Realism in Literature

A Critique on R. K. Narayan’s “The Guide”

“Catching the very note and trick, the strange irregular rhythm of life, that is the attempt whose strenuous effort keeps fiction on her feet.” –Henry James

“A novel,” says Dr Srinivasa Iyengar, “is a human story – a story, however, that has assumed a certain shapeliness and significance, the plot, to put it crudely, had done the trick and has transformed the raw stuff of reality into a work of art.” But what exactly is this “raw stuff” of reality? What is meant by “realism” in literature? To answer: This word “realism” is one of the vaguest terms of art criticism, and in its everyday use, whether in politics or in the arts, it has very little in common with the philosophical creed from which it originated. This controversial topic attracted the attention of many critics of great reputation and immense discretion, but it still remains an unsolved problem. No two psychologists agree upon a mental malady; no two critics of literature express similar views upon this term, “realism.” When a critic like Aarnold Kettle uses the words. “realism” and “realistic” to indicate “real life” as opposed to “romance” and “romantic” by which one indicated escapism, wishful thinking and unrealism, another critic equates realism with the depiction of low life and society. Distinguishing between the terms “romance” and “realism”, Frank Norris in his essay: “A plea for romantic fiction” says ut infra “Romance is the kind of fiction that takes congnizance of variations from the type of normal life and realism is the kind of fiction that confines itself to the type of normal life.” According to Green it should be “a plausible interpretation of life.” Further, Alex Comfort holds that realism “is something more than reportage.” “Realism is a term,” says another critic, “applied to literacy composition that aims at an interpretation of the activities of any aspect of life, free from subjective prejudice, idealism or romantic colour.” All the above definitions can be considered as various interpretations of the same truth– “Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti.” Now, we come to two important questions: 1. Can art be completely real? 2. Is it necessary that art should be realistic? “Art can never be completely real,” says William H. Mallock. All art that represents reality–even the art that represents a scene or an event with the utmost completeness and fidelity possible is nothing more than a selection of some few facts out of a multitude. So, to produce the real world in its entirety is impossible. Moreover, humanity is immense; and reality has myriad forms. Life in its entirety seems a very different thing to different men, according to the religion or the philosophy in the light of which they view it, and consequently the facts that they select as samples will also vary. The optimist, the pessimist, the materialist, the theist and the atheist will have different perspectives of the same world. Every thinker seeks to represent life to us–the same fragment of life by a different selections of facts, and every fact may be equally true and reported with equal accuracy, some of the facts will possibly be in each case the same; but the proportion in which they are mixed will be different and the effect will also be different.

Realism in “The Guide”

Among the contemporary Indian writers in English, R. K. Narayan stands supreme, “a star that dwelt apart.” His novels deal with “Malgudi” and its people–their joys and sorrows, aspirations and achievements, feelings and failures and above all, their human foibles. The reason for his success as a writer is to be found in his ability to translate Indian situations with touches of reality, humour, wit and irony.

Even a cursory reader of Narayan can notice that his novels are replete with the situations taken from day-to-day life. His first novel, “Swami and Friends” is a school boy classic. As one reads it, one almost becomes nostalgic as the whole of one’s boyhood is recalled here. His “Bachelor of Arts” is the story of a South Indian college student. In this connection Mr. H. E. Bates aptly says: “Mr. Narayan’s rendering of human relationships has perfection of phrasing and a depth of understanding that makes Chandran’s life very real.” “The Dark Room” is a study of domestic disharmony and at the same time, full of delightfully vivid and picturesque evocations of a South Indian middle-class life. “Waiting for the Mahatma” is a political novel which is entirely based on Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle for independence; The Financial Expert comes under the novels dealing with money-hunters. It is the story of Margayya, the middle-aged moneylender. As a picture of shady business values and of the worship of the Goddess of Gettingon, “The Financial Expert” is a capital piece of writing, as entertaining as it is enlightening.

“The Guide” which won for Narayan, the Sahitya Akademi Award, shows the novelist’s skill in placing the orient into focus for occidental eyes. Its entire reputation and strength is based on its realistic narration. In this novel, Narayan depicts a comprehensive picture of human activities, the comic and the tragic, the silly and the serious, the ridiculous and the sublime. Here we find a graphic table of an ordinary man who ultimately becomes a Mahatma as he begins to identify himself with the world and takes the terrible decision of sacrificing his life for a noble cause. A study of this novel gives one a vivid vision of free India with all its varied economic, social and spiritual problems.

As we have already said, here Narayan studies the Indian economic problem very clearly and thereby gives us several economic groups. While Marco and Rosie represent the well-to-do class, Gaffur and Joseph denote the low wage earner. In the character of Sait, the money-lender, we find a wealthy person one who amasses and hoards wealth thriving upon the troubles of other persons. Then there are the rich lawyers, who make pots of money at the expense of the clients. This class is shown through the character of the star lawyer of Raju in the case instituted by Merco against him. Further, the whole episode in which Raju is taken to be the saint is set on the axis of economic life. The poverty of the masses gathering about the hero in the pillared-hall is shown threadbare. These people are so poor that they do not have the advantage of education and that invariably leads them to lead a life of superstition and misery. Narayan, in one way, mocks at the prosperity of Raju by making him fall from the ladder and deceive even his beloved Rosie.

