Question- Provide a detailed character sketch of Raju (The Guide).

Answer - 

R.K. Narayan is a great writer of characters. He is praised for his art of characterisation. He creates his characters with great consideration and significance. His characters are based on the psychological treatment. All his characters are real and life-like. Thus, his characters are immortal characters. Find below the traits of his character from different perspectives -

(i) Raju as the Central Figure - Raju is the central figure in the novel The Guide'. The whole theme revolves round him. He dominates from the beginning to the end of this novel. He is the only source of all incidents and events in it. He appears before us in various forms before us a railway guide, Railway Raju, a hermit, a lover, a fraud and a criminal. Thus, the novelist his named this novel after him. It is Raju who is the guide.

(ii) Raju as a Complex Character - Narayan's characters may be divided into three groups - simple characters, complex characters and minor characters. Raju belongs to the group of complex characters. It is very difficult to understand his character. He is dynamic, intelligent and shrewd. In him, we find the craftiness, dishonesty and credrelity of Margayya, the flashy bombast of Mr. Sampath, the adventurousness of Mali, the romantic excess of Sitaram and the mystic learning of Chandran. In short, Raju is one of the most complex character of Narayan.

(iii) Raju as a Guide - As a guide, Raju gets great fame. He becomes popular as Railway Raju. The tourists are impressed by him. He is a guide with spiritual touch. In fact, everything in Raju's life takes place by chance. In the beginning. Raju acts as a tourist guide. Thereafter, he becomes Rosie's guide / career coach and at last he become swami who guides the villagers. In this way Raju had always been a guide.

(iv) Raju as a Lover - Raju is a great lover in the novel. When he first see Rosie at Malgudi Railway Station, he at once falls in love with her. He at once agrees to fulfil her desire to see the dance of king cobra. As a lover, he wins her heart. He regularly seduces her by flattering and paying her bold compliments. He does not hesitate even in establishing sexual relationship with Rosie. As a lover, Raju is bold and sincere also. When Rosie's husband turns her out of the house, Raju gives her shelter against his mother's desire. He sets Rosie as a great dancer. In short, Raju is a complex character.

(v) Raju as a Prisoner - As a prisoner, Raju proves himself as a model prisoner. His reputation in the jail is special. He developed good relations with the other prisoners. His high sounding talk gave him the title of Ustad. He would impress even the dangerous criminals who listened to him with great respect. He even impressed the jail superintendent who employed him his servant. He enjoyed his jail life fully. He became sad when the day of his release came.

(vi) Raju as a Swami - Raju's role as a swami is very dramatic. After coming out of jail, he has no arrangement of food and lodging. Listening to the remark of the barber, he decides to play the role of Swami. By chance he gets recognition and popularity as a swami. In this way his main problem of shelter and food comes to an end. All went well for some years. But, circumstances compelled him to fast. Due to this fast, Raju grew weak and at last he drowns in the river. Thus, the final and crucial phase of the novel shows how the outer fit becomes the inner one, how the manner turns into identity.

In toto, Raju the protagonist is full of follies and virtues like any common man. Narayan's portrayal of his character is an attempt to define a regular man's struggle and achievements. There are certain shades in the character of Raju and he has his own strengths and weaknesses. His never giving up attitude is the most striking feature in his character. He is the one who encouraged and movtivated Rosie to pursue her career as a dancer. It is with his support and planning that she attained that height and position in the society which she couldn't have dreamed without him by her side. Raju is an example of a free-spirited man who does not hold back under the pressure of the culture and society. He is a dreamer and an entrepreneur with a vision. When railways came to Malgudi, he realized that trading old books would be a growing business in future as there was a huge inflow of students in Malgudi from the nearby villages and cities. He knew how to make profits as he recalls, 'I bargained hard, showed indifference while buying and solicitude while selling: (NARAYAN, 52).

In all, he followed his passion of being a guide rather than running the family's traditional shop which he inherited. He believed following his own dreams.

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