't eat

anything. She kept washing herself, time and time

again. By the evening she had temperature and she

remained in bed with typhoid for twenty days. It

was 1939, and no one had heard of chioramphenicOl.

Rajam died. A fly had killed an almost five-year-

old marriage. ("The Train has Just Arrived at

Malgudi. Station" 62)

Mr.Sampath, published in 1949, portrays the fortunes and

failures of the protagonist. Mr.Sarnpath is the owner of the Truth

Printing works and he is the printer of Srinivas' s weekly paper The

Banner. A sudden strike in his press compels Mr.Sampath to seek new

pastures. He persuades Srinivas to join him to work on a film

8

)roject to be marketed by his "Sunrise Pictures". With the help of

omu a rich man and a political bigwig and Sohanlal a financier,

:he work for the movie is carried out with much fanfare. The

rrival of Shanti, the film's heroine creates problems for the

?ntire unit. Though a married man, Mr.Sampath falls for her and

:here is one eccentric lover Ravi who is also after her. With

;ome disturbances created by Ravi the film company suffers a heavy

Loss. Shanthi packs her baggages, Ravi is sent to an asylum and

4r.Sampath is left alone. And all ends well, when SrinivaS, with

the help of an Inspector, reopens his newspaper. As p.P.Mehta in

in article titled "R.K.Narayafl" comments:

This story of an unscrupulous rogue has been

written with delicacy and care. Mr.Sampath has his

weakness and defects. But he is so obliging and so

much prepared to take your worries on his

shoulder! We love this masterpiece creation of

Naraya fl .( IfldO_Aflglian Fiction: An Assessment 243)

One has to agree with this view because Mr.SarnPath is just zealous

and not jealous or cunning. He does not have the guile or greed of

Nlargayya. He is not foolish like Chandran. In short he seems to be

a practical man but with little or no success.

The Financial Expert (1952) depicts the rise and fall of a moneyIr

lender, Margayya. Though he started his career as a small time

money lender, he rose to the pinnacle of financial glory. But the

irony is that he comes back to the same banyan tree under which he

transacted business earlier due to the villany of Dr.Pal, who

9

previously helped Margayya to rise up the ladder. In a way this

novel has its parallel in The Vendor of Sweets, in the sense that

both these works portray the father-son relationship and the

growing generation gap between them. Discussing this, Hariprasanna

in his book The World of Malgudi observes:

Having pampered Balu from his childhood by

pandering to every whim of his, Margayya deprives

him of opportunities to learn how important as

well as necessary it is to strive for a thing. He

also fails to realise the paramount importance of

- communicating with his growing son, and thus over

the years he loses altogether the way of

communicating with him. (58)

At the end when Margayya loses all his wealth due to the

scheming of Dr.Pal, he realizes his folly of being a glutton for

money. One good thing about him is that he does not hesitate to go

back to his old place-under the banyan tree.

Narayan's succeeding novel Waiting for the Mahatma (1955) has

received mixed response. Most of the critics do not view this work

in the right perspective. Uma Parameswaran in her article "Native

Genius - R.K.Narayan" condemns this work as "his weakest novel"

(45). Ramesh K.Shrivastava feels that Narayan has not used the

presence of Gandhiji as done by Raja Rao or Manohar Malgonkar or

Chaman Nahal in their novels. In an attacking mood he says,

of .Gandhiji comes as a match-maker in brining Shri Ram and

10

Bharati together. What a role for the father of Nation! (207).

In this novel, Sriram, the hero, lives with his grandmother.

He is supported by his father's pension. He has no worthy work to

do and so he whiles away the time. One day at the market place he

sees a girl who was collecting money for the freedom movement.

Sriram, at the first sight itself, falls in love with her. Just

for her sake he joins the Gandhi camp. Though Bharati reciprocates

his love, she insists that their marriage would take place only if

Mahatma gives them permission. They write to the Mahatma regarding

this but their future is hindered, by the Quit India Movement. Both'

Sriram and Bharati get imprisoned. Later they both meet only in

the free India. Bharati is sent to Noakhali to look after the riot

hit people. In a way the novel ends in tragic mood. Though both

are united, Gandhi is shot dead. On the theme of the novel William

Walsh very aptly comments:

The complex association of sincerity and self-

deception is in fact the organizing theme of the

guide how these conditions growout of one another;

how they co-exist, disagree supplant and, in the

long run, come together again. ("The Big Three"

35).