Also, here we have many references to rural India and its defects. The rural population is simple and unsophisticated. Even the casual and commonplace remark of Raju is enough to make them wonder about his profound wisdom. Velan is a typical representative of rural India. The main cause of their sufferings is their illiteracy. In India, we have still a section largely influenced by the Western culture. Marco belongs to this section and is different from an Indian businessman, middle class persons and the rural folk. To quote from the novel: “He dressed like a man about to undertake an expedition–with his thick coloured glasses, thick jacket and a thick helmet over which perpetually stretched a green, sheeny, waterproof cover giving him the appearance of a space traveller.”¹ Through Raju’s father Narayan presents the picture of an Indian shopkeeper of low standing. This typical Indian businessman is uneducated and cannot give proper education to his children.

Narayan never forgets to allot considerable space for discussing the eternal problem -the system of education in India. In “The Guide” we have references to the rural schools at two different places. First Raju gets his education at the hands of his poor pedant with antediluvian methods. He says: “I had to go over the contours of the letters with my pencil endlessly until they become bloated and distorted beyond recognition.” Next under the guidance of Raju, the people of Mangala start a school. In the beginning very few boys come to the school as it is a “crocodile place.” Here Narayan delineates the unworthy schoolmaster with his characteristic bad manners very realistically.

Love, sex and marriage play a significant role in the life of any individual and so they are present in “The Guide” also. Like a drama, Raju’s love also has a beginning, a middle and an end. In the beginning, Raju pines for the embrace of his beloved, Rosie. In the middle his love looks intense for a time and then to certain extent the motive of monetary gain actuates him to commit forgery–a terrible felony. That is almost the end of his love. Like a typical Indian, Narayan touches “sex” and never goes deep into the psychology of sex like D. H. Lawrence. He only brings the lover and the beloved together and his job ends there. Regarding marriage, the novelist has taken a radical view of the subject. The marriage of Rosie and Marco is flawed by incompatibility. Though both are artists in their own spheres, due to lack of understanding, this catastrophe takes place. Marco marries Rosie only for his personal comfort and remains busy day in and day out with his darling pursuits. Thus he has offered insult to womanhood, and in turn the womanhood in Rosie raises its hood to leave “fang marks” on him.

The temples with their holymen present a strange sight in India. Indians, especially the rural folk, are so credulous that they take a man with a long beard to be a Sadhu and worship him intensely. Raju, the ex-convict, faces a similar problem. First, in order to make both ends meet, he feigns the role of a saint. But at the end, owing to the play of circumstances, Raju becomes a true saint by sacrificing his life for a noble cause. Even this transformation from pusillanimity to magnanimity is also not abrupt and unreal. Gradually he develops a peculiar strength in him and begins to think: “if by avoiding food I should help the trees bloom, and the grass grow, why not do it thoroughly?” ² Thus, he climbs the ladder, slowly step by step reaches the stage of a Mahatma and then sags down. Here Narayan is evidently making use of the Indian myth of a sinner becoming a saint. Valmiki, Pundarika, Vemana and Bilvamangala are only a few well-known examples. Raju is an admirable version of the same Indian myth.

Another salient feature of Narayan is his descriptive style. Like Daniel Defoe he gives the minutest details of every situation his hero has to pass through. Sometimes he recreates scene by only a few suggestions and precise strokes while at other times, he is not satisfied, by anything short of picturesque details. ³

How precise and suggestive is the description of the natural setting in the following passage:

“The branches of the trees canopying the river course rustled and trembled with the agitation of birds and monkeys setting down for the night. Upstream beyond the hills the sun was setting.”

He conveys the idea of the drought in the village Mangala thus:

“Cattle were unable to yield milk; they lacked the energy to drag the plough through the furrows; flocks of sheep were beginning to look scurvy and piebald with their pelvic bones–sticking out.” ⁵ Thus his description of these situations is always realistic and convincing. Further, Narayan possesses a rare psychological insight into the human mind and characters. His analysis of the internal working of the mind of a woman who shows extra interest in her husband after committing adultery, of the mind of an aggrieved lover who loses interest in life after the separation from his beloved.

“The usual symptoms were present, of course: No taste for food, no sound sleep, no stability…..no, no, no, a number of no’s” ^{6  and} of a mother parting from her erring son:

“Don’t fail to light the lamps in the God’s niche’ said my mother, going down the steps. Be careful with your health.” ⁷

How realistic these descriptions look! Not a bit of exaggeration, but precise and convincing. Hence, R. K. Narayan is one of the most brilliant realists writing at the moment.

References

¹ The Guide–R. K. Narayan, P. 9.
² Ibid., P. 11.
³ The Guide–R. K. Narayan, p. 213.
⁴ The Guide–R. K. Narayan, p. 82.
⁵ Ibid., p. 121.
⁶ Ibid., p. 155.