IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1740

Dr. Vipula Mathur

Assistant Professor,

Mahila PG College,

Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

vipulamathur.sgi@gmail.com

Major Themes in the Novels of R.K. Narayan

Abstract: Narayan deals with a society in which the combined weight of tradition, custom

and social opinion usually compels individuals to play their expected life roles. He has also

said that he value human relationship, very intensely. It makes one's existence worthwhile –

human relationship in any and every form, whether at home or outside. It is the life of

Malgudi which he knew intimately, which has fertilized his imagination and he renders it

accurately, vividly and realistically in one novel after another. R.K. Narayan concent rates on

orthodox family and incorporates numerous features of Indian life. He studies the various

relationships in his novels with family as the nucleus. There is a strong sense of kinship in his

fiction.

Keywords-Narayan, Indian, family, relationships, novels, individual, themes

Introduction:

R.K. Narayan, has long been regarded as the best Indian writer in the English language. The

adjective 'Indian' needs to be heavily underscored on several counts. Narayan is neither Anglo-

Indian nor Indo- Indian nor Indo-Anglian, he is very much an Indian both in spirit and thought.

He did not write with an eye on foreign audience, though he is published abroad and widely
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1741

read abroad. He did not choose his themes nor distort them in order to please those in the West

who continue to treat us Indians as if we are inferior breed. He deal with big themes – all which

had been happening in India – but with deceptive simplicity.

Even at the later age, the sources of R.K. Narayan's creative imagination had not dried

up. The sparkling inventive skill, the effortless simplicity and the simplicity and the cerebral

switch board of ideas are all in robust health. The Malgudi novels have a remarkable unity and

a distinctive tone of voice, which combine style and virtue.

An analysis of his novels reveals that R.K. Narayan dealt neither with the aristocracy

at the top nor the poor. He practically like Jane Austen, identified himself with the middle class

people and their various involvements, their clashes and adjustments that constitute the main

interest of his novels. Like E.M. foster and D.H. Lawrence, he is a critic of contemporary

society who ironically criticizes the follies and foibles of modern civilization reared on the

material values of life. Narayan believes in the principal of 'Art for art's sake', and dealing with

social problems in his novels like H.G. Wells and Galaworthy, he writes also for the pleasure

of creation and beauty. He had a particular liking for religious life and hence in all his novels,

we are bound to meet sanyasi, temple and Ganges.

R.K. Narayan’s social consciousness is the subject of this study. R.M. MacIver and

C.M. Page in 'Society' writes, "Society as a system of usages and procedures, of authority and

mutual aid, of many groupings and diversions, of controls of human behaviors and liberties".

Society exists where social beings "behave" towards one another. Any relations so determined

we may broadly name "social". But society is not limited to human beings. There may be

society also between animals of different species, as between a man and horse, or a dog or, say,

between sheep and their shepherd. Thus by society our concern is with entire human species.

And it is not only the sociologist but the novelist also, whose Prime concern is the various
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1742

spheres of society and everyday mundane affairs. Indo – Anglian literature has served as a

mirror for presenting the everyday happenings of society.

“Since the novelist's subject is man – in society his subject matter must also be the

texture of manners and conventions by which social man defines his own identity.”1 The Indo

– Anglian novels present historical and Geographical awareness of Indian situations. Its subject

is largely historical and sociological in approach dealing basically with the manners, customs,

conventions and systems of Indian society. The Indo – Anglian novels has in the last decade

been discussed frequently in the articles and reviewers in periodicals, both in Indian and abroad.

The novels of R.K. Narayan, which is the special study of this subject, are not less

influenced with the stream of social consciousness which swept over the Indian literature in

the last decade.

He is the most artistic of the Indian writers, his sole aim being to give aesthetic

satisfaction, and not to use his art as a medium of propaganda or to serve some social purpose.