Raju, the protagonist of The Guide is a small time railway

guide of Malgudi. One day Marco, an archeologist arrives at

Malgudi, with his wife Rosie, an accomplished classical dancer.

Raju is attracted towards her. Marco's indifference to Rosie's

11

feelings and his forbidding of her dance performances, help Raju

and Rosie to come closer. Marco, after some time discovers this

illicit affair and feels hurt. He wonders how a wife could do such

a thing to her husband. He leaves Rosie for good, and she in turn

goes to Raju as she has no other go. Raju takes over Rosie and

moulds her into a dancer. He renames her as Nalini. She becomes

famous and appoints Raju as her manager. Meanwhile Raju intercepts

a letter Marco had written to Rosie. In that he had asked for her

signature to release a box of jewellery which has been in custody

in a bank. Fearing that this letter would once again make a bridge

between the husband and wife, Raju forges Nalini's signature.

Marco finds this out and he prefers a complaint on this. Raju is

arrested and jailed. Nalini helps him to get the sentence reduced,

but refuses to be united with him again. After his release from

the jail he goes to a village named Mangala. There people mistake

him for a saint. His words are taken as the words of a saint and

he is forced to undergo a fast to bring rain. The ending of the

novel has created a lot of criticism. The question much debated

about is whether the rain came or not. As Lakshmi Holmstorm

explains:

The Guide is a carefully worked examination of

motives, explanations and performances against

existing ideals. The delibrate use of a mixture of

self-awareness and ambiguity adds to the richness

of psychological exploration. The Novels of

R.K.Narayan 68)

12

One of Narayan's better novels is The Nan Eater of Nalgudi

Dublished in the year 1962. Vasu is a professional 'paheiwan' or

'strong man' who presently works as a taxidermist. He comes to

algudi with a view to shoot the wild animals of the Mempi forest.

le keeps the stuffed animals in his room. One day a function is

rganized there to celebrate the annual festival of the Krishna

emple. Vasu plans to shoot the elephant that is drafted to add

olour to the function. Rangi, a prostitute knows the plan and she

eveals this to Nataraj and his friends. They appeal to Vasu but

e rejects their plea summarily. While they are worried, the

unction surprisingly passes off peacefully. The next morning they

md Vasu dead in his room. The suspicion falls on Nataraj but he

E; relieved from this after the police find in their investigation

iat Vasu's death was caused by none other than himself. Normalcy

turns to Malgudi and life goes on as smoothly as ever. In this

)Vel the author has exploited the Bhasinasura myth.

The action of Narayan's succeeding novel, The Vendor of Sweets

.967) revolves around Jagan, the vendor of sweets. Proclaiming

mself as a true Gandhian, he eschews the values of simple

ving. He has his "cousin" as his outlet. Though this cousin is

motivator like Dr.Pal of The Financial Expert, the good thing about

m is that he is not vile or vengeful like Dr.Pal. In fact, when

gan is in trouble, he gives him moral courage. This novel

minds one of The Financial Expert in many ways. Mali, son of Jagan

as prodigal as Balu of The Financial Expert. Jagan's pride and joy

his son Mali. Like Balu, he does not have any abiding interest

13

in studies. He discontinues his studies and leaves for America.

After a year or two he returns to Malgudi with a half-Korean-half-

American girl Grace, whom everyone assumes to be his wife. She

behaves well and conducts herself in an admirable manner. Jagan

gets the shock of his life when the "cousin" informs him that she

is not Mali's wife. Jagan completely cuts himself from others in

the family. The clash between the father and the son takes a

curious turn when Jagan shows no remorse when he learns about his

son's arrest. There is a touch of irony in the sense that an

ardent Gandhian's son is being arrested for possessing a bottle of

alchohol(\The novel has a long flashback in which Jagan recollects

his early life, his efforts for fixing a bride and their

fulfulling a religious vow to beget a child. One of the finer

points of the novel is that the relationship between Jagan and

Mali is shown to have taken place right from the time of Ambika's

death. Mali seemed to believe that her mother's death has been due

to the indifference shown by his father. Jagan's life turns for

the better from the time he meets Chinna Dorai. He seeks Jagan's

help for installing the five-faced Gayatri, the deity of Radiance.

