THEMES AND CHARACTERS OF R. K. NARAYAN'S NOVEL -A CRITICAL STUDY Thesis suhmitted for the T)egree of '^Doctor of Vhilosophy (Vk^.) of the lAniversity of Ylorth IBengal Assistant Teacher in English. PHANSIOEWA H. S. SCHOOL DARJEELtNG, WEST BENGAL 1997 8T-VEBP 126t)b'9 I 0 m ?993 CON T E N T S^ Page Preface CiiAPTER - I : Introduction, ., 1-10 CHAPTER - II : The Social BacK Drop of the Themes o •• 11-47 C.L\PV^R ~ III t Themes of il, K, War ay an* s Novels. .. 48 - 207 CiiAPTER - IV : Realism Comic Vision and Irony in the" Themes, ., 208 - 278 C-LJ.FTER - V : Study in Marayan's Characters in Thematic Perspective, .. 279 - 314 C,L-.PTiR - VI : Lanrruage I'ecrinique of the Narratives, ,, 315 - 334 CiiAPTER - VII J Conclusion, ,, 335 - 357 I3IBLI0GIiAPHY ., 358 - 368 E The present disserteition is an h^JIable attempt at a critical study of the Themes and Characters of R, K, Max-ayan's Novels, The study of the characters of R, K. Narayan"s Hovels has not been done quite arbitrarily. It has been done in thematic perspective. More­ over, the observations on them have been derived frora an analysis of his hovels. The dissertation is written v.'ith full av/arenes that no last word can ever be said about a writer with such vast range of perception and profound understanding of life. It can at best claim to be an effort at realizing that range and depth, R, F, Karayan may be called a native-talent because thou^th he v/as inspired by the wealth of western literature and Philoscchy that came to him by the medium of the English lancjuage, his root wes deep in Indian tradition end Indian culture. As an Indian Novelist writing in English, R, K, Karayan may be said to have achieved- greater success. He never deliberately attempts to be an Indian, but because he deals v.'ith convincing human beings in authentic situations and records their responses honestly and because these human beings hanren to be Indians, he succeeds in achieving that difficult task. His style is direct and characterised by an economy of expression and vocabulary adequate to deal with the range of subject m.atter and Indian sensibilities. He believes that the task of a novelist in modern India is to deal with the real India with all her problems and features and not the India which has been a mere literary region of the Maharajas and mystery, The disruption of the traditional joint family disturbs the individual in most of Karayan's novels. He has shovm that this do.aeEtic dislocation comes not out of personal animosity or bitter relationship but because of the centrifugal impact of the new socio­ economic changes in the country. He has noted that the impact of industrialisation and increasing urbanisation naturally tell upon tht^ traditional culture, The theme of conflict between tradition and modernity has alv-ays assumed a vital significance for him. It is more than a mani­ festation of his constant avjareness of the changing circumstances in the social and political spheres of the country. The theme appears^?' the novelist as an attitude* as an idea or as a set of values^ The changes v/hich are taking place in the country transformed the modem concept of his v/riting in them^, techniqxie and style© Gandi:iian impact on contemporary Indian literature has brought about results at various level - particularly in the realm of style and theme, Narayan is explicit in his imaginative interpreta­ tion of the national ideology, embedded in Gandhian Philosophyo The Gandaian myth has been the inescapable substance of his v?orks in v/iiich Uandhi appears as a Pervasive influence on the social and poli­ tical scene, R, PC, Narciyan has used myths as structural parallels vrhert a mythical situation underlines the part of a novelo His mystical structural pattern is only partly a self conscious device. He uses the same archetypal pattern in his novels. Besides he clearly explains asceticism as a stage of spiritual uplift. Renunciation or non-attachment is not the result of the acceptance of dogmas or his- toric events. It is our experience that kindles the flame of the spirit in every individual soul and affects our entire being^ cessates us from actions which are prompted by worlcJLy desires and end our disquititude and anguish, the sense of aimlessness of our fragile and fugitive existence. This dissertation also aims at stydying the themes and characters of Narayan* s novels from the stend point of Reality, Comic Vision and Ironic Perspective, It explores the immense possibilities of the comic in the common place world of Halgxidi, Comedy here is not only confined to physical details; it also embodies the Philosophic awareness of life which integrates man into his society and