R.K. Narayan is a novelist who was the rare example of a pure artist one who writes for

the sake of art, and not out any ulterior motives. That is why his popularity has been world –

wide and lasting. ”Perhaps it is true that a sincere Indian writer in English chooses as the

medium of his creative expression because of the national and international public it reaches

and the long tradition English literary forms enjoy.”2

R.K. Narayan like Jane Austen, has achieved greatness by working on his "two inches

of ivory. In other words, he recognized the limitation of his range. He was born and bred in

South India. It was there, he was educated, and he did not go out of this limited region till late

in life when his reputation as a writer was already well-established, when he had already found

himself. The formative years of his life were passed in this particular part of the country and

therefore, as novelist he rightly confines himself to this particular region.

IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1743

Of this particular region, it was the life of the middle classes of which he had the most intimate

knowledge. His memorable characters are all middle class. Upper class characters and

characters belonging to the lower sections of society were outside his range and so they are

seldom introduced with any success, in his works. It is the day – to day life of this particular

class – a class to which he himself belonged – the tensions, and conflicts, stress and strains in

human relations within the domestic circle of this class he has himself experienced, and hence

he rightly makes then the basis of his works. His early novels are all domestic novels studying

the relationship of husband and wife parents and sons, brothers and brothers etc., and in his last

novel he again returns to these domestic relationships. Even when he covers a wider field as in

'The Guide' or 'Mr. Sampath' these domestic relationships are still explored and delineated. He

depicts men in relation to each other than in relation to God, or some abstract idea, nor even

politics. Politics is only in 'Waiting for the Mahatma' that the freedom struggle is brought in

with disastrous consequences. He paints life with great skill, the externals of characters and

manners, and passes by the vehement, the profound and the enthusiastic.

In each of his works, he presents a slice of life, as he see it, with perfect sincerity and

truthfulness. His integrity is above doubt. His one single aim is to amuse and entertain his

readers by presenting before them life's little ironies, realistically and vividly. He presents life

as it is both the good and the evil, he does not take any sides and it is difficult to determine

where the novelist's own sympathies lie. He look with amused tolerance on the follies and

frivolities which are a part of human life and renders both the wicked and the virtuous with

equal sympathy and large heartedness.

Narayan's Purpose is to entertain, to amuse his readers by telling them an interesting

story which does not necessitate any great effort on their part. He does not preach or moralize.

Though there is an analysis of human feelings, emotions, and motives, there is no probing into

the sub-conscious, and the unconscious as is the case with a modern novelist. “The subject
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1744

matter of novels is human relationships in which are shown the directions of men’s souls.”3 In

short Narayan is a story – teller, nothing less and seldom more. Let us discuss some of his

novels in brief.

(1) Swami and Friends (1935) : It was his first novel, and a great writer Graham Greene

called it, 'A book in ten thousand'. The novel describes the life of boys in South India

schools. We get a vivid portrayal of thoughts, emotions and activities of school boys.

The plot revolves round the activities of Swami, the hero and his friends Mani, Shankar,

Somu, Samuel and Rajam.

The novel is remarkable for the author's understanding of child's psychology and for

his depiction of the carefree, buoyant world of school boys in a most realistic and

convincing manner.

(2) The Bachelor of Arts (1937) : His next novel 'The bachelor of Arts' is a mature work

than the earlier novel and it deals with a later stage in a young man's career, when he is

about to leave college and enter life, when he is neither a boy nor a man, but somewhere

in between. It is remarkable for its skillful mingling of hum our and pathos.

(3) The Financial Expert (1952) : The novel is mater piece of Narayan. It tells the story of

the rise and fall of Margayya, the financial expert. It is an extremely well constructed

novel in five parts, corresponding to the five Acts of an Elizabethan drama. The theme

of the novel is lust for money, but Margayya is no monster of greed and wickedness.

R.K. Narayan has succeeded in humanizing him and showing that despite his lust for

money, he is human being, like us.

(4) The Guide (1958) : The Guide is the most popular novel of R.K. Narayan and won the

Sahitya Academy Award in 1960. It has also been filmed and the film has always drawn

packed houses.
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1745

It narrates the adventures of a railway guide, popularly known as 'Railway Raju'. His

vocation brings him in contact with Marco and his wife Rosie who is a born dancer and

soon Raju finds an opening for her.

