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Elective English—III

Notes Critics have noted that Narayan’s writings tend to be more descriptive and less analytical; the
objective style, rooted in a detached spirit, providing for a more authentic and realistic narration.
His attitude, coupled with his perception of life, provided a unique ability to fuse characters and
actions, and an ability to use ordinary events to create a connection in the mind of the reader.
A significant contributor to his writing style was his creation of Malgudi, a stereotypical small
town, where the standard norms of superstition and tradition apply.
Narayan’s writing style was often compared to that of William Faulkner since both their works
brought out the humour and energy of ordinary life while displaying compassionate humanism.
The similarities also extended to their juxtaposing of the demands of society against the confusions
of individuality. Although their approach to subjects was similar, their methods were different;
Faulkner was rhetorical and illustrated his points with immense prose while Narayan was very
simple and realistic, capturing the elements all the same.

Notes Narayan’s fictional world very deftly brings to light a plethora of verbal and
textual practices—whether they be the calligraphy of the signboard painter (The Painter of
Signs) or the discourse of a “little magazine” (Mr. Sampath)—that have their own modes of
authorization and circulation distinct from the increasingly universal molar institution of
literature. These dispersed textual ties that sustain the nameless, ad hoc relationships that
make the human aggregations of Narayan’s imaginary town of Algoid as something
other than microcosms of national-civilizational wholes. Inextricably intertwined with
his elaboration of such radically experimental human relationships is syntax of love that
is an extension of the intimacy between Narayan’s artisans characters and the practice of
their crafts but is not founded in templates of belonging—national, civilizational, familial,
or conjugal.

11.3 Legacy

Narayan’s greatest achievement was making India accessible to the outside world through his
literature. He is regarded as one of the three leading English language Indian fiction writers,
along with Raja Rao and Mulk Raj Anand. He gave his readers something to look forward to
with Malgudi and its residents. It is also considered to be one of the best novelists India has ever
produced. He brought small-town India to his audience in a manner that was both believable
and experiential. Malgudi was not just a fictional town in India, but also one teeming with
characters, each with their own idiosyncrasies and attitudes, making the situation as familiar to
the reader as if it were their own backyard.
“Whom next shall I meet in Malgudi? That is the thought that comes to me when I close a novel
of Mr Narayan’s. I do not wait for another novel. I wait to go out of my door into those loved and
shabby streets and see with excitement and a certainty of pleasure a stranger approaching, past
the bank, the cinema, the haircutting saloon, a stranger who will greet me I know with some
unexpected and revealing phrase that will open a door on to yet another human existence.”
—Graham Greene

Example: The Guide (1958) written in English by the Indian author R K Narayan. Like
most of his works, the novel is based in Malgudi, the fictional town in South India. The novel
describes the transformation of the protagonist, Raju, from a tour guide to a spiritual guide and
then one of the greatest holy men of India.

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