reconciles him with his gods, llarayan's 'Reali­ sm' and 'Comic Vision' have their anchroage in his strong Indian sensibility. The ironic dimension which some critics find to be Narayan's sole rhetoric mode and vision is, in fact, an integral p..x't of his comic vision, My principal obligation, a considerable one is to my supervisor Late Dr. G, S, Sanerjee, and I gratefully aCiUiovv'ledge it here, I record my gratitude to my examiner v/ho has kindly allowed me to revise the entire thesis while incorporating his ear­ lier suggestions in the body of this present dissertation, For my use of quotations and references from various souxr- ces, I am perpetually in debt of the authors and publishers and I should also express m.y heartfelt thanks to the staff of the Library of the University of North Bengal who have all along snov/n lively interest in my humble but sincere tribute to R, K, Narayan, N TROD UCTIO N Indict is a country of many languages and literature. English, though basically a foreign language, has, by force of circumstances, come to occupy a place with the native languages of the country. It continues to be treated as a second language in the country even today, but the literature that it possesses is richer than those of many other native languages. It has obvious advantages over the Indian languages. Like the native Indian languages, it also developed in India through Indian writers. The Indian writers who wrote in English had, generally, a wider acquaintance with the literatures of the west. This ensured for the writer a wider market, English being the language of the rulers of the country possessed a respectibility which the native languages did not enjoy, and this proved to be another source of encouragement for the writers who patronized it, The cultural renaissance which took place in India in the second half of the 19th century encouraged the growth of Indo- Engllsh literature no less than that of the native languages. The Indo-Cnglish writers wrote in all genres, but initially poetry received the greatest emphasis. Generally fiction outstripped the other generes as it has happened in the case of most literature of both the east and the went, and today a large number of writers in Indo-Engllsh literature consists of those who worship the Goddess of fiction. The story of Indo-Lngiish fiction is the story of yesterday and today. In the J'9th century a few Indian writers dored try their hand at writing fiction in English. This diffidence was caused by the fact that writers in Indo-English literature could not overcome the inferiority complex which centuries of foreign rule had instilled into them. The Indian writers were handicapped in expressing their ideas in a foreign lang\iage which many of them had learnt only through books, The novel at last ap^peared in the field of Indian -English literature, Smt, Raj Laxmi Devi, Kshetrapal Chakroverty, A, Madhaviah, S. B. Banerjee, S, W, Mitra, Sardar Jogindar Singh, Bal Krishna, Sorabji Cornelia, S, K, Ghosh, T. Ramkrishna, K, S, Venkatramani appeared with their novels. These writers were experimenting with this technique to make it effective as well as impress;ive, Inspite of hurdles at the initial stage the prxjgress was satisfactory. These writers gave us social, historical and detective novels but historical romance was very much popular, Mulk Raj Anand, R, K, Narayan Raja Rao, Kamala Markandeya, Anita Desai, Shasthi Brata, R, P, Jhabwala, Narantara Sehgal and a host of others are writeirs of today, Indian-English fiction ie written in a language which is not the mother-tongue of many India writers nor is it mother -3- tongue of the people about whom the novels are written. This involves double complications but it also helps to make Indo-English literature a part of world literature. The description of various aspects of Indian life through a language which is not of Indian origin, the novelists are confronted with a number of problems but the one advantage of writing in Indo-English is to get a wider readership and better prospects of recognition, The period between 1900 - 1950 was dominated by novels with Socio-political themes. But during the period 1950 - 1980 the acknowledged master like R, K, Karayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and others continued their art of fiction writing. The fiction of Mulk Raj Anand on social criticism and political emancipation produced great effects. He dedicated his art of fiction to India's struggle for freedom fran imperialism. However, we can not ignore the social tensions depicted in Modem Indian novels. The presen­ tation of religious and mythical traditions has been very successful in the novels of R, K.