In this way Raju goes near to Rosie, gradually she gets grand success in her programs,

and Raju starts wasting her money. One day he does forgery and goes to jail. Rosie

leaves him. In this ways story goes on. After releasing from jail, Raju takes shelter in a

temple of Malgudi and forms the new role of Mahatma. However soon there is a severe

famine and draught and the villagers expect Raju to undertake a fast to bring down the

rains. On the 12th day of the fast Raju falls down exhausted just as there are signs of

rain on the distant horizon. It is not certain whether he is actually dead, or he as merely

fainted. The novel ends on a note of ambiguity.

(5) The Man-eater of Malgudi (1961) : This novel is considered by a competent critics to

be his finest work. It is an allegory or fable showing that evil is self – destructive. The

title is ironic for the man eater in the novel is no tiger, but a mighty man, Vasu, who

not only kills a large number of wild animals in Mempi forests, but can also kill a man

with single blow of his hammer fist.

The character of Vasu, the central figure, is a masterpiece. The narration is enlivened

by Narayan's comic vision which frequently fuses and mingles with pathos.

(6) The Sweet Vendor (1967) : It is the story of Jagan, a Sweet Vendor. He is religious

minded and has been considerably influenced by 'the Gita'. He is also a staunch follower

of Gandhi and tries to live up to the Gandhian way of life. He is very careful about

money and keeps two account books to avoid paying income tax.

He is devoted to money and is also devoted to his twenty five years old son, Mali. He

deals with the ups and downs in the fortunes of a single family. It is a powerful study
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1746

of father – son relationship and the tensions caused by the difference of outlook between

the older and the rising generation.

In portraying the life, Narayan is both sympathetic and aware of its absurdities. The

joint family which survived through century is at last breaking up. Jagan looks back

nostalgically to the days he and his wife spent in the ancestral home, the humiliations

his wife had to suffer because she was 'barren', the pilgrimage to the temple of Santana

Krishna, the excitement when Ambika discovers that all their prayers have not been in

vain.

Margayya and his brother find impossible to get on with each other, and a wall is put

up right in the middle of the house they both inherited. But well at the back cannot be

divided, and on all important occasions and deaths, the brothers came together and the

younger will not take a step without a blessing obtained from the elder. India is a

wonderful civilization stretching across several millennia. The joint family has survived

for centuries and at its best, much can be said for it.

Narayan's novels are essentially stories of Indian life. Most of them trace the growth of

an individual who is firmly rooted in the Indian social order. A fairly large majority of

Indian implicitly accept the manners and mores of their caste.

Most of them carry on the respective occupation of their caste. Most of them carry on

the respective occupations of their caste. Even today intercaste marriages are rare.

Those who do so are frowned upon by the members of their caste. Caste and religion

are the determining factors of the Hindu marriage. There is a popular belief that

marriages are made in heaven, but they are normally arranged by the parents or the

elders of the family.

IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1747

Horoscopes also play a decisive role in the settlement of a Hindu marriage. In 'The

Bachelor of Arts' we see their important role in the marriage. The hero Chandran could not

marry the girl he liked so much because their horoscopes would not match.

In a Hindu joint family, a woman's proper place is the home and hearth. She must

confine herself to domestic duties and proper care of her husband and children. She must be

faithful to her husband in order to retain her proper and respectable position in the family and

society. She must be a dutiful and loving wife. She must bring up her children. She must be

submissive and cooperative. She should tolerate the excesses and deviations of her husband

from the conjugal norms.

Man woman relationship occupies an important place in Narayan's fiction. As

we see in 'The Bachelor of Arts', Chandran Malathi affair is warm and romantic. But Indian

society is deep traditional, their horoscopes did not tally, he could not marry the girl he loved.

However, in the traditional society of Indian even educated people have implicit faith in such

things.

Narayan has held the mirror at Indian culture more faithfully than any other novelist.