He feels that he must prepare for a new janma. At the end, when

Mali is arrested, Jagan decides to leave home for sometime. He

offers Grace, through the cousin, to buy the airplane ticket if

she wishes to return to America.(e novel derives commendation

for the sensitive portrayal of the father-son relationship and the

modern malice of generation gap P.S.Sundaram argues to this

effect:

There are very few novels which bring home to the

14

reader so poignantly the sadness of the generation

gap. The gap is wider in this case because of the

influence of the West from which Jagan is wholly

free and to which his son Mali seems wholly to

succumb. (R.K.Narayan 111)

The Painter of Signs (1976) is Narayan's tenth novel. The

setting is the same Malgudi, but an improved version. Raman,

the hero, has the job of a painter of signs. When he meets

Daisy he at once falls in love with her. The reader is

reminded of the love Sriram had for Bharati. But the

difference between these two relationships is that the

physical closeness that is between Raman and Daisy is not

found in the relationship between Sriram and Bharati. Maybe

the presence of Gandhiji had a controlling effect on them.

Daisy is the first woman character of Narayan who shows verve

and vivacity. She is so independent that she does not need

any male help. After much persuasion she accepts the marriage

proposal of Raman. But she puts a few conditions which Raman

foolishly accepts. What turns out later is a shock not only

for Raman but also for the readers. Daisy tbinks that

marriage would be a hindrance to her mission of population

control. She decides to sacrifice her life for this cause.

Even though she has done a great injustice to Raman, her

determination to succeed in her aim is to be praised. In the

end one sees Raman resigned to his fate and like every other

hero of Narayan conveniently forgets about it. Narayan has

15

again made of use a myth to develop his story. M.K.Naik aptly

describes this aspect: the Santhanu - Ganga parallel has

been employed consciously in the novel" (The Ironic Vision 88).

A Tiger for Malgudi (1983) is about a tiger whose soul is like

an enlightened human being. In this novel the tiger tells the

readers his story. Raja, the tiger, leaves his home in the Mempi

forest only to find that he is captured and made to perform in a

circus and later in a film. One day he escapes from them and is

taken control of by a hermit. The hermit and the tiger leave

Malgudi for the hills. There they spend their final days

meandering in philosophical thoughts.The tiger is raised to the

human level as portrayed by Narayan:

One morning I was lying at the feet of my master;

he was sitting in meditation. Nowadays he

encouraged me to remain close by when he meditated

as it might help me too. At such moments a

profound silence prevailed, and the sublime state

to which he had raised his mind carried mine also

along. At such moments I felt lighter at heart and

my physical self also became secondary. (165)

In the end, Raja is overtaken by old age and he is forced to give

up his freedom for ever.

"Novel no.14", as he wished to call it, Narayan's next novel

Talkative Man exhibits the amorous escapades of Rangan. He very

stylishly christens himself as Dr.Rann. Somewhat a carbon copy of

16

Vasu, there is a difference in their vocation. One fine morning he

is found in the waiting room at the Malgudi Railway Station. He

monopolizes it as Vasu did in the attic of Nataraj. Seeing the

plight of the station master, the talkative man takes him away to

his place. After sometime the talkative man finds out that Rangan

had walked out of his wife. Meanwhile Sarasa, his wife, comes in

search of him. Thanks to the efforts of the talkative man, he is

sent away with Sarasa to Delhi. But the action some-what takes a

circular motion when Sarasa once again comes back to Malgudi in

search of her husband. Rangan, by the time, had eloped to a

foreign country with a new girl. Commenting on the novel Bruce

King opines: "Although disappointing, Talkative man has a highly

personal style, unusual form, and obsessiveness often found in

late works of great writers" (Rev, of Talkative Man: A Novel of

Malgudi 492).

In The World of Nagaraj (1990) R.K.Narayan focuses on the

predicaments of a day dreaming Nagaraj. He just whiles away the

time since he has a decent property to fall back on. His life's

mission is to write about the life of the great Indian sage

Narada. His life meanders very smoothly until he begins to take

care of his brother's son Tim. His peace and harmony is shattered

right from that moment. From then on it is only confusion and

worry for him.

