R. K. Narayan’s “Talkative Man”

R. K. NARAYAN’S “TALKATIVE MAN” AS A
NOVEL OF INTRIGUE

T. GOVINDARAJAN

INTRODUCTION:

The Oxford English Dictionary defines intrigue as: “Clandestine” illicit intimacy between a man and a woman”,¹ and also, “To carry on underplotting or scheming to em­ploy secret influence for the accomplishment of disigns” ². These definitions in their two - fold aspects help us deter­mine the scope of an intrigue play or novel. The Restoration comedy of 17th century England is also called co­medy of Intrigue as most of the plays of the period con­tain such mutual counter plotting and secret love affairs.

R. K. Narayan’s latest novel Talkative Man has an intrigue plot. It speaks of the secret love affairs of Dr. Rann and his outwitting the careful machinations of others to prevent him for his explosive sex exploits. It is proposed to discuss in this articles the intrigue plot of this novel and how the technique of narration reduces the possible over-tones of sensationalism and keeps the novel within the realistic and comic framework as neither of the contenders in plotting succeed in any real sense. Dr. Rann does not succeed in his efforts to elope with Girija; nor do Talkative Man and Sarasa succeed in transforming him. He continues to be his self. R. K. Narayan seems to be of the view that human nature undergoes no dramatic change.

THE THEME OF TM:

The novel begins with the news - reporter, Talkative Man’s coming to know of Dr. Rann gradually. ­He met Rann in Town Hall Library. Rann said he was on some United Nations Project and he had to make a field study. Obviously this much - travelled stranger was a curiosity in Malgudi and TM was proud of his association with him. He wished to exploit his association in a write - up to his journal. His Editor wanted a photo of Rann to publish it in his paper. When TM sounded about his photograph, he became wary and told him that he did not like photos of any sort. So TM planned the first of his many plots, this of course a very innocent one, to take a photo of Rann without Rann’s knowledge. He decoyed Rann to Swami’s Cottage Industries at the market and Jayaraj mana­ged the rest.

His article brought commandant Sarasa, wife of Dr. Rann on the scene. She wanted to catch Rann. TM wanted to play safe. So he said that they met for less than fifteen minutes at the Town Hall Library. There was a miniexercise in plotting and counter plotting, when Rann tried to conceal his anxiety and TM tried to delay news about the Lady in the Railway Station. At last, Rann begged, TM not to betray him; TM finally decided to protect him from wifely intrusion.

Next day the lady came to meet TM in his house. He was surprised on her visit. He felt shocked. Rann had gone out and so TM was happy. She explained about Rann that he was a regular Lady - Killer, the only one who could survive was herself. TM wished to maintain the facade of being interested in helping her and at the same time wished to help Rann from her intrusion. This involved another exercise in minor plotting. TM got up with an excuse to go out. He requested Sambu to keep Rann as he came to return his scooter.

The Lady unfolded to TM the story of her own secret love to Rann. This constitutes one of the major exercises in the intrigue plot of the novel. She met Rann when she was a student of St. Evans in Egmore. Her father had a furniture and carpentry shop, the man Rann would often come in on a bicycle, he was an errand boy for a circulating library. He was also a student at Loyola College.

His boss would send him to order some racks and stools and benches for his Library from her father’s work shop. The stone bench under a mango tree in her compound was very convenient for them. She was charmed with Rann’s talk on all sorts of subjects. They went to museum, beach and a matinee at the Elphinstone on Mount Road. She told her father that she had a special class or an excursion with the teachers or a joint study with a friend. But her mother suspected her activities and warned. At last, her mother told the boy that they did not have the time for magazines. Then she got an escort by Thayi, their old servant maid.

Though they were apart, they still found a way to communicate. The next time her parents left for Avadi, her lover brought an old car and took her away. The old maid blessed them. Finally the wedding was celebrated very successfully in a Temple. They found an out house in Poonamalli High Road and lived there very happily. The old woman Thayi explained everything to her parents. Inspector Natesh was their family friend, he did the hunt and caught hold of Rann and the girl was taken home and handed over to her parents. The young man was charged with abducting and kidnapping a minor girl. After the case she joined her husband and they established their home. One evening he did not come home and that was the end.

After this flash - to the past of Rann, the novel moves to the present. Rann met Girija, grand daughter of the old man of the Library. Rann waylaid her with his usual methods. Here after TM got the reports about Rann with the girl, here and there. TM was rest­less. He decided to investigate about Rann. So he opened his room when he had left in the afternoon. TM came to know of Rann as a regular womaniser through his folios and letters.

TM took on himself to set counter plotting to out­wit Rann. When TM met the Librarian, the old man said that Rann agreed to coach Girija for her studies. Old Man kept good faith on Rann. So TM dropped the idea of warning him about Rann.

Gaffur, the taxi driver explained Rann’s plot to TM: TM had arranged for a lecture of Rann in the Town Hall in connection with the silver jubilee celebration of the Lotus club. Gaffur said, Rann and Girija planned to elope. After the meeting they were to drive away to some place. TM felt shocked. Finally he came to the conclusion not to speak about it till the meeting was over. He gave a Telegram to Sarasa. She came and stayed at the Railway Station.

On that day, the meeting was conducted as pla­nned. But Rann’s lecture on ‘Futurology’ created nervous shock to the women and the palyful urchins added to the confusion. TM tugged him up by his collar and led him out to an open space. Two men caught and pushed Rann into a car. They hustled him in the dark and the car went away with Rann. TM and Gaffur guided Girija home. TM got a thanks card from commandant Sarasa.

Six months later one evening, the Lady-comman­dant Sarasa came to meet TM. She said, the past few months they enjoyed life like in young days. One day he went out but he did not return, Sarasa had gathered the news that Rann eloped with a nurse in a Delhi hospital. She had no hope of seeing him again.

TECHNIQUE OF NARRATION

From the earliest of his career, Narayan goes about evolving a narrative point of view. The focus of Narayan is on not what is said but who says it. Many a Narayan story is told from the point of view of the Talkative Man. The narrative point of view is the major trick of Narayan in his latest novel Talkative Man, as otherwise simple tale of intrigue. The title character, who serves Narayan as the point of view in Talkative Man is a moral in his attitude to life, fraught as he is with all kinds of uncer­tainties.

“I might be misreading the whole situation.
After all a child whom I have been seeing
for years in Albert Nursery school uniform-
but now she was too tall for her age-dressed
in perfectly starched and ironed cotton printing
saree and looking quite smart and attractive.
But it would not mean that she was an adult
woman capable of devious and dubious adventure,
but a child at heart like most womanly looking
girls.......If so why the protestant church
rendeavous? If it did not seem so innocent-if
he was only helping in her studies and general
knowledge, it was not necessary to go so far.
Lying in bed I kept sifting and analysing
and finding justification and overcoming doubts
and suspicious about Girija and Rann: till I
fell asleep well past midnight” ³

CONCLUSION:

Thus having a man of unresolved conflicts, a man who fights shy to pass judgement, in his narrative point of view, Narayan succeeds in getting the experiences dist­anced. The Talkative Man is in a sense an idler, a taller or a gossipper with a genius to get involved in other peo­ple’s affairs. Thus an intrigue plot gains in depth with­out theatricality, mainly by the story being narrated from the point of view of the Talkative Man.

NOTE:

¹ The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1933.
²Ibid.,
³ Narayan. R. K. Talkative Man, Mysore: Indian Thought Publications, 1964.