Question- Critically analyze the novel The Guide.'

Answer - 

R.K. Narayan has been one of the prominent writers in Indian Writing in English. All his works reflect Indian tradition and culture in great detail. All his stories are centered around an imaginary place in South India called Malgudi. "The Guide' remains one of the best works of R.K. Narayan which has been adopted into a movie as well.

The novel is considered to be the author's best work as it has complexity, humour and gentle irony. It is a Malgudi novel as Raju narrates his childhood making this place the base. It shows that the place has accepted both modernism as well as traditional ways of life.

Many of Raju's characteristics can be noticed in childhood which come forward when he grows up. For eg., he loves talking to people, loves money, does not like when someone claims his things so their own and wants full freedom to do what he wants school disinterests him, so does listening to his parents. He is alive when he talks to people and guides them.

The title of the novel summarizes what the novel is all about. Raju first comes across as a guide, then Rosie's career coach and then ends up becoming a holy man. He becomes a holy man because a simple villager like Velan thinks him to be a sage due to his appearance. Raju is always good when it comes to pretending and since he does not have many options becomes what Velan thinks him to be.

The readers even without knowing the past of Raju as a guide or as Rosie's lover can understand that the man loves attention and admiration and is self-obsessed. Narayan's tone is very gentle and ironic while describing Raju as he is the man who is a convict just out of jail and an uneducated person who is not fit enough to become a holy man. He does not have any right to tell stories to people or give them any kind of advice.

Narayan jumps between past and present in the first few chapters from the moment where Raju is a holy man to his childhood. The novel structure is a bit complex as there is a third person narration when Raju is a holy man and a first person narration which is done by Raju to Velan of his childhood. The timings and reasons of these narrations are not very clear.

As we proceed through the novel, some of the major events occur in Raju's life. The first one is the arrival of Rosie in Raju's life and the second is the fast observed by Raju to bring, rains to the village he is residing. If we closely observe the first event, Raju is characterless as he does not feel guilty of pursuing another man's wife and justifies his act by calling the man rude and orthodox and goes on to get Rosie's love by encouraging her to dance.

Marco's character is written very well although he is not an active character in the novel. His actions matter a great deal in changing the life course of Rosie and Raju. He is someone who is busy in dark caves and removes all the sunlight from his life. This shows his ignorance towards Raju and Rosie's affair as he is not interested in his human wife but all the lifeless things.

The cave is a pictorial backdrop which is relevant in both past and present situation in the novel. It is also a generalised metaphor for Marco's ignorance. While discussing a dance art in the cave, Rosie symbolizes the present while Marco symbolizes the past. Rosie is a classical dancer but modern conditions do not allow her fame to spread in a good way. Her dance has a classical theme which is a striking contrast to Marco's interest in dead things. When Marco is busy in the cave, the two lovers find a way to love each other. Marco remains in an illusion until it is too late.

Raju's life is destroyed as his interest in Rosie increases. He insults Seth and has to undergo trail for debt. His relationship with his mother gets stained as he forces her to leave the home. His defence of Rosie as a woman of lower caste is right and what her uncle says about her is wrong but still Raju destroys his life and reputation greatly.

If we look at all the roles of Raju, we can easily understand that he is focused on others and not on himself. He is a live example of ingenuity and self-estrangement. When Raju starts living with Rosie, there is a positive growth in Raju's character. He does not know anything about dance and music but asks Rosie to Pursue them.

Though his interest in her art is because he wants to maintain intimacy with her but he devotes himself completely to what she needs to make her dreams come true. In the end, we see that only Rosie is satisfied in her life as she fulfils her dreams without a man in her life. In a nuts hell, R.K. Narayan should be credited for bringing out such real life characters to the attention of the readers.

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