Nothing special can be said on The Grandmother's Tale. It is a

chronicle on Narayan's grandmother in real life. One can get some

17

insights into how he portrayed characters. Narayans uncle

Swaminathan has been made a character in 5k'ai and Friends. The

grannies in Swami and Friends, Waiting for the ahat.a, and the aunt of

The Painter of Signs could have been modelled on his granny Ammani.

On his grandmother, Narayan says:

My Grandmother was an abiding influence.

Grandmothers were in those days very important.

They are no longer so-have disappeared.

Grandmother, Seshachalam (his maternal uncle) and

mother were of one type - principled. (Frontline 21)

Apart form the novels Narayafl has to his credit many short

story collections that include Malgudi Days (1943), Dodu and Other

Stories (1943), Cyclone and Other Stories (1945), An Astrologer's Day and

Other Stories (1947), Lawley Road and Other Stories (1956), A Horse and Two

Goats (1970), Malgudi Days (1982), and Under the Banyan Tree and Other

Stories (1985). In addition to short stories he has produced five

anthologies of stories, essays and sketches. These include Next

Sunday (1956), Reluctant Guru (1974),A Writer's Nightmare (1988),

A Story-Teller's World (1989), Salt and Sawdust: Stories and Table Talk

(1993). My Days (1974) is his autobiography and My Dateless Diary is

a collection of essays on his visit to the USA. The Emerald Route is

a travelogue which has sketches of Narayan.

Narayan has achieved success not only in India but also in

many English speaking countries. The fact is that almost all his

books have either been published first in England or in the USA.

18

n recognition of his immense potential and prolific writing, he

as been honoured with many awards and citations. He is the

ecepient of the Sahitya Academy Award (1961), the Padma Bushan

1964), The National Association of Independent School Award, USA

1965), and the British Royal Society of Literature A.C.Benson

de1 (1980). He is a Fellow of the American Academy and The

ristitute of Arts and Letters. In the Contemporary Novelists, there

s a lengthy entry on him. He is often compared with Evelyn Waugh,

hekhov and Gogol.

Criticisms on Narayan's works began to appear in the fifties.

n the earlier stages, the criticism came predominantly from

jreign critics. Perhaps K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar was the first

ndian to analyse the Indian writing in English in his book with

he same title. Anthony West in an article titled 'Tis Love' , Tis

Dye" in the New Yorker, sums up Narayan's literary merit thus:

1arayan is probably the most brilliant realist writing at the

jment, and he cannot be too highly commended to those who want to

riderstand the Indian mind or to know what life in India is

ike.. ." (126).

Most of the time, the critics tend to concentrate on

arayan's humour, irony, comedy and the place Malgudi. His ironic

nsight and comic cosmos hold a fascination for them. Only a few

f them have focussed their attention on his style, narrative

echnique, his vision and commitment. In the first major Indian

Drk on R.K.Narayafl, K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar has mainly done an

19

inalysis of Narayans works. He takes Narayan to a very high level

md has a great esteem for his writing. He observes:

He is one of the few writers in India who take

their craft seriously, constantly striving to

improve the instrument, pursuing with a sense of

dedication what may often seem to be the mirage of

technical perfection. There is a norm of

excellence below which Narayan cannot possibly

lower himself. (359)

There is a tendency on the part of the critics to consider

hat ever that is being written by Narayan is worthy of reading

md something to relish. Because of this, only a few studies have

oncentrated on the negative aspects of his art. Santha Rama Rau

in an article in New York Times Book Review presents Narayan as a

;tory teller:

R.K.Narayafl, writing about that cherished and

revered figure in Indian life, the village story

teller, displays all the gifts of art, insight,

moral inquiry and teaching possessed by-well, the

expert Indian village story teller. (4)

The place that has been created by Narayan has produced much

xcitement among the literary people. Many people try to locate

the place in the Indian map. Each one has their own opinion. It

as been compared with Thomas Hardy's Casterbridge, Fau1kner'S

"oknapataWPha and Trallope's Barchester. Nirmal Mukherjee has

4.J

traced the growth of Malgudi:

