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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1960 The orW ld of Malgudi: a Study of the Novels of R. K. Narayan. Nirmal Mukerji Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Mukerji, Nirmal, "The orldW of Malgudi: a Study of the Novels of R. K. Narayan." (1960). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 633. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/633 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received Mic 60—5923 MUKERJI, Nirmal. THE WORLD OF MALGUDI: A STUDY OF THE NOVELS OF R. K. NARAYAN. Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1960 Language and Literature, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan THE WORLD OF MALGUDI: A STUDY OF THE NOVELS OF R. K. NARAYAN A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Nlrmal Mukerjl B. A., Allahabad University, 1951 M. A., Agra University, 1953 August, 1960 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my thanlcs to Professor John H. Wildman, under whose guidance this work was done, and to Professor John E. Uhler and Professor Thomas A. Kirby, who read It and gave many valuable suggestions for Its improvement. 11 TABLE OP CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..........................................................................................11 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS...................................................................................J v ABSTRACT............................................................................................................... .. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................lx CHAPTER I. SETTING.................................................................................................... 1 II. PEOPLE.................................................................................................... 39 III. STRUCTURE.......................................................................................... 117 IV . ATTITUDES............................................................................................151 APPENDIX . A GLOSSARY OF INDIAN TERMS...........................................20 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................... 212 VITA......................................................................................................................... 222 ill LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE PLATE 1. PHOTOGRAPH OF R. K. NARAYAN........................................... viii FIGURE 1. SKETCH OF MALGUDI................................................................xv iv AB8TRACT The object of the present study is to analyse and evaluate the achievement of R. K. Narayan as a novelist. A contemporary Indian writer, he has created the South Indian small town of Malgudi as the locale for his fiction. This dissertation analyses and interprets the life portrayed in this town, distinguishes the author's approach to Indian life from that of some prominent Western writers whose works center on the same theme, and evaluates the significance of Narayan's contribution. Chapter I deals with the setting of Narayan's fictional world. The town of Malgudi is small, old, shabby, and extremely unassuming, but it is real—it is India as seen by one who belongs to it. It is entirely different from the romanticized version of India with which a Western reader is usually familiar. Narayanas setting is appropriate and authentic, and it contributes toward a better and deeper understand­ ing of the life of his people. This strong sense of place with which the Malgudi novels are imbued helps in establishing a feeling of solidity, reality, and intimacy. In these novels Narayan presents a cross-section of Hindu middle class society. An attempt is made in Chapter II to study these people as they are pictured by the author. The most striking character- istlc about Narayan's paople is that they are strongly tied down to deeply rooted traditions, but the impact of Western ideas on them is no less decisive. Ironically enough, they can neither willingly accept nor completely reject the new patterns of life, and this attitude places them in recurrent states of indecision and confusion. Within the general framework of the age-old traditions Narayan studies the lives of such p e o p le . The third chapter traces the development of Narayan's art with particular reference to such problems as structural organization, point of view, and time-sequence. A study of his novels arranged chrono­ logically has revealed his literary development from the chronicle-type of plot structure of Swami and Friends to the well-integrated, dramatic, and organic structure of The Guide. His plots usually rely heavily on central characters. Although English is not Narayan's mother tongue, he writes in it with an ease which is amazing. His prose style is simple, clear, moving, and forceful. Chapter IV studies the attitudes of the novelist as revealed in his novels. The question of the freedom of the individual is considered in the light of such basic and fundamental concepts of Hindu thought and ways of life as Pharma, Karma, and Varna. It is found that his general attitude toward social and religious institutions is that of trust tempered by criticism. He conceives of life in the spirit of comedy, but it is not the hilarious and boisterous type of comedy; it has undertones of sadness. vi His ••tire is directed more against individual* than institutions. On the whole, it is very gentle. His irony which is his most serviceable weapon has a flavor all his own. He knows well the value of reticence. Nowhere do we find over-explicit and pronounced moral judgments. He does no harm to the illusion of the life he creates. His moral values are implied rather than stated. The creator of the world of Malgudi is a novelist with a growing reputation. Narayan is rightly considered to be the most significant contemporary novelist of Indo-Anglian literature. For a faithful and inti­ mate portrayal of Indian small town life and for creating a world which is very much alive, he deserves a wider recognition. vii Marilyn Silyerstone- Gamma R. K. N1RAZ1N author of THE GUIDE (Viking) PLATE 1 viU INTRODUCTION The Western Interest In India Is as old as the beginnings of the written history of Europe. With the increasing pace of the European overseas expansion and the founding of the English colony in India, there was a quickening in the desire to discover not only its spices, herbs, and precious stones but also its cultural richness. In 1784,twenty-seven years after the historic battle of Plaussey, which decided the fate of the vast subcontinent in favor of the English, Sir William Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Indeed it was a great step toward opening the door to understanding. For the literary historian, however, far more important than the founding of this learned society is the sudden and widespread use of Indian themes in English fiction. Bhupal Singh alone refers to more than four hundred such titles in his survey of Anglo-Indian fiction. * The mere number in itself, however, is not very important. What is really significant is the fact that the area of cross-cultural contacts *A Survey of Anglo-Indian Fiction (London: Oxford University Press, 1934). ix has bean very extensive. It is true that with anintellectual background and a system of values entirely different from and often diametrically opposed to those which formed the basis of Indian society, the observer from the West remained contented with the outward appearances. He was often dazzled, puzzled, and mystified. Perhaps he had neither the desire nor the capability to analyze and understand the land and the people he had recently conquered. Naturally, the soul of India remained undiscovered. The introduction of English as the med. um of higher education was to a great extent a matter of political necessity. Macaulay's famous "Minute" of 1835 resulted in establishing English in the place the government had designed for it. Such a situation was bound to have many far-reaching effects. The introduction of English gave to the educated Indian an effective medium of expression through which he could reach his fellow countrymen who spoke different languages. Moreover, it was through English that he could make better contacts with the Western world and show that India was something more than a land of elephants and cobras, snake charmers and rope dancers, and strange customs and rituals. The Increasing and extensive use of English as the medium of expression resulted in a prolific production 2 of what is usually termed the "Indo-Angllan" literature. It is true 2who first coined this term is not known. K. R. Srinivas x that most of thoso literary effort* are of minor historical interest only. A few like Tagore, Aurbindo Ghosh, Sarojlnl Naldu, and Malk Raj Anand have made significant contribution to Indo-Angllan literature. The production

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