In his novel 'The Dark Room' we see that Ramani is such a crook that it is his second nature to

displease his wife. Savitri suffers like other Indian women. She puts up with her husband's

promiscuous ways. Even when she runs away from the house she realizes that ideal Hindu wife

should learn to put up with her erring husband. In 'The Financial Expert' Margayya remains the

most fascinating creation of human ingenuity. As a financial expert, he proves that money, like

power corrupts man absolutely.

In 'The Guide', Narayan exposes the credulity of rural folk – the credulity which cost

Raju his life. Narayan has brilliantly depicted the predicament of an individual who is lost in

the crowd.
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1748

The total fictional corpus of R.K. Narayan, therefore presents a panorama of men and

women in different life roles, ranging from the school boy in his characteristic pranks in 'Swami

and friends' to the old man about to renounce the world in 'The Vendor of Sweets'.

The hallmark of Narayan's art in all its aspects is a natural simplicity and

unpretentiousness. His plot construction, in keeping with the general nature of his art, is not a

contrivance but a development based on the basics of causality. This traditional concept of

good story telling saves his plot construction from unnecessary gimmickry or or flintiness

which often passes for experimentation.

The novelist calmly views life from an aesthetic distance as a movement. Despite

difficulties there is something mysterious in Indian life which keep it going. It is the innate zest

for life, pleasure in sheer living, its religious routine.

In Narayan's novels the normal social order is disturbed, there is conflict between the

forces of order and disorder and in the end there is a restoration of normalcy. It is not absurd

or eccentric or the evil that is re-established, but the good and the normal. There is always a

renewal of life, love, beauty, peace. Despite temporary aberration, life must go on as usual.

This seems to be the message of R.K, Narayan. This also makes the structure of his novels

circular. Society is static and nothing is changed. Characters too continue to be mediocre. They

attain neither spiritual heights nor sensational worldly success.

In each of his novels he shows that peculiar discernment of the novelist which can fix

the authentic individuality of a character and simultaneously establish it solidly in a social

world.

The choice of theme is an important aspect of novel writing and is possible only by self-

acquired knowledge and understanding of the world around the novelist. The distinction of

R.K. Narayan as a novelist lies in his themes that emerges from exactly a dozen of his novels
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1749

to date are – love and marriage, or man – woman relationships, family relationship

underscoring the father – son relationship, social – cultural and political scene of the country

during the last 50 years and the Hindu ethos highlighting renunciation as an ideal of the Hindu

way of life. Narayan is essentially a novelist of Indian culture and heritage. He holds fast to

certain cultural traditions and values in life because of his essential Hindu moorings.

In all his novels and most of the short stories, R.K. Narayan's chief concern is human

relationship, especially the relationship of the members of an Indian family where grandfathers,

grandmothers, granduncles, parents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, daughters and sons live in

the same house, each looking to the well being of others and having in him a sense of personal,

economic and social security.

Narayan's treatment and delineation of human relationships as one of the major themes

of his fiction are largely confined to family relationships in the Indian joint family. The most

paying and interesting subject of study in this world is what happens to human being not only

their external behavior but also their inner feelings and thoughts.

Of all the family relationship paternal love is the most significant refrain in Narayan's

fiction. Most of the major character in his novels are devoted and protective fathers, as we see

Chandran's father in 'The Bachelor of Arts' and Margayya in 'The Financial Expert'. Narayan

deals with themes centering around a moment or a mood of crisis and for these he finds plenty

of material in the life around him.

The theme which more than any other has defined and projected Narayan's world of

values is the theme of juxta – position of tradition and modernity in its various aspects and

nuances. It grows into the central comic theme of deviation in his novels Malgudi is steeped in

tradition and its in habitants are men and women with their "roots in family and religion". They

cherish a heritage of faith and values, custom and rituals, and even superstitions “.Considered
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1750

as a whole, they constituted “ a strong frame work of social convention with which the author

sympathizes but which he does not share”.4

Greed for money as a basic theme can also be seen in his novel "The Financial Expert".

Greed for money ruins Margayya's life. So there is a moral message but it is obtrusive and has

to inferred by the readers themselves.