It has grown from a small sized agri-town to a

semi-industrialized city. The Malgudi of Swami and

Friends is not the same as the Malgudi of The Vendor

of Sweets. Even in the same novel, for instance, in

The Guide we see it passing through various phases

of development. Speaking essentially from the

topographical point of view, the Albert Mission

College, headed by Principal Brown, Central Co-

operative Land Mortage Bank with its imposing

structure, the newly-built bungalows in the Lawley

Extension, Englandia Banking Ccrporation, and the

Sunrise Pictures, all speak emphatically of the

story of the growth of the town. ("Some Aspects of

the Literary Development of R.K.Narayan" 77)

The beginning of the seventies saw much more constructive and

broader critical aspects on Narayan's works. Elements that began

to dominate the critical circles include Narayan's portrayal of

man, his artistic ability, his creative capability, his belief in

depicting characters in an objective perspective, his themes and

comic mode. Writing on R.K.Narayan's Art, Paul Verghese observes:

Narayan's is the most simple form of prose fiction

- the story which records a succession of events.

There is no hiatus between character and plot;

both are inseparably knit together. The qualities

the novelist attributes to these characters

21

determine the action, and the action in turn

progressively changes the characters and thus the

story is carried forward to the end. In other

words, as a good story teller, Narayan sees to it

that his story has a beginning, a middle and an

end. ("The Art of R.K.Narayan" 134)

Apart from this elementary exposition, there began to appear

specialized and particularized views on the narrative powers of

arayan. Shirley Chew in her essay "A Proper Detachment", feels

that it is Narayan's chief concern in working out the theme of

letachiiient. In this context, she aptly comments:

Complete detachment from the embodied and the

transitory is the ultimate end to be pursued in

life. But as they have for sometime still to exist

among the embodied and the transitory, Narayan's

heroes strive in their daily wing to know the self

in relation to other people and the world. (Readings

in Commonwealth Literature 58)

Keith Garebian, focuses on the limitations of Narayan's art.

Te feels that most of the criticism done on the author is

'superficial or casual" (Strategy and Theme in the Art of

ELK.Narayan" 70). Uma Parameswarafl, on her part calls Narayan as

'a story teller, nothing less and seldom more" ("Native Genius -

ELK.Narayan" 46).

KA

Edwin Gerow while discussing The Man Eater of Malgi condenses

his view very clearly in a sentence. On the works of Narayan, he

says emphatically, "Narayan's is Classical art" (Considerations 66).

As said eariler, Narayan's works invite closer look in the

comic mode in it. But as Anniah Gowda puts it, "The comedy in him

consists chiefly in seeing things in a different light. He tries

to make out little life, incongruous as it is, rounded with

laughter"("The Comic Muse and R.K.Narayan" 45).

One of the outstanding critics on Narayan, C.D.Narasimhaiah

has written an analytical essay on The Guide. In it he has analysed

both the chief character as well as its creator. For him Narayan's

writing is true and genuine. He articulates his sentiment in this

way. " . . . Narayan's writing is not phoney or precious; it is

authentic. It is about India that he writes... "(Aspects of Indian

Writing in English 175).

The advent of the eighties saw still more narrower dissection

of Narayan's works. Critics began to look deeply into the mind of

Narayan, his characters, the place Malgudi, his irony and his

themes. Probably Vimala Rao was the first critic to analyse

Narayan's women characters. Elena Kalinnikova considers Narayan as

a man of ironic tone. Her view on Narayan runs on this line: "The

shades of Narayan's fun are diverse. His fun sarcastically

sympathetic changes its nature, if the object is vicious,

23

dishonest and undignified aspect of a person" (Indian English

Literature: A Perspective 86).

Narayan's irony is mild in tone. It does not hurt the

sentiments of the reader. His idea is to present the follies and

foibles of the society and leave the rest for the imagination of

his audience. His idea of the society is casual and not concrete.

