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Unit 5: The Vendor of Sweets by R K Narayan

Contrary to what some critics have thought, accepting Grace as his daughter-in-law and into his Notes
household is not very difficult for Jagan. To be sure, he does have some qualms about it at the
beginning, and avoids people lest they should ask him embarrassing questions about his
“daughter-in-law,” and his son. When the “cousin” succeeds in cornering him once and asks him
about their dietary arrangements, Jagan covers up his confusion and finds his escape in a reference
to the Gita: “I can only provide what I am used to. If they do not like it, they can go and eat where
they please… One can only do one’s duty up to a point. Even in the Gita, you find it mentioned.
The limit of one’s duty is well-defined” (P. 66). Before long Jagan gets used to the presence of
Grace at home, and even appreciates the feminine orderliness that she brings his household,
which he had missed since the death of his wife years ago (P. 69).

Jagan’s troubles start when both Mali and Grace together put pressure, the former rather crudely
and the latter subtly and virtually try to coerce him to be the major shareholder in their project
of manufacturing story-writing machines. Jagan who had not minded Mali’s talking without his
knowledge huge sums of money to go abroad now feels deeply hurt that he should try to
involve him in his foolish venture. It hurts him even more when he is forced to suspect that
“Grace’s interest, friendliness and attentiveness” might be “a calculated effort to win his dollars”
(P. 89). He tries to resist their moves by “ignoring the whole business.” This is his version of
“non-violent non-co-operation” (P. 92). But this comic version of the Gandhian technique of
passive resistance for a personal end does not work for long. Mali and Grace corner him and
demand an immediate and categorical answer from him. Instead of providing the share capital
for Mall’s project, which he wholly distrusts, Jagan offers to make over to him his sweetshop.
However, this gesture elicits from Mali the contemptuous reply: “I have better plans than to be
a vendor of sweetmeats” (P. 96) Naturally Jagan is deeply hurt when his own son sneers at “his
business of a lifetime ... that had provided the money for Mali to fly to America and do all sorts
of things there” (P. 98). In this state of mind, money appears to be “an evil” to him.

The conflict with his son over the question of providing funds for the venture is only the
beginning of the crisis in Jagan’s life. From now on, both Gandhi and the Gita not only occupy
his mind increasingly, but in each case, he tries to apply to his particular situation what he
understands from their teachings. Formerly, when all seemed smooth sailing for Jagan, his
profession and practice of the Gandhian ideals and his public display of devotion to the Gita
were touched with vanity and pride, though harmless, and stressed his difference from the less
fortunate mortals. The crisis he faces now is unprecedented in his life, and he has to struggle
hard to find a solution for it. When he actually finds one, it will be found though he may not be
aware of it, that it is truly in keeping with the spirit of the teachings of Gandhi and the Gita as far
as it is possible for a man of his powers of ordinary understanding.

The novel shows how under the pressure of experience, Jagan’s earlier interest in Gandhi and
the Gita and his newly acquired interest in the sculpting of the Goddess Gayatri coalesce.

5.6 Conflict between Spirituality and Materialism

As part of East-West conflict, one can notice the conflict between spirituality and materialism in
all the novels of R K Narayan. Due to the colonial rule and western education, modern materialism
got into Indian minds. Spirituality, the hallmark of the Indians started to ebb from people’s way
of life. Thus, there appeared open conflict between the elder, uneducated Indians and the younger,
educated ones. Conflict is also visible within the minds of the younger generations—between
their inherited spiritual self and the acquired material self. The characters of Narayan’s novels
can be divided into two categories: spiritualists and materialists.

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