Thus the message conveyed through the novel is that human relationships are more

important than money and excessive craze for worldly wealth is futile. It does not increase the

happiness of life in any way. This is also seen in "The Guide" – that Raju's passion for money

and his forgery drives him to prison and he himself is trapped by his over smartness for holding

a fast by the innocent villagers.

Narayan's heroes ultimately accept life as it is, and this is a measure of their spiritual

maturity. This acceptance is something which is gradually worked towards grown – up and,

matured as this maturity is achieved within the accepted religious and social framework.

Narayan's art is a curious blend of Western method and Eastern material. "The Guide"

is essentially a Western art form but Narayan has successfully used it to express Indian

sensibility. The heroines of Narayan are typically, Indian. Rosie is not as submissive as the

heroines in other novels, and she is also more modern, but even she shows her essential

Indianness in the attitude of resignation she adopts when Raju is arrested for forgery. Even

though she has sexual relations with Raju, the pull of middle class morality and traditional

subservience of a Hindu wife to her husband is seen in the novel.

The Indianness of Narayan is also seen in the treatment of the credulous and

superstitious villagers of Indian. They believe "Sadhus" and any fraud and cheat can easily

impose upon them and make them worship him, heap food and other offering upon them. They

accept him as their mentor and spiritual guide. When there is draught and famine, their reaction
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1751

is typically Indian. This reveals a peculiar aspect of Indian life ; the remarkable coexistence of

science and superstition, knowledge and ignorance, mythology and weather prediction.

Narayan uses the ambiguity of the prevailing social norms in India to strike an

exemplary blow against all those who insist on a derogatory role for women in Indian society.

Narayan does not seem to be obvious of the fact that the success of a marriage in Indian is still

judged only by the marital harmony which arises out of undivided love and perfect

understanding between husband and wife.

He gives a new dimension to man – woman relationship not so much to show the

obvious growing change from tradition to modernity as the impact of the latter and influence

of the changing socio – cultural conditions of our society. Narayan can be seen here in his own

culture as in "The Vendor of Sweets" and other novels. He perhaps wants to remind us that an

ideal Indian wife still lives and dies with her husband. “After all he is my husband. I have to

respect him. I cannot leave him there”.5 Thus, he upholds modernity without sacrificing what

is so noble in our tradition.

Narayan's characters may well be divided into three categories. First, there are simple

characters who can very easily be seen through Narayan's heroes like Swami, Chandran,

Krishna, Srinivas, Nataraj belong to this category. They are kind, considerate, they lack self

confidence, they are weak and hesitative.

Secondly, there are more intricate or complex characters such as Raju, Ramani,

Margayya, Mr. Sampath and H. Vasu. They are mysterious and unpredictable in their ways,

and so difficult to understand. They are inconsiderate and selfish in their plans and actions.

Money and sex are their chief pre- occupation and in the pursuit of their objectives they are

ready to sacrifice each other things and every other person.

Thirdly there are the odd and grotesque characters unusually given a minor role but

highly amusing and entertaining. For e.g. Marco, in 'The Guide', Kailash, the drunken
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1752

debauch, etc. are all fascinating eccentrics. They may not be strictly true to life, but none would

wish them away for that reasons.

Narayan's women characters may suitably be divided into two groups. First they are

typically Indian housewives such as Krishna's wife, Savitri, Raju's mother in 'The guide' and

Chandran's mother in 'The Bachelor of Arts'. They are simple, modest gentle and loving and

obedient. They are religious and traditional in their ways. Indeed, they are the upholders of the

ancient Indian way of life. They are expert in running households economically and efficiently.

The second class of women characters are more modernized, more unconventional in

their views and ways of life. They are flirts, or butterfly type of women. Such is Rosie in The

Guide and Rangi in The Man-eater of Malgudi represents a cruder type, for she is a professional

prostitute neither ashamed of her profession, nor trying to conceal it.