His minute sense of observation helps him to create a true picture

of the society. M.K.Naik in his The Ironic Vision compares Narayan

and Thomas Hughes in this manner:

apart from the fact that such ironic touches

are few and far between in Hughes, even the

quality of irony does not match Narayan's. Hughes'

irony is merely the expected adult response of

amused superiority to school boy failings;

Narayan's irony is as shown earlier, is much more

varied, subtle and complex, and touches the

worlds, of both school boys and adults. (The Ironic

Vision 15)

Only during this period the analysis of Narayan's technique

was given much importance. Moreover, the spiritual factors and the

latent Hindu philosophy present in the works are given importance.

The Hindu aspects of Dharma, Karma, and Sanyasi existence are

discussed by critics at length. On this aspect Viney Pal Kaur

Kirpal's comment would be worthwhile to note:

Like the stories of the Panchatanra, Narayan's

24

stories celebrate dharma and uphold harmony. The

familar pattern of a Narayan novel/ short story,

especially of the later ones, is the disruption of

order by the evil forces briefly triulBphing

followed by the reassertion of order and harmony

with the powers of darkness duly vanquished.

Always it is the ethical norm that wins. ("An

Analysis of Narayan's Technique" 16-17)

William Walsh, the much quoted critic on Narayan, has written

very perspective book on him that deeply delves into the

iaracter of Narayan, as a man and as an artist. From this book

ie can see how Narayan has used the simple incidents of his life

construct the plot of his novel effectively. Narayan'S school

lucation is reminicent of Swami's. The appetite for reading that

irayan possessed can be seen in Chandran, Krishnan and Raman.

tandran's poem on the death of his father's friend is nothing but

rayan's own attempt to do that kind of an exercise. Even

inivas of Waiting for the Mahatma has things in common with Narayan.

us attempt on Narayan's work gives a clear picture on the mind

d art of the creator. As William Walsh rightly puts it,

arayan's fastidious art, blending exact realism, poetic myth,

idness, perception and gaiety, is without precedent in literature

i English and, as far as one can see, without following"

!?.K.Narayan. A Critical Appreciation 168-9).

25

The use of myth by Narayan has drawn equal attention as the

use of irony or comedy has done. Of them, Shyam Asnani has done a

fair amount of work on the mythical aspects of the author. He has

analysed minutely how the use of myth has added flavour and colour

to the works thereby enriching the meaning. He also feels that

Narayan has a healthy and balanced view of life. He calls

Narayan's use of myth in the Indian context as "unique". He

forthrightly feels that Narayan has used myth both for thematic as

well as for technical purpose. The Painter of Signs, The Man Eater of

Malgudi, A Tiger for Malgudi and to some extent The Guide are rich in

mythical tones. The power of Narayan's command over the myths is

clearly depicted in the novels. John Oliver Perry in a thought-

provoking essay on the author considers Narayan as a biased person

toward traditional South Indian Hindu way of life.

During the nineties a varied set of critical commentaries

began to appear. Critical outputs viz, "R.K.Narayan As A Gandhian

Novelist," "Mode: Comedy, Type: Rakshasa, Author: R.K.Narayan,"

"Tradition and Tragedy: Anita Desai and R.K.Narayan" "R.K.Narayan,

The Pure Artist," - themselves show the difference in attitudes of

the critics. Writing on Narayan as a Gandhian Novelist, Michel

Pousse exhibits Narayan's grasp of Gandhi:

Among the few critics who have proved able to live

by their pens, Narayan has always been regarded as

being in a class of his own, steering clear of

India's major problems to concentrate on Malgudi'S

quiet and seemingly unconcerned life. Yet, below

26

the surface, this great painter of India has been

a steady advocate of the Mahatma and of his

ideals. ("R . K.Narayan As A Gandhian Novelist" 80)

Paul Sharrad feels that Narayafl'S satire is comparable with

lane Austen's. He ably considers Narayafl'S irony as milder than

tnother Indian writer Anita Desai. For .N. Agflihotri, NaraYan

iriteS like a true artist. He also considers NaraYafl'S

haracteriZati0 r as that of a traditionalist. Teresa Hubel has

inalysed Narayafl'S woman characters from the feminist point of

iiew. Britta Olinder examines the power of women in Narayan'S

novels. Cynthia Vanden Driesen has analysed Swami and Friends from

a new angle - as a chronicle of an Indian boyhood. Explaining the

IndianneSS, HariprasSanna observes:

