Question- Sum up the literary elements found in the novel.

Answer - 

The literary elements are as follows -

(i) Genre - Fiction

(ii) Setting and Context - It is set in mid 20th century India in the fictional town of Malgudi (South India)

(iii) Narrator and Point of View - It vacillates in between the first person (Raju) and the third person.

(iv) Tone and Mood - The tone of the mood is direct, unconcerned, ironic and delightful. The mood is easy, restless and amused.

(v) Protagonist and Antagonist - Protagonist: Raju; Antagonist : Marco to some extent.

(vi) Major Conflict - The major conflict is whether Raju would truly embody the role of holy man that he has embraced for himself and mange to do what is necessary to bring about the rains?

(vii) Climax - There are two climaxes in the novel : one when Raju is arrested and the other at the end when he collapses into the river and says the rains are coming.

(viii) Foreshadowing - Narayan foreshadows the demise of Raju's relationship and his time in jail throughout the first part of the novel when Raju is trying to feel out his new role as swami. The reader has the distinct sense that things did not end well for him with Rosie and that his coming to this secluded place after jail was a result of some dramatic event. Narayan bears these suppositions out as Raju begins to tell Velan his story.

(ix) Paradox - Raju is a famous guide full of knowledge, intuition and insight. However, paradoxically, he doesn't know himself whatsoever and cannot guide himself anywhere near good decisions or enlightenment until the very end of the novel. This makes the title paradoxical as well.

(x) Parallelism - Rosie's life and Marco's life are parallel to each other even after their split. Both of them achieve fame and financial comfort due to their respective acts of dancing and archaeological studies.

(xi) Metaphor
(a) Cave is used as a metaphor for Marco never understood what was in his wife's mind and even remained ignorant of his wife's illicit affair.
(b) Bird - Raju feels more like a bird floating in the air when the people start to pay respects to him as a Swami. He experienced the same feeling when people came to him to seek information as he was largely famous as 'Railway Raju'.
(c) Fog - Raju had the knack to keep people under illusion. He was dragging those innocent men deeper and deeper into the fog of unclear thoughts.' (38).

(xii) Imagery
(a) Malgudi as a fictional town creates an image of a town in South India full of small shops, a new railway station, wagons and shopkeepers and the bustling marketplace.
(b) The Railway - Narayan writes 'Our world was neatly divided into this side of the railway line and that side'. (27). This is a simple but potent image that creates a sense of order and neatness believed by actual life. The railway station changes everything for Raju - brings the tourists and Marco & Rosie as well that change the very course of his life.
(c) Peak House - Narayan describes the glory that is Peak House. He writes of the house perching on the edge of a cliff looking out to a lush valley below, the glass wall, the wild life, the tall trees, the fecund vegetation and more.
(d) Raju as Holy Man - Narayan writes of Raju 'His beard now caressed his chest, his hair covered his back and round his neck he wore a necklace of prayer beads. His eyes shone with softness and compassion and light of wisdom emanated from them.' This is an uncanny and near stereotypical image of a holy man. It is all the more amusing and compelling because it is a reminder that Raju is all surface and appearance.

(xiii) Symbols -
(a) Water is used as a symbol of purification as Raju leaves his dishonest past behind.
(b) Nataraja - The Nataraja statue comes up on many occasions in the novel and it represents the freedom of Rosie from the so called patriarchal norms of the society.
(c) Raju's Old Home - Rosie's discomfort with selling the old house and Raju's realization later that she seemed almost happier there even when she was being berated by his (Raju's) mother and uncle reveals the old house as a potent symbol of tradition, comfort, safety and security.

(xiv) Irony -
(a) Situational Irony - Seen in the title itself. Raju was a tour guide, tried guiding Rosie's career as a dancer and posed as a sage who was supposed to guide people to spirituality. Ironically, Raju who plays the titular role never quite succeeded in his responsibility.
(b) Situational Irony Seen in the very act of fasting. Raju telling the story of a swami who fasted for greater good is highly ironic since he finally has to fast himself.
(c) Verbal Irony - Seen in Raju's intelligence. Raju hates school and doesn't finish it. He hates education and scoffs at academics. His learning comes only from reading old random books that filter into the railway station that he works at for a few years.
(d) Situational and Verbal Irony - Marco and Raju exhibit these. Marco hires Raju to help him explore the caves so that he can carry out his studies. On the way to them, Marco takes the lead even though Raju is the guide. Raju calls him out and tells he's not a guide. The irony is subtle, but it is clearly present. He can take Marco to the caves but he neither knows what the markings within them truly mean (he grows very bored) nor does he have any idea how to guide himself through life.

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