A word may also be said about Narayan's knowledge of child – psychology, and his

portrayal of children. This is best seen in his early novel – "Swami and Friends" and "The

Bachelor of Arts". In his very first novel, Narayan has shown great penetration and skill in

depicting the rainbow world of childhood and early boyhood.

Such individualization becomes possible because of Narayan's understanding of human

psychology. As the story progresses, the characters unfold themselves through what they do

and say, and thus gradually the different facets of their personality are revealed. In this way, is

built up a complex, living, breathing human being. In this way has Narayan given to us a

crowded gallery of the immortals of Literature.

Satiric humour is also there in his novels. He satirizes greedily businessmen and money

– lenders, extorting house – owners, black – marketers and profiteers, or producers of obscene

films, fake Sadhus. But his satire is so mild and gentle that it is often difficult to decide whether

Narayan is being satiric, or he is merely exposing and ridiculing for the amusement of his

readers. His humor is genial and kindly, for he accepts life as it is, with all its follies and foibles,
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1753

and it is not carried away by the zeal of the reformer. By nature he is a humorist and not a

satirist.

The raw material of the novelist comes from the actual world in which he lives and

breathes. The people he meets in real life – family and relations, his friends and acquaintances,

official functionaries, saints and sinners and persons of all shades and types who constitute the

web of society and its institutions – social, cultural, political and religious, customs and

manners, traditions and conventions, beliefs and superstitions leave an indelible mark on his

heart and soul. And when he creates his fictional world, they swam into his memory and

clamour for being reborn. Fiction transforms the actual world into the imaginary world. It is

shaped by his imagination world. It is shaped by his imagination which embodies his vision of

life and give it a local habitation and a name.

Narayan always finds an ancient myth or legend to express his vision of modern life.

And this use of myth and legend in his novels does not make mere illusions of abstract

ideologies and the beliefs. It rather emerges as the final vision of the present day reality

visualized by the author. It reinforces and enhances its appeal by linking the modern with the

ancient Indian tradition. In this respect Narayan is in the line of the old Indian saints and

prophets interpreting the present day human condition in terms of ancient myths, legends and

fables.

Narayan is essentially a novelist of Indian culture and heritage. He has great

faith in the Hindu ethos and cultural values and traditions. He represents the middle class of

his novels and introduces a modern and timely content and theme in Indian fiction in English.

He is contented with being a "Social realist".

Narayan's focus in this portraiture steadily on the average. The extremes in life's scale

do not interest him. His characters are ordinary men and women with human eccentricities,

incongruities, oddities, follies and foibles. They are taken from real life and are not abstractions
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1754

of good or evil, virtues or vices. As a result, there are no 'heroes' or 'villains' in the conventional

sense in Narayan's world.

Narayan's art in its various aspects has received universal commendation, he has been

recognized as 'a born story – teller', 'a first rate story teller par excellence'. He writes in English

of an extreme purity and simplicity.

Narayan minutely observes the society and presents most realistic pictures charged with

gentle irony and light humour. His approach to subject – matter is always marked with

intellectual inspirtations. His artistic excellence lies in authentic exploration of facts in

absolutely uninvolved manner.

R.K. Narayan's novels are teemed with social consciousness. He accepts the reality as

it presents before him. He sees the society and its developments with an ironic detachment and

accept reality ungrudgingly. Inspire of his narrow range Narayan has gained popularity because

he has depicted Indian mores with authenticity. He adopts the simple style of a story – teller.

In short, the comic, the ironic are the tools in his dramatic armory but the real

achievement lies in the actualization of the social reality within a fictional framework.
IJELLH Volume 7, Issue 1, Month 2019 1755

References

Meenakshi Mukherjee: “The Twice Born Fiction”(1974) ,p no.18

C.Paul Verghese, “Problems of Indian Creative Writer in English”(Somalaya,Bombay,1971),

P.104

Quoted by Philip Stevick in his Introduction to ‘The Theory of the Novel’,P No.7

Graham Greene, ‘Introduction to The Financial Expert’, P.VII

R.K Narayan ,The Guide, Indian Thought Publication,1958,P.No.119