Narayafl has a strong Indian sensibility and

manages to convey this essential IndianneSS in his

writings. He portrays the traditional Indian

society , a societ y which believes in Karma, rebirth

and Samasara (transmigration of soul). DeeplY,rOOted

in his culture, Narayan does not merely attempt to

draw the picture of an imaginar y town; he brings

the centuries-old religious and philosophical

beliefs of his own country into the fictional

narrative, which has its source, as far as formis

concerned in the great epics, legends and folk

tales. (199)

27

Though Narayan's art shows many facets of his literary

personality, the most important factors that contribute to the

everlasting permanance of his works are his innovative, ironic

portrayal of characters and his latent comic capability. His main

aim is just to present the follies and fralities of man. His

minute observation helps him to create school teachers, grannies,

tradesmen, fathers, mothers, painters, writers, businessmen,

moneylenders. Even lock repairers donot escape his photographic

memory. In each one of them he has discovered inconsistencies, and

inabilities, which they tend to brush aside without ever trying to

improve them. His irony is not of an incisive nature. He is closer

to Shaw than to Swift. He does not possess the sharp slashing

satire of Swift. His satire is mild. Since the themes he takes do

not have much depth or philosophical overtones, he does not seem

to be a committed writer. One does not find the social awareness

that Mulk Raj Anand or Bhabani Bhattacharya has. Anita Desal's

psychological insight is completely amiss in him. He does not

possess the righteous anger of a Roman Basu. Nor does he have the

felicity of the language of Naipaul. There is no predominant

social commentary in his writings. Even when there is some, it is

implicit. In an interview to Sunil Sethi he confessess this fact:

"I write about what interests me, human beings and human

relationships; improving society is not my aim" (India Today 61).

Michael Parkinson feels that comedy arouses and vicariously

satisfies the human instinct for mischief. Arthur Schopenhauer

observes that laughter arises out of one's incongruity. In his

28

Lrticle "The World as Will and Idea" he opines:

The cause of laughter is in every case simply the

sudden perception of the incongruity between a

concept and the real objects to which it has been

related in our mind... All laughter then is

occassioned by a parodox, and therefore by

unexpected assimilation whether this is expressed

in words or in actions. (Theories of Comedy 355)

One of the chief commentators on comedy Henri Bergson

bserves that the evolving of comedy will be bereft of feelings.

e has captured the essense of comedy in this way:

absence of feelings. .. usually accompanies

laughter.. . Indifference is its natural

environment, for laughter has no greater foe than

emotion.., highly emotional soul, in time and

unison with life, in whom every event would be

sentimentally prolonged and riechoed would neither

know nor understand laughter. (The Comic in Theory and

Practice 43)

R.B.Martin considers comedy as a combination of enlighternent

nd experience. According to him there must be an artistic and

ruthful examination of the comic side of life. It would be apt to

uote him at this juncture.

Comedy is a fundamental attitude of human mind_

what has been too frequently lacking is the simple

29

statement that the purpose of comedy is that all

great art, the enlightement of the mind by an

examination of the meaning of symbolic experience.

(The Theory of The Novel 72-73)

Frye's explorations of comedy are sharp and concrete. He

concentrates on the hero to a great extent. He feels that the

theme of comedy includes the integration of society. He

categorizes comedy into various types. For him comedy can be

classified as domestic comedy, new comedy, romantic comedy, ironic

comedy and comedy of manners. In general he divides comedy into

two categories: low-mimetic comedy and high-mimetic comedy. The

low mimetic type projects characters who exhibit a power of action

which is roughly on the normal man's level. This form is mostly

found in comedy and realistic fiction. In the high-mimetic, which

is often found in tragedies and epics, the characters are above

the normal man's power and authority. As the low mimetic mainly

concerns with comedy, the reader or spectator gets pleasure rather

than any preaching. Frye has very clearly projected this sentiment

in these lines: "The sense of reality is, for instance, far higher

in tragedy than in comedy, as in comedy the logic of events

normally gives way to the audience's desire for happy ending"

(Anatomy of Criticism 75). He observes elsewhere:"... The upward

movement is the comic movement, from threatening complications to

a happy ending and a general assumption of post-dated innocence in

which everyone lives happily ever after" (Anatomy of Criticism 162).

30

Considering the characters in a comedy, Frye observes:

The tendency of comedy is to include as many

people as possible in its final society. The

blocking characters are more often reconciled or

converted than simply repudiated. Comedy often

includes a scape goat ritual of expulsion which

gets rid of some irreconcilable character, but

exposure and disgrace make for pathos or even

tragedy. (165)

Narayan's comedy is always genial in nature and conservative

in tone. He does not possess the cutting edge of Swift or

Richardson. Narayan's eye for laughter arises from simple

incidents. His ability in bringing into life ordinary situations

has made his works enjoyable. Martin Fido while speaking on

Charles Dickens has this to say:

The mainstay of Dickens' popularity and a major

element of his greatness has always been his

simple comedy; his sheer capacity to make his

readers laugh. Although throughout his career

there were times when Dickens used comedy to make

serious points, there were always times when he

wrote to be funny, and excluded almost any other

purpose whatsoever. (Charles Dickens 15)

This is exactly what R.K.Narayan does. His comedy in one

sense can be classified as Dickensian - the simple comedy. The

31

world of Narayan's comedy include the juvenile world, the cosmos

of swamis, the fanatic teachers, the grumbling grannies, foolish

lovers, principled heroines, painters, printers, family planning

experts, money lenders, circus men, writers and what not. One can

see a perennial flow of comedy in his work. The essense of his

comedy is that he seems to accept all the imperfections, follies

and foilbies and idiosyncracies of human beings. The faults do not

annoy him. They rather amuse him. His ability lies in the fact

that he is able to convey this effectively to the world through

his writing. During that process he does not satirize nor is he

didactic. His comedy is demonstrated in the plot, character,

narration and dialogu3. His comedy reflects that of Chekhov. One

does not come across any work that resembles the acrimonious

writing that is inherent in A Tale of a Tub or Gulliver's Travels.

Narayan can not offend people. His aim is just to paint what

happens in the public. He leaves the rest to the reader's

imagination. It is upto the reader to change his faulty attitude.

His comic vision is dispassionate and completely objective.

Hariprasanna very efficiently captures this element.

Narayan draws widely from the real and ordinary

everyday life, from hopes and passions and

emotions, all of which one premeated by the comic

sensibility.... Narayan recongizes that everyday

and ordinary life holds and unfolds much of the

drama. Thus Narayan's world of Malgudi is marked

by a spirit of amused tolerance. (169-70)

32

Hayden Moore Williams must be the first critic to compare

Narayan with James Thurber, Jerome K Jerome and P.G.Woodhouse.

Narayan doesnot have that ability of Bernard Shaw to see the

errors and faults of the society. Shaw dragged life into the

theatre. His themes concentrated on housing conditions, religion,

finance, prostitution - anything and everything that is being

muddled, mismanaged and malign. For Narayan the faults and

frailities are his concerns but not of Shaw's magnitude. A fanatic

teacher, a foolish lover, an arragont father, a henpecked husband,

a fake sadhu are the kinds of people one comes across. But the

detached way in which he presents the humour and irony inherent in

them is his hallmark. His comedy is not damaging nor demanding.

Anniah Gowda captures this point in these words:

The Comic Muse breathes through the familiar

surroundings - the Cobblestones of Market Road,

the sands of the Sarayu bank, the banyan tree

outside the Central Co-operative Land Mortage Bank

under which Margayya grew to be a legent, Kabir

street and the Lawley Extention. ("The Comic Muse

and R.K.Narayan" 39)

So far the analysis has focussed its attention on how critics

have analysed his work. The researcher is of the view that the

commentaries on the works have been individualistic and do not

form any view point. With a view to provide a frame work for

Narayan's novels, this researcher has applied Frye's views on

comedy, irony and myth - the predominant features of Narayan. The

33

focal point of the thesis is the following statement of Frye:

"The theme of the comic is the integration of society, which

usually takes the form of incorporating a central character into

it" (Anatomy of Criticism 43).

How far Narayan's works fit into the framework of Frye's

concept of comedy is the concern of the whole thesis while the

next chapter specifically analyses a few novels of Narayan under

the caption "Ironic Comedy".